Greetings from Newport News

We are home and in the midst of lots of unpacking and laundries! We did have a very nice last day of vacation -- after a last walk on the beach (during which Adam rescued a bumblebee) and a stop for gas (during which I rescued am imperial moth), we went to the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, which is surrounded by a beautiful park where we ate lunch (and watched a runner rescue an injured box turtle). Cheryl met us and we went through the Battle of Hampton Roads galleries, which include an audio-video reenactment of the battle and reproductions of the USS Monitor, whose turret and engines are being conserved there too.

We also went through the Dinosaurs of the Deep exhibit, the Age of Exploration, the collections of model and real small crafts, and the Nelson gallery, which follows the life and career of the admiral in artifacts and paintings. I could have stayed another two hours, but we wanted to get home before dark (particularly since Adam's girlfriend is just back from traveling for most of the summer) and Cheryl had a work event. So we said goodbye to her and stopped at Carlos O'Kelly's in Fredericksburg for Mexican food, then drove home to our cats who demanded a lot of attention despite having been taken care of while we were gone!