Trivia
 (Things You Might Not Know)
 

Steph and I are naturally curious people. We wonder about a lot of things we see, and often don't see. Therefore, we ask a lot of questions. And we google a lot. As a result, it seems that nearly every day, we learn something new about Hampton Roads and attractions in the surrounding areas.
Did you know ...
...Hampton Roads is a port for over 95 percent of the world's shipping lines
...Portsmouth is located at the Zero Mile marker on the Intracoastal Waterway - the midway point between Miami and Maine
...Hampton Roads is home to 160 international firms representing 27 countries
...Portsmouth is located on the world's largest and deepest natural harbor
...Hampton Roads has the largest concentration of military bases in the world
...Portsmouth is home to the country's oldest and largest U.S. naval hospital
...the U.S. Navy's first battleship, the Texas, was launched in 1892 at the U.S. Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth;
the Texas was the first ship made of steel built by the shipyard
...Hampton Roads is situated within 750 miles of six of the 10 largest U.S. population centers
...Portsmouth is the home of the Coast Guard's Atlantic Area Command,
which oversees two-thirds of the operational Coast Guard in the world, from the Rocky Mountains to Bahrain
...Portsmouth's Norfolk Naval Shipyard (Shipyards take the name of the nearest large city or geographical area) is the oldest continuously operating shipyard in the country. It sits on 800 acres and has 400 cranes and seven dry docks, making it the largest shipyard on the East Coast.
...an early minister at Court Street Baptist Church in Portsmouth suggested to a member of
President Abraham Lincoln's cabinet that all U.S. currency bear the words, "In God We Trust."
...the first dry-docking in America occurred in 1833 at the Gosport Navy Yard in Portsmouth,
now called the Norfolk Naval Shipyard-Portsmouth; the drydock is still in use today
...the total population of Hampton Roads is about 1.7 million. It is the 34th largest Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) within the U.S..
...the first ferry service in America was established on the Elizabeth River between Portsmouth and Norfolk in 1636
...the Ocean View Fishing Pier in Norfolk is the longest pier in North America
...The Children's Museum of Virginia, in Portsmouth, is the state's largest children's museum
...the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT), which measures 17.6 miles from shore to shore, is considered the largest bridge-tunnel complex in the world. In 1965, the CBBT was selected as one of the the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World
...the tunnels to Portsmouth/Eastern Shore actually go under water so ships can pass overhead. Yes, you are driving under boats.
...you can get veggie hot dogs and hamburgers at the Harbor Park Baseball Stadium? Take me out to the ball game!