A One Day Visit to Fort Monroe National Monument
Fort Monroe: 400 Years of History
My son and I had the day to ourselves, as the wife and daughter were out camping for the weekend with the Girl Scouts. For that reason, we decided to make a quick one-day trip to Fort Monroe National Monument. It is very close to us and was still on the list the check off.
We drove down the peninsula and after we got off the exit we drove through downtown Phoebus, which is a quaint part of town. Don’t miss that exit, as it is the last exit before the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.
What is Fort Monroe?
Fort Monroe is the largest masonry fort ever constructed in the United States at 63 acres. You can actually drive into and around the interior of the fort! I was surprised that it was significantly bigger than Fort McHenry at 2 acres or Fort Sumter at 2.4 acres. We quickly discovered after parking in front of the Casement Museum that the Visitors Center is actually outside of the fort. Still, it was pretty cool being able to drive through the main gate right into the fort through the one-way road.
Fort Monroe National Monument Visitor Center and Grounds
We had plenty of time before our timed entry into the casement museum, thankfully. Therefore, we headed back and parked right in from of the Visitors Center. I must add that it was threatening to rain all day, but thankfully it never did. As a result, that helped keep the attendance low at the Fort, which made parking super easy.
Where are the Passport Cancellation Stamps at Fort Monroe?
The stamping Cancellation Station is in the bookstore of the visitor center and was nicely organized on a little table. National Park staff members we met were very nice and pointed out how the stamps were labeled and offered to help if needed.
After going through the museum, we headed upstairs to see the fort from a higher vantage point from outside. My son was very pleased that he found a pedestrian bridge to the fort from the Visitors Center. So, we decided to use that to walk to the fort before going to the museum.
Lincoln Gun at Fort Monroe National Monument
We also stumbled upon ‘the Lincoln Gun‘ next to the parade grounds. This is a 15-inch Cannon that had a four-mile range with a projectile weighing over 300 pounds. I was impressed that it was actually used on Confederate batteries at Sewells point. Walking around the fort some more we walk up to the wall and found the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse as well.
Casement Museum at Fort Monroe National Monument
Making it just in time to our 1:00pm entry to the museum, we had a brief introduction to the museum. We were then allowed to go on a self-guided tour of the exhibits. It was a nice walk through of the history of the fort, starting present day and walking back through time. The exhibit has several cannons and models of artillery. This makes sense as the fort was used as an artillery school at one point.
We saw the casement cell where Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, was held (the actual cell door was on display as well). Interestingly, Edgar Allen Poe was also stationed at the fort for a time as well. They had this little display, including a mannequin. (I don’t see the resemblance to Poe, frankly)
Where to eat lunch while visiting Fort Monroe National Monument
After picking up the Light House stamp at the gift shop near the exit of the casement museum, a staff member at the gift shop was very nice and gave us a lunch recommendation. She said that it wasn’t that busy that day, and she was very chatty . We headed over to the lunch recommendation (Deadrise at old point comfort, next to the marina and had some amazingly awesome hushpuppies!)
By the time we were back at the car, the sun was out! What a nice visit to the Fort Monroe National Monument!
