Olde Towne FirstEvents Features Opening Reception, Free Music & Much More!

Thank goodness spring has finally arrived and has luck has it, good weather for this weekend’s Olde Towne Portsmouth FirstEvents. Held the first full weekend of each month, Olde Towne Portsmouth's business community and the City of Portsmouth Museums offers free concerts, events and activities including the Olde towne Antiques to Flea Market, free museum admissions, an exhibit opening and a lot more. Here’s a listing of some of the events available to you during April’s Olde Towne Portsmouth FirstEvents weekend!

Friday, April 4

Concert In the Courtyard - Free Music Series

5PM - 8 PM

Celtibillies & Good Foot Dance

Enjoy music in the courtyard from the Celtibillies & Good Foot Dance. Presented by the Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center and PortsEvents. Admission is free as part of our First Weekend programming series. Corner of High & Court St. , 393-8543

Friday, April 4

Changing Appalachia: Custom to Cutting Edge

Opening Reception: 5PM – 8 PM

Drawing from an abundance of natural resources from the Appalachian region, artists and artisans adapt the heritage of mountain culture by assimilating new ideas and innovating on the old to create dynamic craft and visual art.  The exhibit offers maps, photos of the region, paintings, glass, textiles, ceramics and baskets to showcase the diversity of the region.

Admission is free as part of our First Weekend programming series.

Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center

Olde Towne Antiques to Flea Mark

Saturday, April 5

Olde Towne Antiques to Flea Market

10AM - 2 PM

Held inside the Middle Street Garage, corner of London and Middle Street.

Great finds of all kinds! The Olde Towne Portsmouth Antiques to Flea Market is this Saturday. Antiques to Flea Market Visit the Olde Towne Portsmouth Antiques to Flea Market the first Saturday of each month and hunt through the eclectic collection of unique and antique wares. With over 70 dealers and vendors exhibiting, you will discover a great selection of antique and estate furniture, architectural antiques, china, silverware, art and prints, sporting gear, musical instruments, books and ephemera, hand-made crafts and toys, as well as decorative accessories and flea market items of all types and one-of-a-kind items priced to sell. Free Admission & Free Parking.

Olde Towne Business Association

Don't forget that Olde Towne has some of the best antique shops, art galleries and specialty stores anywhere in Coastal Virginia and beyond. Great shops and nurseries for your spring gardening too! Top it off with a delicious meal in one of Olde Towne's chef-owned and run restaurants. Make a day or a complete weekend of it and discover what Olde Towne has to offer!

Bank of America MuseumsR on Us

Saturday, April 5th  9 AM - 5 PM

Sunday, April  6th  11 AM - 5 PM

The Children's Museum of Virginia is proud to participate in the Museums on Us® program sponsored by Bank of America, which provides cardholders FREE access to some of the nation's finest arts, cultural and educational institutions during the first full weekend of every month. For details, visit  http://www.childrensmuseumva.com/bank-of-america-museums-on-us.html

Family Fun and Activities at The Children’s Museum of Virginia:

221 High Street

757-393-5258

www.childrensmuseumva.com

Saturday, April 5

Noon - 4 PM

Nano Day at the Children's Museum

Participate in experiments check out interactive demonstrations and meet the scientists who bring this cutting-edge technology to our everyday life.  Your eyes will be Huge after seeing these activities about this small-scale science!  Co-hosted by Norfolk State University. Included with museum admission. Free for members.

Treehouses - Look Who's Living In Trees!

On display NOW – May 17 at the Children’s Museum of Virginia

Spend some time hanging out in the trees. Immerse yourself in an indoor tree house and explore first hand who lives in trees. This traveling exhibit is on loan from Sciencenter- Ithaca, New York and was developed by EEC! The Environmental Exhibit Collaborative. Included with admission. Free for members.

Saturday, April 5

2 PM at The Commodore Theatre

421 High Street

The Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center Presents STORIES & SONGS: Appalachian Ballads and Ballad Books

Book-signing and Presentation with Sharyn McCrumb, Katie Hoffman, and Jack Hinshelwood

In coordination with PACC’s Changing Appalachia exhibit, the Commodore Theatre will host award-winning Southern writer, Sharyn McCrumb, who is best known for her Appalachian Ballad novels including many New York Times Best-Sellers such as The Ballad of Frankie Silver, She Walks These Hills, The Ballad of Tom Dooley, and St. Dale, winner of a Library of Virginia Award. McCrumb will be joined by Katie Hoffman and Jack Hinshelwood for a discussion on ballads and ballad books. To make reservations or for more information, please visit the Gallery Shop at 420 High Street or call 757-393-8543.

Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center

Crackerjacks and Grand Slams

10 AM - 5 PM

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum and Lightship Portsmouth Museum

2 High Street on the Portsmouth, Virginia Waterfront

757-393-8591

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum

Come and discover the history of baseball in Portsmouth!  Did you know Portsmouth had its own Cubs team?  Who were the “Truckers” and how did they get that name?  Come on “in-ning” and enjoy crafts and activities celebrating a true American pastime.  Admission is free as part of our First Weekend programming series.

First Sunday Breakfast, Brunch or Lunch

Enjoy liesure Sunday dining in one of Olde Towne's exceptional restaurants. Olde Towne Portsmouth has become well-known for it's selection of outstanding dining establishments.  Call your favorite Olde Towne Restaurant today for details!

Portsmouth Virginia offers great sightseeing, seafood and a view into U.S. naval history

Anchor in front of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum.

Virtual Cruise of the East Coast: Portsmouth, Virginia

 Re-posted in part from the article written by George Sass Sr. / Published: October 1, 2013 Yachting Magazine. Photos added for story enhancement.

Our next leg takes us 50 miles south to Portsmouth, Virginia, where we plan to stay a couple of days to re-provision, see the sights and visit family in Virginia Beach. The marinas in the area are spread out between Hampton and Newport News on the north side of the Hampton Roads waterways, and Norfolk and Portsmouth on the south. Virginia Beach, southeast of Norfolk, also has a number of marinas accessible from the Atlantic Ocean by navigating the sometimes-tricky Rudee Inlet.

As we make our approach to Portsmouth, we pass Naval Station Norfolk on Sewell’s Point, where we get a glimpse of a couple of aircraft carriers and guided-missile destroyers in port. Naturally, we give this area a wide berth, staying closer to the west side of the deep channel. This impressive facility supports up to 75 ships serving in the Atlantic and Indian oceans as well as the Mediterranean Sea.

Mile marker "0" AICW is located between Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia.  Photo by Allen Graves.

Over the years, we've found the Portsmouth area to be the most accommodating for us when traveling up and down the ICW. It’s close to mile zero of the ICW, and its renovated waterfront provides an attractive expanse of public green space and walking paths. An added bonus is that it’s just across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk’s Nauticus marine museum and science center, the tour-able battleship USS Wisconsin and the Waterside Festival Marketplace. We choose the Tidewater Yacht Marina for its comfortable amenities and convenient location to Portsmouth’s Olde Towne section.

After getting settled in at the marina, we walk to North Landing Park, one of the landings for the ferry to Norfolk’s Waterside. Following the waterfront for a couple of blocks, we come to High Street Park, another ferry landing where we find a number of cruising boats tied to the bulkhead for free. There’s no electricity or water, and while there are signs posted that say overnight docking is not allowed, we’re told that a couple of these snowbirds have been here for a day or two without being hassled by city officials.

On the corner of High and Water streets is the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum. Covering 250 years of maritime history, the museum offers a look back at how America’s oldest and largest naval shipyard came to be so influential during Colonial days, the Civil War and especially recent times. Nearby, the U.S. lightship Portsmouth, built in 1915, is on display. We continue our walk along the city’s Path of History and discover a pavilion displaying the immense Fresnel lens from Hog Island Light, which began its service in 1896. At 10 feet high and weighing 1,500 pounds, it’s one of the largest and brightest lenses of its kind.

Riverfront pavilion displaying the immense Fresnel lens from Hog Island Light. Photo by Joe Elder.

Walking west on High Street toward Olde Towne, we pass the Children’s Museum of Virginia, which we've heard is the perfect place to stop when cruising with kids. Fun train rides and the new Bubble Room are designed to keep the little ones entertained for hours. For us, though, it’s happy hour, so we stop at the recently reopened Gosport Tavern on High Street for an early dinner of good old-fashioned fish ’n’ chips.

The Gosport Tavern located at 702 High Street, Olde Towne Portsmouth, VA  Photo by Joe Elder.

Here is a link to the complete article online from Yachting Magazine website.

The Keels of Victory: the City and the Shipyard, 1921-1945

Launching of the U.S. Ship Shagri-La

Laying Down Keels of Victory in the Newest Exhibit at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum

Opening on June 4, 2010, is the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum’s newest permanent exhibit, The Keels of Victory: the City and the Shipyard, 1921-1945. The exhibit will discuss the history of Portsmouth and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard during the 1920’s and the Great Depression. The exhibit will also examine the role of the city and the shipyard during World War II. Topics highlighted in the exhibit will   include  warship construction, Portsmouth’s wartime homefront, and the shipyard’s “Rosie the Riveters.” Keels of Victory opens with a reception from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm on June 4th inside the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum. Enjoy refreshments, living history, and World War II era music while touring our newest exhibit

The opening weekend activities continue at the museum on Saturday, June 5th, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Discover the rigors of shipbuilding through hands-on activities, talk with costumed World War II soldiers & sailors, and learn about the role of lightships during the war as you walk the decks of the Lightship Portsmouth. As a part of our First Saturday programs, admission will be FREE to both the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum and Lightship Portsmouth!

To find out more about this special program please contact Corey Thornton at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum at (757) 393-8591. http://www.portsnavalmuseums.com/