So we’ve rewound the clock since the Puritans got a shock when they landed on Plymouth Rock and say… Virginia Beach beat them to it.
And with thanks to Porter and Gershwin and because anything goes we’re retelling the story of New America’s birth.
Because the first landfall of English settlers in the Americas actually took place in what is now Virginia Beach in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
On April 26, 1607, English settlers first came ashore at Cape Henry, in present-day Virginia Beach.
The area was originally home to the Chesepian tribe, who had lived there for generations.
Those same settlers would go on to establish Jamestown, recognised as the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
Life’s a beach
Today Virginia Beach is a vibrant coastal city just southeast of Washington DC.
Offering 38 miles of Atlantic coastline, more than 200 miles of waterways, and a thriving food and arts scene.
And all that history of more than 250 years… more 419.
With the beacon of hope and Old World meets New World enlightenment centred around Cape Henry Lighthouse
The first public works project authorised by the US government, this landmark marks where English settlers first set foot in 1607.
The First Landing
Then there’s the First Landing State Park.
This largely untouched park offers miles of trails and waterways through cypress swamps, sand dunes and coastal scenery.
And where there’s parks there’s historic houses, some of the oldest surviving in North America.
The Thoroughgood House, a designated National Historic Landmark, offers insight into early colonial life.
Lynnhaven House, undergoing renovation, with limited preservation tours available, is one of the best-preserved examples.
While the Francis Land House provides another window into 18th-century living.
The Auld Triangle
History tourists will shape up then for The Historic Triangle.
Around an hour’s drive away, Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown together chart the evolution of early America.
From first settlement to revolution.
Virginia Beach provides an ideal coastal base from which to explore these landmark sites.
The world’s your oyster
And eat it all up with a farm visit at the Pleasure House Oyster Farm.
The Lynnhaven oysters, named for the river, have a direct link to early colonial history.
They were among the first foods enjoyed by Captain John Smith and the Jamestown settlers in 1607.
And, of course, visitors from the Old World now arriving by air to Washington Dulles Airport rather than ships.
