Top Things to Do in Norfolk

Norfolk spreads itself across the lower lip of Chesapeake Bay like a sailor who's come home to stay, equal parts salt-stained work boots and pressed whites. The air carries diesel from the navy yards at one moment and honeysuckle from the Elizabeth River the next. Gulls wheel over destroyers while jazz leaks from a Waterside café. First-timers should know this is not a theme-park navy town: it's an active port where 62 ships may sail before dawn, where captains still salute on the bridge wings, and where a bartender on Granby Street can tell you which carrier left by the taste of the breeze. Come ready to taste briny Lynnhaven oysters, to hear tattoo guns in the NEON District, and to feel the wooden slats of the Battleship Wisconsin warm under your palm at sunset. Norfolk's weather swings mild in shoulder seasons, April jasmine, October camellia. But summer steams and winter can whip up a bay gale that rattles harbor cranes. Book dinner cruises and harbor tours early. The water is the city's main stage and seats sell out when sailors return. Save cash by riding the Tide light rail: it skims straight from the airport past most major sights for less than a latte. When you board, sit forward on the right, the river opens like a gray-blue blade and you'll spot masts before buildings.