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Virginia

The Best of Norfolk & the Virginia International Tattoo

Program No. 18354RJ

Discover military and art culture in Norfolk, then experience the nation’s largest military musical celebration at the Virginia International Tattoo, a tradition dating back to 1600.

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Festivals, Misc.Music Appreciation

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5 days

4 nights

8 meals

4B 1L 3D

Check-In, Registration, Welcome Dinner, Orientation, History

Norfolk, VA

Norfolk Botanical Garden, Fort Monroe/Casemate Museum

Norfolk, VA

Nauticus, Victory Rover, Chrysler Museum, MacArthur Memorial

Norfolk, VA

Parade of Nations, Behind the Scenes at Tattoo, Tattoo

Norfolk, VA

Wrap up

Norfolk, VA

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At a Glance

Adapted from a 17th-century European tradition of “taptoe,” a process of notifying innkeepers to turn off the tap and send soldiers back to their barracks, the term “tattoo” now represents a grand display of military music. At the Virginia International Tattoo, the largest one in the U.S., enjoy a range of internationally influenced performances from traditional military displays featuring drums, trumpets and drill to more modern lyrical and theatrical shows. Then, enhance your festival experience by learning more about Norfolk’s local military history with field trips by land and sea to General MacArthur’s Memorial and the harbor that’s home to the world’s largest naval base and America’s Atlantic Fleet. Sans ink and needle, this military and music-filled adventure is sure to leave a permanent impression.

Activity Level

Keep the Pace

Walking up to 2.5 miles per day, covering multiple city blocks and over uneven terrain and city sidewalks; periods of standing and walking are required through the various museums, gardens and for the Behind the Scenes tour at the Scope Arena. There are stairs for both the parade seating and Tattoo performance in addition to the steps on the motor coach.

Best of all, you’ll…

Admire the Parade of Nations from reserved seats before exploring the Scope Arena with event directors for a behind-the-scenes look at the Virginia International Tattoo.
Enjoy a Road Scholar exclusive private musical performance and narrated Norfolk Naval Base cruise.
Delve deeper into the art culture of Norfolk with an adventure to the Norfolk Botanical Garden and a docent-led excursion at the Chrysler Museum of Art.

General Notes

Please note that this program utilizes both motorcoach and the Tide, Norfolk's Light Rail system.

Featured Expert

All trip experts

Deb Fox

Deborah Fox has been involved in the hospitality and tourism business for over 20 years and has led Road Scholar groups for almost a decade. She currently lives in New York, leading groups through the New England states and along the East Coast, providing fun and historical information for visitors to the region. Her current projects involve everything from railroading and travel to promoting rail travel throughout New England.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Deb Fox View biography

Linda Culpepper View biography

Linda Culpepper is a lifelong resident of Coastal Virginia with extensive knowledge from growing up on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia Beach. Linda also has extensive knowledge of New England and enjoys leading groups through the northern states during the spring, summer and fall seasons. She attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She retired from Sentara Healthcare in 2016 after 27 years as a rehab operations manager, and started Culpepper Tours in 2018.

Suggested Reading List (6 books)

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You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.

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The Best of Norfolk & the Virginia International Tattoo

Program Number: 18354

The Norfolk Botanical Garden: A Natural Treasure (America Through Time)

by Amy Waters Yarsinske

Norfolk Botanical Garden thrives as a testament to Fred Heutte’s visionary dream of beauty and community. The question posed at the beginning of this narrative asked why a botanical garden for Norfolk and the answer, to be certain, is the story told in the book itself. But it is also answered in the connection each of us make to this special place, whether we live in Hampton Roads or are just visiting. Gardens should surprise and comfort you. Anatole France (1844-1924), the French poet, journalist, and novelist, could have been addressing countryman and father of the Norfolk Botanical Garden Fred Heutte when he sagely observed: "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan but also believe." Fred Heutte was a dreamer with a plan who believed that the garden he shepherded for nearly three decades would ultimately fulfill its destiny and take an honored place among the United States' premier botanical gardens-and it has.

Naval Station Norfolk

by Hampton Roads Naval Historical Foundation

Straight from the archives of the Hampton Roads Naval Historical Foundation comes this visual history dating back over the installation's more-than 100 year history. Naval Station Norfolk is the world's largest naval station, supporting the Navy ships, submarines, and aircraft of the US Fleet Forces Command with a multitude of facilities and services. This shore establishment, located on the historic harbor of Hampton Roads, Virginia, has remained vital to the Navy since its foundation in 1917. Once established, the naval station focused on serving the fleet in four areas: aviation, recruit training, a submarine base, and a supply base. Men and women of the station continued to work on these and other activities through the pressures of World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Throughout its incredible history, Naval Station Norfolk made sure that ships and aircraft were successfully deployed to the far reaches of the globe--the nation's indispensable response to international conflicts. Nowadays, the station is the hub for Navy logistics supporting the defense of the entire Atlantic area, from the North Pole to the South Pole. A must-have for fans of United States Naval and military history.

Fort Monroe (Images of America)

by Paul S. Morando & David J. Johnson

This volume will highlight more than 140 years of images that capture Fort Monroe's varied missions, historic buildings, the families who lived there, the resort hotels, and other aspects of this unique national landmark. Fort Monroe was once a powerful symbol of America's national defense system. From 1823 to 1945, its primary military mission was to protect Hampton Roads and the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay from enemy attacks. Over the years, as military technology advanced, Fort Monroe's defensive posture changed. To counter potential threats, American coastal defense installations such as Fort Monroe developed sophisticated steel disappearing guns, mortars, anti-aircraft weapons, and submarine mines. As the site of the army's Coast Artillery School, Fort Monroe trained thousands of soldiers. After World War II, Fort Monroe's role as a coastal defense installation ended, and the post took on new missions as a training headquarters facility. With more than 200 original photographs, this volume unveils the layered history of this massive stone-and-brick installation from the end of the Civil War to the present.

Legacy: Walter Chrysler Jr. and the Untold Story of Norfolk's Chrysler Museum of Art

by Peggy Earle

The Norfolk museum that would one day bear the Chrysler name was always a good museum of its kind, home to a respectable collection serving a smallish city. But when Norfolk native Jean Outland married Walter Chrysler, heir to the automobile manufacturing fortune and an avid art collector, the museum found a person with whom its fortunes would be intertwined, sometimes spectacularly, for decades to come. Walter had already established a Chrysler Museum in Provincetown, Massachusetts, but in 1971—in need of more space and, admittedly, a fresh start—he relocated the operation to Norfolk. In Legacy, Peggy Earle paints a vivid picture of this provincial museum’s transformation into one of the finest art museums on the East Coast. She also delivers a captivating portrait of Walter Chrysler, a generous and demanding man who found in art patronage a focus not only for his wealth but also for his tremendous energy. Not content to merely admire the work, Walter had a naturally gregarious side and was apt to deal with artists such as Pablo Picasso directly. And yet he was also intensely private. Earle provides readers with a fascinating view of the politics of the museum world, where even good relationships are never uncomplicated. (The addition of the Chrysler collection’s works to the museum was not unanimously applauded by the community; nor was it a foregone conclusion that, upon Chrysler’s death, the pieces would even stay with the museum.) This lively account of the unlikely union between an arts maverick and a city on the cusp of cultural evolution sheds new light on how great art finds a place to call home.

Historic Photos of Norfolk

by Peggy Haile McPhillips

From Norfolk Naval Base, the world's largest naval base, to the Norfolk Southern Railway, one of North America's largest railroads, Historic Photos of Norfolk is a photographic history collected from the areas top archives. With around 200 photographs, many of which have never been published, this beautiful coffee table book shows the historical growth from the mid 1800's to the late 1900's in stunning black and white photography. The book follows life, government, events and people important to Norfolk and the building of this unique city. Spanning over two centuries and two hundred photographs, this is a must have for any long-time resident or history lover of Norfolk!

Norfolk: A People's History

by Ruth A.Rose

With Norfolk: A People's History, Ruth A. Rose takes a fresh look at the people who made Norfolk but who are often overlooked in other versions of the city's history.

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The Best of Norfolk & the Virginia International Tattoo

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At a Glance

Best of all, you’ll…

General Notes

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