Old Point Comfort Lighthouse

A squat octagonal sandstone tower of 1802 on the tip of the peninsula, and the oldest lighthouse still in operation on Chesapeake Bay. British forces used it as an observation post during the War of 1812 and shelled the tower on their way past.

It is small — 54 feet — and you cannot go inside, since it remains an active aid to navigation run by the Coast Guard with the keeper's quarters in private use. What you get is the setting: the light standing on the seawall with the bay traffic, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel out on the horizon and the bulk of Fort Monroe behind.

Free, always visible, five minutes' walk from the fort's east gate. Sunrise over the bay from here is the local photograph.