DAY 08 – Exploring the Outer Banks
Elizabethan Gardens – Wright Brothers National Memorial
After our wonderful drive down to Ocracoke yesterday, we wanted to spend the day exploring local attractions around Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills, and Manteo.
Our first stop will be the Elizabethan Gardens in nearby Manteo, near the spot where Sir Walter Raleigh’s lost colonists lived 400 years ago.
Our day started out with another beautiful sunrise from our private patio.
Looks like another nice day on the Outer Banks!
Just a short 15-minute drive from the hotel is the Elizabethan Gardens of Manteo.
History of the Elizabethan Gardens
Walking from the parking lot to the Elizabethan Gardens entrance. This is only 500 yards or so from the outdoor amphitheater where the “Lost Colony” play is performed every summer to thousands of visitors.
This plaque is by the entrance to the Elizabethan Gardens.
Once we paid our modest entry fee ($12 / $11 Military), we started walking the 1-2 mile loop through the gardens.
All Elizabethan Gardens were built around geometric patterns. Very symmetrical.
It wouldn’t be an Elizabethan garden without…….. the Queen! Statue of Queen Elizabeth I.
This statue of Virginia Dare caught our eye, and not just because she was only half-dressed. Beautiful symmetry and setting with the flowers and trees. This statue has a long and turbulent history. (Read on)
From the Elizabethan Gardens website: Down the steps to the east is a Carrara marble statue of Virginia Dare, which is the sculptor’s idealized version of what Virginia Dare would have looked like had she grown to womanhood. An American sculptor Maria Louise Lander, in Rome in 1859, carved it. After an incredibly hectic existence, including two years at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean due to shipwreck off the coast of Spain, a tenure in the State Hall of History in Raleigh in the early twenties where it become a controversial work of art, a short stay with the Pulitzer prize-winning Paul Green at his estate, “The Oaks”, near Chapel Hill who decided to give it to The Gardens, the statue of Virginia Dare finally came to rest about one hundred years after its creation by Miss. Lander. Today Virginia Dare stands at the place of her birth in her own niche at the foot of an ancient live oak, gazing dreamily beyond the trees toward the softened surge of nearby Roanoke Sound. Instead of schoolbooks, she holds a fishnet draped about her waist. About her neck and arms she wears the Indian laces of an Indian princess. Instead of a royal greyhound, a royal heron accompanies her. An Indian legend persists that Virginia did grow up among the Indians and that her spirit roams Roanoke in the form of a white doe. Whatever one elects to believe, Maria Louise Lander’s sculpture, Virginia Dare, stands serenely fixed in The Elizabethan Gardens, a figure of quiet hope, wide-browed and intelligent, the first child of the first colony of Elizabethan England, gazing toward the future despite the odds of the history, mystery and fantasy that surround her.
More information on Virginia Dare.
Virginia Dare statue.
Enjoying the walking trails through the Elizabethan Gardens.
Lots of hanging moss on many of the trees.
The trail comes out by the edge of the Roanoke and Albemarle Sounds.
This gazebo by the waterfront is a popular wedding venue.
Still more beautiful walking trails through the gardens.
Another fountain. In true Elizabethan style, everything is symmetrical and walkways radiate out in all directions.
(Left) “Pan Flute Fountain” statue (Right) “Boy With The Pillow Seat” Not sure why people pile up pine cones???
Camellias are often called “The Rose Of Winter.” There are more than 125 species here in this collection.
Sometimes we miss this beauty right under our noses. This is a photo of the ground covered with old leaves, pine needles and pinecones.
Another beautiful walkway through the Elizabethan Gardens.
“Ancient Live Oak.” This tree was believed to be living when the colonists arrived in 1585. Much has been done to keep it alive.
One last walkway photo as we near the end of the loop.
We stopped in the Visitor Center and looked at some of the paintings and informative posters in the hallway. (Queen Elizabeth I)
Our last garden to explore is the Rose Garden. Many different varieties!
Roses and an optimistic message on the sundial in the Rose Garden.
It’s hard for Beth to pass up a plant sale, but she realized it would be hard to keep in the hot car. So sad!
Our next stop is lunch! We wanted to try O’Neal’s Sea Harvest, located in Wanchese – on the way to our next destination, the Wright Brothers’ National Memorial. O’Neal’s says on its ad: “Come Where It’s Caught, Cleaned, and Cooked.” Gotta try that!
Looks great! Around back is the harbor and all of the fishing boats.
Plain and simple – Just the way we like our restaurants.
Want to take your fish home with you and cook it there? No problem.
Photos can’t capture the wonderful smell of fresh seafood. Mmmmmm.
So many choices! (More to come!)
Still more to choose from! All fresh – not frozen.
If you haven’t found one that looks good by now, turn around and head to fast food.
Maybe you’re feeling crabby today?
Time to Order – We chose the “Today’s Catch” Black Drum with fries.
While we waited for our food, I watched this guy skillfully cutting up a Yellow-Fin Tuna. Truly an artist!
It doesn’t get any fresher than this!
Lunch is served! Absolutely delicious!!
Our next stop is Kill Devil Hills, site where Orville and Wilbur Wright succeeded in the first powered flight by man in 1903.
Copy of the Wright Flyer. The original is in the National Air & Space Museum in Washington DC.
We stopped in the Visitor Center to get our National Park Passport stamped. You can see the hilltop monument in the distance.
We will be outside next to see the original site of the first flights and to walk up to the monument.
In this photo, you can see the original launch point (boulder) and landing spots for the first 4 flights. (Group of 3 then 1 in the far distance)
Plaque on the boulder marking the take-off spot for the first flights.
This photo shows the launching rail and landing spots for the first 4 flights.
We hiked up to the hilltop monument.
We made it to the top!
Statues of Orville and Wilbur at the monument.
Hey, look, they put my name on the monument!
View inside the monument.
Inscription on the wall inside the monument.
View looking down from the monument to the visitor center and the Kitty Hawk area. The Atlantic Ocean is visible to the right.
Our next stop after the Wright Brothers National Monument was Jockey’s Ridge. This large sand dune is a popular spot to visit. This was one of the spots we visited 40 years ago on our honeymoon.
Time to head back to the room, but were ready to eat – AGAIN! Haha. Mike and Beth Everton had also recommended Sugar Creek Seafood Restaurant, so we decided to go there for an early supper.
Sugar Creek Seafood Restaurant, located right on the Roanoke Sound.
Enjoying the nice waterfront view while waiting for dinner.
Since we had a big lunch, we decided to split a broiled tuna meal. Delicious!
After dinner, it was time to head back to the hotel, grab some wine and cheese from the lobby, and enjoy the end of another wonderful day.
Tomorrow, we will be leaving early to start heading west along the northern edge of North Carolina. We plan to visit two large arboretum/flower gardens along the way in Raleigh and Durham. See you in the morning!
Proceed to DAY 09