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Fun, Learning, & Play in Outer Banks, NC
By Bonnie Neely, Photos by Jim Burgess
When you are in the Outer Banks area of North Carolina, you must see the first and longest running outdoor symphonic drama in the United States: The Lost Colony in the Fort Raleigh National Park at Manteo, NC. Arrive early so you can take in the history and programs at the National Park Visitor Center. The play began in 1937 and has run continuously with the exception of one year during World War II. The production will help your children understand the early settlement of the United States in a meaningful and memorable way. This play, in the beautiful amphitheater beneath the stars, is a dramatic presentation of the history of the area and of the early beginnings of the British settlement of America. It was here in the colony that pre-dated Pilgrims by nearly three decades that Virginia Dare was born, the first English child born in what became the United States. The dramatic production is well staged and has professional cast who do an excellent job. The exquisite new costumes were designed by three times Tony award winning William Ivey Long (assisted by Carl V. Curnutte III) from famous portraits of the period. Queen Elizabeth I looks as if she walked right off the Sixteenth Century canvas! Each of the two new gowns she wears cost $25,000! Be sure to make your reservations early for the production, which runs nightly except Sundays from April through October. In case of rain, money is automatically refunded if you cannot make it to another performance within two weeks. Be sure to wear insect repellent and take a jacket. Call 866-468-7630 or click www.thelostcolony.org here for reservations.
Children will love visiting The North Carolina Aquariums at Manteo, an extremely well-done and relatively small establishment. The entrance is dramatic, with the ceiling beams like the hull of a ship and the floor painted to show the islands and Sound and Ocean. Each huge tank is a beautiful habitat showing the marine species indigenous to the North Carolina coastal area. The aquaria décor is well-done, and the wall markers are easy to read to identify each species. There are numerous friendly docents who are well trained and skilled at answering most any questions. The touch tank features many local creatures you might encounter on the beach and some you may never see, but which you can carefully touch here and learn about. In a second touch tank you can gently pat rays of several types and watch a conch emerge from his shell and suction onto the glass. The largest tank has a sunken one-third replica of the Monitor, the first iron-clad battle ship, which sank off Cape Hatteras while being towed to harbor following a Civil War battle in Charleston, SC. This sea-weed covered replica, as well as the historic Monitor at the bottom of the seacoast nearby, serve as fish habitats and breeding grounds now. For more information call 252-473-3493, or click here
Next we headed for the Elizabethan Gardens, a Must See for any time of year! In the 1950's all the garden clubs of North Carolina collected money to build these gardens on land they leased from the National Park Service. And what a treasure they created! The acreage was just a bramble of forest in sandy beach soil when they purchased it, but they carefully planned the dramatically beautiful plantings around the huge old trees, carefully preserving tall pines and hardwoods. There is even a large grassy field, which celebrates the live oaks that date back to the mid 1500's and were here to shelter the early settlers! The garden architects used bricks hand-made in local kilns in the 1890's to make sure the garden walls and walkways and the Visitor Entrance shop had the look of very old structures from the beginning. Fountains and statuary by famous artisans were donated and add much to the formality and authenticity of the English gardens which the first settlers left behind in England during Elizabethan times. You'll meander through deeply shaded walking paths banked by huge azaleas, camellias, and magnolias. Flowers of every kind create beauty year-round, and the shade and cool are refreshing during any season. Bordering on the Sound, the back area of the gardens features a thatch-roofed gazebo for reading or dreaming. You can purchase plants or many other garden treasures for home and yard in the wonderful gift shop, and your money will go to help perpetuate this beautiful place. All the garden clubs continue to send some money each month. Don't miss this peaceful and restorative, cool place. Although you could enjoy a half-day, allow a minimum of an hour. The walkways are level and some are brick, some are pinestraw. Call 252-473-3234, as times vary with the season. It is open seven days a week. 
In Manteo you must take several hours or days to enjoy Festival Park, which celebrates history, education and the arts. If you haven't already purchased your Queen's Pass, which gives you a 25% reduction to all these attractions, you may purchase tickets at the Arrival Center and see the introductory film. You'll enjoy programs and going aboard the Elizabeth II, a representation of the 16th century English merchant ship Elizabeth, one of the seven ships used in the three voyages financed by Sir Walter Raleigh for the British to first settle this area in the 1580's. Although not an exact replica of the ships used in those voyages, since no drawings of those exist, Elizabeth II faithfully represents the ships of that era, which were the same size. They had the ballast weight record to determine the correct size of the original ships. It is a fascinating tour with guides in period costumes answering any questions. The size of the cramped quarters make us wonder what possessed anyone to take such a voyage to unknown lands and circumstances!Nearby is the representative 1580's settlement village, with canvas tents, metal tools and weapons, cooking utensils, and implements for farming and survival. Costumed docents do a good job of explaining the difficult way of life in the first American British settlement. You should allow at least two hours for this visit, and much more could be enjoyed.
The wonderful Roanoke Adventure Museum is an excellent explanation of the dangers of these treacherous shores on which over 650 ships have sunk and thousands of people have lost their lives. The weather and seas and sandbar dangers of both Ocean and Sound are explained with details of pirates and the seaman's life from 1500's to present. The small museum is a marvelous treasure of facts and understanding, a fun place for children to have hands-on learning adventures, and a great place for real ship enthusiasts to spend a whole day of learning.
Just outside the Visitor Center is the perfect place for those who are not so enthusiastic with the learning or don't want to spend any more time or money in the excellent and numerous shops that abound in the Manteo Water Front: There on the huge porch you'll find many rocking chairs for resting in the cool breezes and shade while your kids (or maybe some grown-up kids) can have a wonderful exploration looking for fossils just in front of you. The Visitor Center has provided a huge box of real fossils and shells and gravel in which to sit and scoop handfuls of the mixture in search of real fossil shells and shark teeth. Although I never found any in the half hour we spent resting and searching, the young mother and child next to us found a whole plastic bag of tiny shark teeth and other fossils, to the great delight of all the children searching! What a wonderful and thoughtful playground!You can purchase the Queen's Pass, an all-inclusive ticket for all these attractions for a 25 percent discount, and the total cost is minimal. Inquire at the NC Visitor Center, or at each attraction. Or call 252-475-1506 or click here.
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