If you're planning to visit many of the attractions on Roanoke Island, a Roanoke Island Attractions Pass or Queen's Pass will save you up to 25 percent of the admission fees. The Attractions Pass combines admission to the North Carolina Aquarium, The Elizabethan Gardens, and Roanoke Island Festival Park for $17.00 for adults and $8.25 for children ages five and older. The Queen's Pass allows admission to the same three attractions, plus The Lost Colony, for $31.00 for adults and $16.25 for ages five and older. Children younger than age five can visit all of these attractions except The Lost Colony for free. The passes are good for one calendar year and are available at the local attractions and the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.

The Elizabethan Gardens
Off US 64, Roanoke Island
(252) 473-3234
www.elizabethangardens.org

Six full-time gardeners tend more than 1,000 varieties of trees, shrubs, and flowers in the Elizabethan Gardens. The tree- lined landscape is divided into a dozen gardens, where translucent emerald grass fringes marble fountains, and beauty blooms from every crevice.

Visitors enter at the Gate House into formal gardens along curving walkways carefully crafted from brick and sand. The bricks were handmade at the Silas Lucas Kiln, in operation during the late 1800s in Wilson, North Carolina.

Although this botanical refuge is breathtakingly beautiful all year, vibrant with seasonal colors and fragrances, it is perhaps the most striking in spring. Azaleas, dogwood, pansies, wisteria, and tulips bloom around every bend. Rhododendron, roses, lacecap, and other hydrangea appear in May. Summer brings fragrant gardenias, colorful annuals and perennials, magnolia, crape myrtle, Oriental lilies, and herbs. Chrysanthemums and the changing colors of leaves signal the beginning of fall, and camellias bloom from fall all the way through the winter.

In the center of the paths, six marble steps down from the rest of the greenery, sits the crown jewel of the Elizabethan Gardens: a sunken garden, complete with Roman statuary, tiered fountains, and low shrubs pruned into geometric flower frames. The famous Virginia Dare statue nearby is based on an Indian legend that says Virginia, the first English child born in America, grew up among Native Americans (see the Roanoke Island section of our Area Overview chapter).

A wonderful treat is to see an outdoor (weather permitting) performance of Elizabeth R. This one-woman, hour-long show features Queen Elizabeth I in her full regalia and is held on summer Tuesdays at 2:30 P.M. (See more about Elizabeth R later in this chapter.)

The gardens are closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. From March through November, the gardens open at 9:00 A.M., and closing time varies depending on the season (between 5:00 and 7:00 P.M.). The gardens are open daily from 10:00 A.M.to 4:00 P.M. in December, January, and February. When The Lost Colony is running, the gardens stay open until 8:00 P.M.so that visitors can tour the gardens then head next door to see the outdoor drama. Garden admission is $6.00 for adults, $4.00 for youths ages 6 through 18, $5.00 for adults age 62 and older, and free for children younger than age 5 when accompanied by an adult. Season passes are available. Wheelchairs are provided. Most paths are wheelchair accessible. Some plants are for sale in the garden gift shop. A meeting room is available for a fee to community groups up to 100 people. The gardens also are a favorite wedding locale (see our Weddings chapter).

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Off US 64, Roanoke Island
(252) 473-5772
www.nps.gov/fora

Designated as a National Historic Site in 1941, this more than 500-acre expanse of woods includes the "outerwork"-an area built intentionally away from living space-along with a soundside beach, the National Park Service's Cape Hatteras National Seashore headquarters, the Fort Raleigh Visitor Center, and nature trails. The Fort Raleigh Visitor Center offers interpretive exhibits in a small museum. The museum is not particularly interesting to children, though adults will be fascinated by the story of the colonists who attempted the first English settlements in the New World. A 17-minute video provides an introduction to the historic site. Also, a 400-year-old Elizabethan room from Heronden Hall in Kent, England, is on display. It was removed from an authentic 16th-century home. The room gives visitors a feel for the type of living accommodations the aristocratic English were used to at the time of the attempted settlements. A gallery inside displays artifacts excavated from the site and copies of watercolors by John White, governor of the Roanoke colony.

Outside, Fort Raleigh has a variety of options for experiencing the history of Roanoke Island. Behind the visitor center is the earthworks, which is not very impressive, but gives you an idea of the original. The Thomas Hariot Nature Trail, named for the scientist who accompanied one of the voyages, winds through the woods behind the visitor center. Hariot's descriptions of the New World are quoted on interpretive signs along the trail. The pine-needle path leads to the sandy shores of Roanoke Sound.

Self-guided tours and tours led by Park Service personnel are available at this archaeologically significant site. Interpretive programs on African-American history, European colonial history, Native American history, and Civil War history are offered in the summer. Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is open year-round from 9:00 A.M.to 5:00 P.M.seven days a week. Hours are extended in the summer. The grounds of Fort Raleigh provide a place for a picnic, especially under the huge live oaks on the grass median of the parking lot. Restrooms are on-site.

Freedmen's Colony Site, Weirs Point, and Fort Huger
Roanoke Island
(252) 473-5772

Next to the beach is an exhibit about the Freedmen's Colony, a community for runaway slaves between 1862 and 1867. During the Civil War, Roanoke Island was seized by Union soldiers in 1862. After that, runaway slaves were welcomed on the island, given food, and allowed to settle in the Union camp. Slaves from all over northeastern North Carolina flocked to the safe haven. Male freed slaves worked for the Union forces for $10 a month plus rations and clothing. Women and children were paid $4.00 a month. In 1863 the colony was officially established, and the freed slaves were given land and agricultural tools. Many of the freed slaves joined the Union effort, but the ones who remained behind were given health and education services. By 1866, however, most of the freedmen were forced to leave. Exhibits at the site explain the story.

In 1901, from a hut on Weirs Point beach, one of the unsung geniuses of the electronic age began investigating what was then called "wireless telegraphy." Reginald Fessenden held hundreds of patents on radiotelepathy and electronics, but he died without any credit for many of them. In a letter dated "April 3, 1902, Manteo," Fessenden tells his patent attorney that "I can now telephone as far as I can telegraph . . . I have sent varying musical notes from Hatteras and received them here with but 3 watts of energy." Thus, the world's first musical radio broadcasts were completed on this soundside sand of the Outer Banks.

About 300 yards north of Weirs Point, under 6 feet of water, lay the remains of Fort Huger. This was the largest Confederate fort on the island when Union troops advanced in 1862. The island migrated quite a bit in the last 140 years; the fort formerly sat securely on solid land.

The Lost Colony
Off US 64, Waterside Theatre
Roanoke Island
(252) 473-3414, (800) 488-5012
www.thelostcolony.org

The Lost Colony is a theatrical account of Sir Walter Raleigh's early explorers, who first settled on the shores near the present-day theater in 1585. (Andy Griffith got his start playing Sir Walter Raleigh for several seasons.) Children and adults are equally captivated by the performers, staging, and music; many locals see the show every year and always find it spellbinding. If you have youngsters, come early and have them sit in the front row by the stage. The closer you sit to the stage, the more you'll enjoy the show.

In 2001 The Lost Colony got a boon when Tony Award-nominated Broadway actor Terrance Mann agreed to direct the show. Mann, who has held principal roles in Cats, Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, and The Scarlet Pimpernel, performed in The Lost Colony as a dancer and in the role of Old Tom before making it big on Broadway. Mann made many changes to the play, returning many of the nostalgic nuances of the glory days of the show. Another famous name associated with the show is William Ivey Long, who won a second Tony Award in 2001 for his costume design work on The Producers. Long has been the costume designer for The Lost Colony for more than 15 years and has been associated with the show since he was a young boy, when his parents worked on The Lost Colony.

It can get chilly in the evenings when the wind blows off the sound, so we recommend sweaters, even in July and August. Mosquitoes at this outdoor drama can be vicious, especially after a rain, so bring plenty of bug repellent. The theater is wheelchair accessible and the staff is glad to accommodate special customers.

Once you arrive, settle back and enjoy a thoroughly professional, well-rehearsed, technically outstanding show. The leads are played by professional actors. Most of the backstage personnel are pros--and it shows. Supporting actors are often locals, with some island residents passing from part to part as they grow up. On August 18, four local infants are chosen to participate in the play in honor of Virginia Dare's birthday. The drama has changed its pricing structure and is now charging slightly more for the best seats in the house (though the theater is so well designed that they're all pretty good). All seats in The Producer's Circle, Rows O through T, which offer the most panoramic view of the show, are $20. General Admission seats are $16.00 for adults, $15.00 for seniors 62 and older, and $8.00 for children 11 and younger. Family nights are Friday and Saturday, when children are admitted at half price ($4.00). Groups of 20 or more may reserve seats for $14 each. Group reservations must be made in advance. The show begins at 8:30 P.M. and runs six nights a week (closed Sunday) from the end of May through late August. This is probably the most popular summertime event on the Outer Banks, so we recommend that you make reservations, though you can try your luck at the door if you wish. Make paid mail reservations by writing The Lost Colony, 1409 U.S. Highway 64/264, Manteo, NC 27954; or reserve tickets by phone. Tickets can also be purchased at 70 outlets across the Outer Banks. Call for locations. If a production is rained out, ticket holders can exchange their passes for another night or get a refund.

North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island
374 Airport Road, Roanoke Island
(252) 473-3494
www.ncaquariums.com

The aquarium offers educational films, lectures, and classes year-round. Field trips to nearby salt marshes and fishing areas are available for a fee. For information about daily programs or special activities, such as crabbing classes, call (252) 473-3494, ext. 242. The gift shop is a real treasure, with a multitude of toys that teach children to think and become environmentally aware. Posters, stuffed animals, gifts, souvenirs, puzzles, games, T-shirts, and more are top-quality and based on a natural theme.

The North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island is open year-round from 9:00 A.M.to 5:00 P.M. daily, except Christmas and New Year's Days. Prices are $7.00 for adults, $6.00 for seniors and active military personnel, and $5.00 for children age 6 to 17. Kids age five and younger are admitted free. Preregistered school groups are granted free admission.

Old Swimming Hole
Airport Road, Roanoke Island
(252) 473-1101, ext. 313

Kitty Hawk Aero Tours
Main Terminal, Airport Road
Manteo Airport, Manteo
(252) 441-TOUR, (877) 274-2461

Biplane flights in an open-air-cockpit authentic 1941 Waco are also available from the same site starting at $88 per person for two passengers. These 15-minute trips take you back in time, complete with goggled leather helmets. Pilots fly south to Bodie Island Lighthouse and back to the Manteo Airport. Air tours are offered year-round, weather permitting. Advance reservations are accepted.

Elizabeth R/Bloody Mary and the Virgin Queen
The Elizabethan Gardens and the Pioneer Theatre
Roanoke Island Festival Park
(252) 473-1061

Mother Vineyard
Off Mother Vineyard Road
Roanoke Island

". . . Being where we first landed very sandy and low toward the water side, but so full of grapes as the very beating and surge of the sea overflowed them, of which we found such plenty, as well there as in all places else, both on the sand and on the green soil, on the hills as in the plains, as well on every little shrub, as also climbing toward the tops of high cedars, that I think in all the world the like abundance is not to be found."

The Mother Vine is one of those grapevines, so old that it may have been planted even before Europeans arrived in the New World. Certainly it was already old in the 1750s, as records attest, and scuppernong grapevines do not grow swiftly. Another story is that this vine was transplanted to Roanoke Island by some of the Fort Raleigh settlers. Whichever story is true, the Mother Vine is more than 400 years old, and it's still producing fine, fat, tasty grapes. In fact, for many years, a small winery owned by the Etheridge family cultivated the vine on Baum's Point, making the original Mother Vineyard wine until the late 1950s.

Mother Vineyard Scuppernong, the Original American Wine, is still produced by a company in Petersburg, Virginia. It is a pink wine, quite sweet, similar to a white port.

The Mother Vine is on private property and a bit out of the way. To find it, drive north from Manteo on U.S. Highway 64. About 0.75 mile past the city limits, turn right onto Mother Vineyard Road. Go less than a half-mile, where the road makes a sharp turn to the right at the sound. About 300 feet past the turn, on the left, the patient old vine endures beneath a canopy of leaves, twisted and gnarled, ancient and enduring. Please stay on the road if you're sneaking a peek.

Downtown Manteo
Off US 64; Queen Elizabeth Avenue and Budleigh and Sir Walter Raleigh Streets
Manteo

When Dare County was formed in 1870, this area along Shallowbag Bay became the county seat. Roanoke Island provided a central location that everyone could reach by boat. It wasn't until 1873, when a post office was established here, that the county seat became known as Manteo. In 1899 Manteo incorporated and became the Town of Manteo. Today hundreds of permanent residents make this Roanoke Island town their home, and many more county residents commute from other towns to work. On Budleigh Street, many of the county and town offices are scattered in older office buildings. Manteo's restaurants, shops, and bed-and-breakfast inns beckon tourists, and thousands of visitors arrive each summer to explore this historic waterfront village. (See the Roanoke Island section of our Area Overview chapter.)

On the docks of Manteo's waterfront, 53 modern dockside slips with 110-and 220-volt electrical hookups offer boaters overnight or long-term anchorage. A comfort station with restrooms, showers, washers, and dryers also serves vessel crews and captains. Shop and dine within walking distance in Manteo--or better yet, bike. This is a town to enjoy on two wheels. Across the street from the waterfront, in the center of the downtown area, independently owned shops, eateries, and businesses offer everything from handmade pottery to books to clothing, all in a 4-square-block area. Around the southeast point of the waterfront, the town's American Bicentennial Park is wedged between the courthouse and a four-story brick building housing shops and condominiums. Picnic benches afford a comfortable place to rest and enjoy the view across the bay to Roanoke Island Festival Park, where the state's replica 16th-century sailing ship Elizabeth II rocks gently on small sound waves. A wood-plank boardwalk leads along the town's waterfront. One end bustles with kayak and boat tours coming and going, boaters docking in the harbor, and tourists strolling along the docks or exploring shops and restaurants. Around the corner is a gazebo for resting and a long pier for fishing or crabbing. A children's playground with equipment is on the corner, as are picnic tables. At the far end of the docks, you'll find a bit of serenity, where the activity diminishes and the only company you'll have is a few cattails.

If, as most visitors do, you reach the Banks via US 158, you can get to Manteo by traveling south until you reach Whalebone Junction. Bear right onto US 64 at the traffic light near RV's restaurant. Continue across the causeway and high-rise bridge past Pirate's Cove, then bear right at the intersection, turning onto 264 business. Turn right at either of the town's first two stoplights to go downtown.

Roanoke Island Festival Park and the Elizabeth II
1 Festival Park, Manteo
(252) 475-1500 (252) 475-1506 24-hour events line
www.roanokeisland.com

Although it was built in 1983, the Elizabeth II's story really began four centuries earlier, when Thomas Cavendish mortgaged his estates to build the Elizabeth for England's second expedition to Roanoke Island. With six other vessels, the original Elizabeth made the first colonization voyage to the New World in 1585 and landed on the Outer Banks.

There wasn't enough information available about the original vessels to reconstruct an exact replica, so shipbuilders used the designs of vessels from 1585 to build the Elizabeth II. Constructed entirely in a wooden structure on the Manteo waterfront, the completed ship slid down hand-greased rails into Shallow- bag Bay in front of a crowd of enthusiastic dignitaries and locals in 1983.

Stretching 69 feet long and 17 feet wide and drawing 8 feet of water, Elizabeth II was funded entirely through private donations. Her decks are hand-hewn from juniper timbers. Her frames, keel, planking, and decks are fastened with 7,000 locust wood pegs.

Every baulk, spar, block, and lift of the ship is as close to authentic as possible, with only three exceptions: a wider upper- deck hatch for easier visitor access; a vertical hatch in the afterdeck to make steering easier for the helmsman; and a controversial pair of diesel engines that were installed in the Elizabeth II in 1993. The 115-horsepower motors help the grand sailing ship move under its own power, instead of relying on expensive tug boats.

First Friday on Roanoke Island is held from 6:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. on the first Friday of each month, beginning in April. Discover the magic of historic downtown Manteo. Locals and visitors mingle at this special night, which offers music, shopping, and dining. For more information call (252) 473-5121.

Now, the vessel can cruise up to 8 knots per hour with no wind and travel for up to 40 hours without refueling its two 150gallon tanks. The state ship stays on the Outer Banks most of the year, but during the off-seasons, it sometimes travels to other North Carolina ports, serving as the state's only moving historic site.

Roanoke Island Festival Park is open year-round. Hours vary according to season. Admission is $8.00 for adults, $5.00 for students, and free for children younger than age five. Group rates are available. Call ahead for a schedule of events.

Illuminations Summer Arts Festival
Roanoke Island Festival Park Pavilion
1 Festival Park, Manteo
(252) 475-1500
www.roanokeisland.com

Outer Banks History Center
Roanoke Island Festival Park
1 Festival Park, Manteo
(252) 473-2655

Opened in 1988, the history center collection includes 100,000 manuscript items, 35,000 books, 35,000 photographs, 1,500 periodical titles, a large collection of important maps, hundreds of audio and video recordings, microfilm, and ephemera. Some of the more than 700 maps in the collection are more than 400 years old. The collection also includes items relating to lighthouses and other Outer Banks architecture, local history about towns, shipwrecks, the U.S. Lifesaving Service, Civil War artwork, and The Lost Colony outdoor drama records and memorabilia.

Materials are housed in closed stacks to ensure security and the climate control needed for preservation. However, staffers at the history center are knowledgeable and happy to help anyone access the facility's vast resources. Journalists, authors, history buffs, students, scientists, genealogists, and casual tourists find the stop worthwhile.

A special gallery features archived materials and photographs, and traveling exhibits are displayed from time to time. The reading room and gallery are open year-round from 9:00 A.M.to 5:00 P.M. Monday through Friday and 10:00 A.M.to 3:00 P.M. on Saturday. The Outer Banks History Center is a public facility and is free of charge.

Pioneer Theatre
113 Budleigh Street, Manteo
(252) 473-2216

This movie house is a family gathering place for Manteo locals. All of the movies are first-run and usually family oriented (G, PG, or PG-13), and people come regardless of whether they're interested in the show. Friday night the place is overrun with school kids, so it's best to avoid that night unless you're one of them. This place is definitely old-fashioned in its prices: $5.00 per ticket. You won't get gouged at the candy counter either. One movie is shown every night at 8:00 P.M.as long as there are at least three people in the theater. Listings change weekly, without fail, on Friday. Check the billboard on the highway in Manteo, or call the theater for the current listing and a brief synopsis of the movie.

North Carolina Maritime Museum on Roanoke Island
104 Fernando Street, Manteo
(252) 475-1750

The museum is dedicated to North Carolina's place in boatbuilding history. The crew at the museum, many of them volunteers, stay busy refurbishing and rebuilding wooden boats. Inside, a number of crafts represent the region's maritime history. There's an 1883 original Creef shadboat, a variety of sailing skiffs, a Davis Runabout speedboat, and a multimedia presentation on the construction of the Elizabeth II, which was built on this site. This is also a working boat shop, where visitors observe staff and volunteers working on a variety of repair and building projects. If you're interested in becoming a volunteer, talk to the curator.

Before the boathouse, this site was home to much of Manteo's extensive boatbuilding history. A boatyard and repair railway were here from the 1880s until 1939, when nearly everything on the Manteo waterfront burned in a devastating fire. George Washington Creef Jr. constructed this boathouse in 1940 to build shallow-draft freight boats and repair the shadboats invented and built by his father, George Washington Creef Sr. The shad- boat is now the North Carolina state boat. The boathouse was later used to build rescue craft for the military and world- record-holding speedboats.

The museum is worth the trip to Manteo for those interested in boats and boatbuilding of the past and present. It is open Tuesday through Saturday. Hours are 10:00 A.M.to 6:00 P.M. during summer months and 9:00 A.M.to 5:00 P.M. during the fall, winter, and spring.

Weeping Radish Brewery
US 64, Manteo
(252) 473-1157
www.weepingradish.com

On the shaded grounds, a full-time brewmaster makes both light and dark lager beer, available at the restaurant or to go in one-liter refillable bottles and six-packs of their Fest brew. Weeping Radish beer in 22-ounce bottles is sold at area retailers.

Half-hour brewery tours are given in June, July, and August at 1:00 and 6:00 P.M. The rest of the year, call for the schedule. Free samples are given on the tour for tasting in the pub or at outdoor patio tables.

An annual Oktoberfest is held the weekend after Labor Day. Events and activities include oompah bands and German folk dancers (see our Annual Eventschapter for details). Locals find this a favorite evening spot in the off-season. Visitors feel at home, too. There's even a colorful playground for the kids.

Historically Speaking's Customized Evening Entertainments
(252) 473-5783

Call for additional information. Two popular presentations offered by Historically Speaking are "A Sea Song Sing- Along," featuring Outer Banks folk music with entertaining commentary on 400 years of coastal Carolina history, and The Troubadour, a staged and costumed "living history" visit with a gentleman representing Queen Elizabeth's court. Meet a 400-year-old standup comic who leads songs and weaves in the history of Roanoke Island's colonization while playing seven Renaissance instruments. Historically Speaking also offers step-on guides and receptive services for motor coach groups. See our Getting Here, Getting Around chapter for more information.

Mill Landing
NC 345, Wanchese

Wanchese Seafood Industrial Park
615 Harbor Road, Wanchese
(252) 473-5867

Oregon Inlet continued to shoal terribly through the 1980s, and the seafood park remained largely vacant until 1994, when some smaller area businesses and fish-processing plants began establishing themselves there. Unpredictable weather patterns still affect the channel's navigability.

Today the 30-lot industrial area is almost 100 percent full with marine- related industries. Outer Banks Marine Maintenance, Harbor Welding, Wanchese Trawl and Supply, Bay Country Industrial Supply (fish-box manufacturer), Davis Boatworks, Wanchese Boat Builders, O'Neal's Sea Harvest, Gregory Poole Power Systems, and the Division of Marine Fisheries are just a few of the companies here. The industrial park is an educational attraction for anyone interested in the maritime world of boatbuilding and sea harvesting. Visitors are welcome to drive or walk through and visit the boat docks. Stop by the office if you have questions.

Pirate's Cove Yacht Club
Nags Head-Manteo Causeway, Manteo
(252) 473-3906, (800) 367-4728
www.piratescove.com

Wolf Howls
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge
Dare County Mainland
(252) 473-1131, ext. 243
http://alligatorriver.fws.gov

A threatened species, red wolves have made a comeback in northeastern North Carolina due to careful management since the early 1980s. There are 10 wolves in captivity at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and nearly 100 roaming free over about one million acres in northeastern North Carolina, including the refuge. For more information, see our Natural Wonders chapter.