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Historic AttractionsMuseum of the Albemarle The Museum of the Albemarle includes permanent interpretive displays depicting Native American tribes and their tools and exhibits on the food, folk tales, crafts, and hunting artifacts of early English-speaking colonists. A 19th-century hearth exhibit allows visitors to contrast Colonial living with modern American amenities. Other offerings trace the development of boating, logging, and the U.S. Coast Guard in surrounding sites. With two weeks' notice, the museum can provide guided tours, lectures, and audiovisual programs for groups and individuals. A small gift shop sells memorabilia. Admission to the museum is free, and the building is wheelchair accessible with assistance at the front door. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. and Sunday from 2:00 until 5:00 P.M. It is closed Monday and holidays. Please call the number listed for program schedules and reservations.
Day TripsHistoric Hertford
The Newbold-White House The Newbold-White House is an outstanding example of early American domestic architecture. It's set about a mile off the road across from an immense cotton field. The former plantation home is built entirely of handmade brick molded from the clay that can be found 12 inches below the soil on the grounds surrounding the house. Joseph Scott, the original landowner, was a magistrate, legislator, and Quaker. The original owner of the home was Abraham Sanders, who built this elegant brick abode on a 600-acre tract along the Perquimans River and surrounded it with tobacco fields. Tobacco was frequently used as currency during the 18th century. Later, peanuts and other products also were farmed in these fields. Numerous other families occupied the house, and Thomas Elbert White bought it in 1903. In 1943, his heirs sold the property to John Henry Newbold, whose heirs in turn sold it to the Perquimans County Restoration Association in 1973. Since then, the house has been beautifully restored to its original condition. When visiting the house, stop at the Perquimans County Restoration Association headquarters on the way. This visitor center of sorts offers an informative audiovisual journey into the house's heyday and inhabitants. Hours at the Newbold-White House are 10:00 A.M.to 4:30 P.M.Tuesday through Saturday and 2:00 to 5:00 P.M. on Sunday. The museum is closed on Monday and December through February, but special tours can be arranged in advance during winter months. Admission is $2.00 for adults, and children and students pay 50 cents each. Albemarle Plantation
Albemarle Plantation, a golfing and boating community, is off U.S. Highway 17. Visit
this sprawling complex of recreational and
dining facilities along the waters of the
Albemarle Sound for a great day trip.
Albemarle Plantation is part of an upscale
residential development that also includes
a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a fitness center. Sound Golf Links, an 18-hole
golf course open to the public, is one of
the most popular venues in the region for
dedicated golfers (see our Golf chapter
for more information). Call the number
listed for tee times. After a couple of
rounds, you may be ready for lunch or
dinner at the Soundside Grille, which overlooks the water. Historic Edenton Edenton is a charming historic town, perfect for a day trip or an overnight stay. It's an easy day trip from the Outer Banks by boat or automobile. It's a town with a colonial past, similar to Williamsburg, Virginia, in its historic significance but much less commercial and "touristy." Historic homes are the main attractions of this waterfront town. Twenty-five homes and public buildings encompass this North Carolina State Historic Site, though there are hundreds of magnificent historic homes in the town. Along with the homes, antiques stores inhabit iron-gate-sheltered alleys, grand bed-and-breakfasts offer extraordinary escapes, and a walk along the waterfront beckons. Everything in this quaint town is readily accessible by walking. The Historic Edenton Visitor Center, an East Lake-style Victorian built in 1892, is at 108 West Broad Street, across the street from St. Paul's Episcopal Church. A short audiovisual presentation on the history of Edenton is offered throughout the day at the visitor center, plus there is a gift shop. The visitor center offers self- guided walking-tour maps. Or you can choose to take a guided walking or trolley tour, both of which begin and end at the visitor center. Trolley tours last 45 minutes and are led by an experienced interpreter. Trolley tours are offered year-round, Tuesday through Saturday at 10:00 A.M., 11:00 A.M., 3:00 P.M., and 4:00 P.M.They cost $10.00 for adults and $2.00 for K-12 students. Guided walking tours are offered at 10:30 A.M. Monday through Saturday and 2:00 P.M.every day, year-round. Walking tours also cost $10.00 and $2.00.
Historic Columbia The beautiful, $1.1 million Tyrrell County Visitor Center, right on the Scuppernong River and visible from the road, opened in 1995. A combination rest area, welcome center, and environmental education center, it is dedicated to the preservation and understanding of North Carolina's coastal wetlands, which are abundant in this area. A 0.75-mile raised boardwalk winds along the river behind the visitor center, providing breathtaking views of coastal wetlands and the Scuppernong River as it slides slowly into Bull Bay. For thousands of feet along the river's edge, tiny electric lights twinkle across the dark water, illuminating the walkway that creeps through unspoiled timber wetlands. Interpretive signs tell you what you're looking at. A fountain, gazebo, and wide turnouts accommodating wheelchair passengers are among the other attractions along this zigzagging boardwalk that twists around towering forest giants and flowering bushes that would have soon disappeared in more chainsaw-oriented communities. If you want to see the wetlands closer than this, rent a kayak at the visitor center. Columbia has many other attractions. At the visitor center, pick up a brochure of the Columbia on the Scuppernong Walking Tour, which leads through town past 20 houses and churches built around the turn of the 20th century. One of the most surprising residents of Columbia is the Pocosin Arts Gallery, an art museum, gift shop, gallery, and arts education center on the corner of Main and Water Streets. Pocosin is a highly evolved cultural center and holds a variety of classes and special events. Call (252) 796-2787 for information, or stop by to see what they have going on. Another attraction is the Columbia Theater Cultural Resources Center on Main Street. Housed in the town's renovated movie theater, it's an environmental and cultural history museum that highlights the general way of life in Tyrrell County, including fishing, farming, and forestry. The museum has a gift shop and welcomes group tours. Admission is $2.00 for adults, $1.00 for students, and free for kids age five and younger. It's open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 A.M.to 4:00 P.M. Call (252) 766-0200. The Columbia Marina is a charming marina that houses mostly permanent boats and has one slip for transient sailors. If you're walking around town, walk by the marina and have a look at the beautiful boats docked there. If you're hungry, there are a couple of restaurants and the Columbia Pharmacy for snacks. If you're having so much fun you want to stay the night, Columbia has a couple of great bed-and-breakfast inns. If you happen to be here on the second weekend of October, the Scuppernong River Festival is a delight, featuring water tours, boat rides, kids' activities, arts and crafts vendors, and yummy food.
Somerset Place This state-funded site is 5 miles outside Creswell, near Pettigrew State Park, about an hour's drive from areas of the Outer Banks. Guides offer free tours and special arrangements for school groups. Grounds include isolated walking trails and wooden boardwalks to the water, where nearby fishing is excellent. About 25,000 people visit the site annually. Once one of North Carolina's four biggest plantations, Somerset Place used more than 300 slaves to grow corn and rice and work in the expansive wetlands. An incredible collection of the plantation's slave records is open at the house for genealogical research. In August 1986 more than 2,000 descendants of Somerset's slaves gathered for their first anniversary homecoming reunion. Somerset Place is open April through October 8:00 A.M.to 5:00 P.M. Monday through Saturday and 1:00 to 5:00 P.M.on Sunday. From November through March, it's open Tuesday through Saturday 10:00 A.M.to 4:00 P.M., Sunday 1:00 to 4:00 P.M., and closed Monday. To make reservations for large groups, write to 2572 Lake Shore Road, Creswell, NC 27928. Admission is free.
Hope Plantation A well-preserved Federal residence furnished with period furniture, Hope Plantation reminds some visitors of Jefferson's Monticello estate and reminds others of Scarlett O'Hara's beloved Tara. The Historic Hope Foundation purchased the home and 18 acres around it in 1966. Now restored, the property includes two smaller structures, the King-Bazemore and Samuel Cox houses. Lovely 18th-centurystyle gardens surround the homesites, and the 16,600-square-foot J. J. Harrington Building nearby includes a museum-like center that promotes the area's history and culture. To get to Hope Plantation, take US 64 out of Roanoke Island west to its intersection with U.S. Highway 13; go north on US 13 and you'll find the house 4 miles west of the US 13 Bypass. From Roanoke Island, it is about a 90-minute drive. Summer hours are Monday through Saturday from 10:00 A.M.to 5:00 P.M. and Sunday from 2:00 to 5:00 P.M.Winter hours are the same, except that it closes at 4:00 P.M. Monday through Saturday. Admission is $8.00 for adults and $3.00 for students.
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Something DifferentCurrituck County's Produce Stands Currituck County's Produce Stands Visitors arriving from Hampton Roads areas travel through fertile farmlands on the last hour of their trip. Like an oasis in a desert of desolation, wooden produce stands pop out of the flatlands. Hand- painted signs hawk the homegrown wares: melons, cucumbers, corn, blueberries, tomatoes, butter beans, and peaches so juicy they should be sold with bibs. More than 10 markets are strewn in sporadic fashion from the Virginia border in Chesapeake to just west of the Wright Memorial Bridge. Each has a personality-and produce-all its own. Many are run by local families who began selling vegetables from the backs of pickup trucks parked along the roadside. Some stands include frozen yogurt, dried flowers, and seafood stalls, and almost all sell produce grown within a few miles of the open-air markets. Decor includes the hospitable deep- green awnings of Grandy Greenhouse and Farm Market, the baby-blue exterior of Tarheel Produce, and the pink-and-purple polka dots of S & N Farm Market. Margaret and Alton Newbern have been running the Hilltop Market for almost 50 years. Morris Farm Market is one of the larger outposts along the Currituck stretch. Rufus Jones Farm Market features colorful fruits stacked in tilted wooden troughs and large-wheeled carts. And Soundside Orchard specializes in peach sales beneath a pointy-roofed wooden gazebo. Whether you know produce or not, local farmers and their families are always glad to give free advice. They can thump a watermelon, peruse a peanut display, or feel a pumpkin and know how long ago it was picked. And they'll load you up with bursting berries, jarred apricot preserves, and local lore if you stick around long enough.The produce of Currituck County is so good, you just might want to come back for more-the markets are only a half-hour jaunt from the beaches. For some people, nothing compares to a day of poking through treasures from long ago, bringing back memories and, with any luck, discovering a fantastic bargain. If you're one of these, a world of antiques and "junque" stores is waiting for you along U.S. Highway 158 on the Currituck mainland. This road teems with shops selling antiques and collectibles. If rain keeps you off the beach, a very enjoyable day can be spent exploring in Currituck County.
Hampton Roads and Williamsburg, Virginia If you're in the mood for more citified fun after days at the beach, head to Hampton Roads, Virginia, home to the urban cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, and nearby Williamsburg. Outer Bankers are constantly making the 90- to 120-minute drive to this area to stock up at the superstores, fly somewhere, or attend a cultural or entertainment event. Norfolk is home to the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Harrison Opera House, and other performing arts centers that bring in top-name performers. MacArthur Center is Norfolk's premier shopping mall, and it's near the city's waterfront, which also has many attractions, museums, historic buildings, restaurants, and accommodations. Virginia Beach is a busy tourist resort, but it also has a wealth of cultural offerings, an outdoor amphitheater that features national acts, and many shopping opportunities. Williamsburg, Virginia, is about 45 minutes from Virginia Beach. It's famous for its historic attractions and for Busch Gardens, Water Country USA, and its endless shopping opportunities.
Elizabeth City, North Carolina Our nearby neighbor to the northwest, Elizabeth City, North Carolina, offers more than enough beautiful scenery; historic, architectural, and natural attractions; and cultural and culinary options to make for a great day trip-and it's all just about an hour from the Outer Banks. The area chamber of commerce is your best source for more information.
Elizabeth City Area
Chamber of Commerce The chamber can get you started on your explorations of these fascinating facts and has also developed a self-guided walking tour through the city's historic districts. Elizabeth City has five designated districts listed with the National Register of Historic Places. Chamber personnel can also point you toward the Museum of the Albemarle (see previous listing in this chapter), with its collections, exhibits, and artifacts that document the history of northeastern North Carolina.
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