Bill had a rest and
logistics day, while Barbara headed out for one last day exploring the Outer
Banks.
PEA ISLAND
Barbara first stopped at PEA
ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE and hiked to an observation platform to view
wildlife on the marsh side of the refuge. She spotted lots of birds and a
distant deer.
Then she walked the beach on
the other side of the refuge.
BODIE ISLAND
Next she went to BODIE
ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE to get better pictures since it was raining when we went
there a few days ago.
Now we have pictures of the
four main Outer Banks Lighthouses: Ocracoke, Cape
Hatteras, Bodie Island,
and Currituck Beach Lighthouses.
Each lighthouse had a
distinctive look for mariners to distinguish in the daylight and a different
light pattern to distinguish them at night. There was one additional lighthouse
Barbara wanted to get to: the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse on Roanoke
Island.
ROANOKE
ISLAND
Roanoke
Island is the island
between the barrier islands of the Outer Banks and the mainland. The lighthouse
can be accessed by a charming stretch of boardwalks in Manteo. It used to be in
the middle of the water only accessible by boat.
Displays in the lighthouse
explain its history.
Barbara next went to FORT
RALEIGH NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE. Roanoke Island is the site of a 1587 English
settlement (before Jamestown and Plymouth). It is there
where the first English child was born in the New World – Virginia Dare, named
after the new Virginia
colony. There is a great mystery to what happened to her and the other
colonists. The leader, John White, returned to England to get help for the
struggling colonists. By the time he returned, 3 years later, the colonists
could not be found. Visitors now see a reconstructed earthen fort.
The National Historic Site
explains the history with their displays and movie and they even have a
Waterside Theater where they perform a Lost Colony drama in the summer.
Adjacent to the National
Historic Site is the privately run ELIZABETHAN
GARDENS with various
flowers, topiary and statues.
Flowers bloomed despite two
nights of freezing temperatures. And even Elizabeth herself was there.
In front of the garden
bluebirds flew between the trees
campground: Cape Hatteras KOA, distance to Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Roanoke Island 34mi 44min
