| MANTEO, NORTH CAROLINA: |
|
 |
 The sea figures prominently in the Outer Banks history although, at other times, local folk art takes over, a big show being the "annual quilt extravaganza" organized by the local Teacup Quilters. Quilts from the days of the Civil War to the contemporary 100 years celebration of flight are proudly exhibited. If you visit at the time of the show, Teresa Hentosz, one of the members who started this quilting group, will be pleased to show you the more than 100 quilts on display including one Addie Gibbs made during the Great Depression from feed sacks. |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
   |
|
 |
You can buy quilts, of course, in some of
the local stores. And since this is very much a walking town you can
enjoy the yards bursting with flowers or stroll past the old Mt. Olivet
United Methodist Church down to the town graveyard, or wander over
to chat with Freddy Wescott whose ancestors, like him, long harvested
the soft crabs offshore. He has, of course, developed the art and
now has more than 600 peeler pots to trap those crabs that mariners
and others have enjoyed for generations. |
 |
|
 |
|
Indeed, what dominates Manteo is the sea, from the story of how the town Nag's Head got its name (land pirates tied lanterns around the necks of the wild ponies on the shore to lure ships on to the rocks) to the arrival of the first English expedition in 1584. At the Roanoke Island Festival Park that celebrates local history, James Charlet has been so long in the role of Thomas Constable, one of the wealthy wool merchants who financed the three expeditions, that when he's asked how long he's been in Manteo, he answers, "Four hundred and seventeen years, six of them here." |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
| He points out that colonists didn't come
till the third, ill-fated expedition of 1587, the one school children
know as the Lost Colony. The two earlier expeditions were essentially
government military missions to re-supply the Royal Navy in the area
and help them deal with privateers. |
|
| At the water's edge bobs Elizabeth II, the replica of the ship that brought the second colony to Roanoke. Here John Harris, in costume as Richard Pait, the ship's boatswain's mate, explains details of the 110-day voyage to visitors. James Lind's book, A Treatise of the Scurvy would not be published till 1753 and the food without fruit and vitamin C sure left a lot to be desired on those long sea voyages. |  |
 |
|
 |
The restaurants are always full on Manteo today, however, an favorites of locals include RV's, run by a now third generation Manteo family and the popular 1587 House at the Tranquil House Inn (www.1587.com). The inn, itself, with its location on the waterfront, its big comfortable rooms and its complimentary continental breakfast, will appeal to most visitors as the perfect place for a visit to that place where England made its first stop in the New World. |
 |
|
 |
| PAGE 1 2 |