Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2003, during our first trip with Mattie to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Peter and I loved going to the Outer Banks and we began this tradition soon after we got married. This photo is one of my FAVORITES! What you can't tell was it was a VERY HUMID day! Peter had a smile on his face but literally he carried Mattie up 200 stairs and then back down the Currituck Beach Lighthouse! I am not sure who was more priceless! Check out Mattie? Looking ALL the way up!!! I have always loved lighthouses and I tried to pass that love onto Mattie. I figured the earlier we started introducing him to lighthouses the better a chance I had for him to like them too!
Quote of the day: Self-improvement comes mainly from trying to help others. ~ Sir John Templeton
After a slow start to the day, we drove to Roanoke Island and the town of Manteo. The history of Manteo is storied and deep, beginning with the town name's itself. "Manteo" was a chief in the local Roanoke Island community of Native Americans who made a long trip oversees as an ambassador of goodwill to the late 16th Century English explorers. Chief Manteo was, in fact, one of the first American residents to travel to Europe as an honored and distinguished guest. Manteo is the home to one of the world's longest running historical mysteries, specifically, the disappearance of the Lost Colony.
In 1597, after a series of surface explorations, including one commandeered by Sir Walter Raleigh himself, a new colony was sent to Roanoke Island to settle and begin the English expansion of the New World. Led by John White, the colonists arrived in Manteo and quickly set to building and creating a new settlement. In the process of building a new civilization, John White's own daughter gave birth to the country's first English child, Virginia Dare, for which the Outer Banks home county is named. Months later, however, supplies had run short, and John White had to make a hesitant trip home to England to resupply the camp. Once in Europe, White found himself bogged down by both government inquires and bad weather, and it wasn't until 1590 that he was able to make the long voyage back to Manteo to bring help to his colony, his daughter, and his new granddaughter. Sadly, when he returned, he found the entire colony had been virtually wiped off the map, with only a minor clue to their fate carved into two neighboring trees: the words "Cro" and "Croatan." Many modern historians take this as a sign that the colonists, either as a desperate move to escape starvation or outrun threats from neighboring Native Americans, relocated to the southern beaches of Hatteras Island, where the Croatan Native Americans thrived peacefully. However, after long coastline explorations, John White found no sign of his daughter, grandchild, or any other living soul of that first original Roanoke Island Colony.
Roanoke Marshes Light is unlike its other Outer Banks counterparts, in that it not an original lighthouse. Instead, it is a replica of the original lighthouse that was constructed in 1877 at the southern entrance of the Croatan Sound in Wanchese, to help both passing sailors and local fishermen find their way to port. This lighthouse was actually the third to carry the name "Roanoke Marshes Light" as the first two, also constructed in the 1800s, were lost soon after they were constructed and put into service.
At lunch time, Peter and I ate at a local HOT SPOT! It is SMALL place but HOPPING! Poor Richard's Sandwich Shop
was started in July of 1984. The Restaurant's basic goal was to serve it's customers, who
then were mostly county employees, home cooked daily specials and sandwiches
made with only the finest deli meats for a simple price. Back then, Poor
Richard's was only open for breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday. This was
because on the weekends, the county employees were not around and the town was
usually empty. During the Summer Months, Poor Richard's would serve only
lunch to the few customers that would dare venture off the main road to the Manteo
waterfront; and that was only Saturday! Throughout the 20 plus years of operations, Poor Richard's has
evolved into a true Manteo Landmark.
and a lace cap hydrangea bush! In composition together with the American flag. The colors along with the fragrance were intoxicating and were deserving of a photograph.
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