Saturday, June 10, 2017

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2005. We took Mattie to the Elizabethan Garden in Manteo, NC. If you look closely, Mattie had something in his hand. I bet it was a penny that I gave him to throw into the fountain. We always kept Mattie busy and stimulated, as he had an inordinate amount of energy and brain power, that needed positive outlets to be expended!



Quote of the day: Traveling tends to magnify all human emotions. ~ Peter Hoeg

This is our view from the deck this morning. The trifecta.... kayak, dolphin and pelicans. 

We went to visit the Elizabethan Gardens today. The same gardens in which tonight's photo of Mattie was taken. Fanciful and elaborate gardens were kept to entertain Queen Elizabeth I during her reign. This garden was created as a living memorial to the time when Sir Walter Raleigh’s lost colonists lived in this very place over 400 years ago. 

In 1950, Mrs. Charles Cannon, wife of the North Carolina philanthropist; Mrs. Inglis Fletcher, a North Carolinian and noted historian and author; and Sir Evelyn Wrench, Founder of the English Speaking Union, and Lady Wrench, were visiting Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and The Lost Colony outdoor drama on Roanoke Island. The idea came to them to ask The Garden Club of North Carolina, a non-profit organization of 17,000 women, to sponsor a two-acre garden on a ten-acre tract adjoining Fort Raleigh National Park. It was their thinking that the creation of a cultural attraction such as a garden would enhance the value of this area as a permanent memorial to Sir Walter Raleigh’s lost colonists. This Garden grown since its creation in 1950, and it a charming and historic place for beauty and tranquility. 

Colorful flowers and foliage surround you.

There are at least three fountains within these Gardens. Something Mattie always gravitated to. 

This is a flower that gets many visitors' attention..... it is the snowcap hydrangea. It looks flat like a snowflake, not round like your typical round shaped flowering hydrangea. 

This is a towering bronze statue of Queen Elizabeth I, of whom these gardens are named and inspired by. 

The beauty of the gardens, filled with Italian masterpieces. Italians are proud of their classical art, especially the carved marble statues and ornamentals in their historic areas. Several decades ago, Mrs. Mildred Howard astonished Italians with photos of their beautiful statues tucked within the lush green landscape of a North Carolina sound-side garden. Howard served as board chair of the Manteo, NC attraction in 1957 and 1964 and used a visit abroad to pursue her curiosities. The Italian historians she consulted were unaware these treasures had been relocated to America.

 In 1953 The Elizabethan Gardens received several museum-quality Italian statues including a fountain with a pool, wellhead, sundial, birdbaths, stone steps and benches. They were a gift from the Whitney family estate. Gilded-age socialite and famed architectural designer Stanford White imported the items from Pompeii in 1906 for the family as a showcase for their Greenwood Estate in Thomasville Georgia.

The Gardens are filled with beautiful hydrangeas. 

After the Gardens, we drove into the town of Manteo. It is a charming little town on the water. The town is filled with shops and restaurants. All the shops feature items either made in North Carolina or the United States. 

One of the charming streets of Manteo. 

It's a boaters paradise in Manteo. No body is running around, glued to their phone, and disengaged. People seem to enjoy life better than we do in our major cities. 

Right in front of this store front, was this priceless calico cat. 

After two weeks of posting photos of the Mattie Miracle Walk, I can say that tonight concludes the photos. 

Two days before the Walk I was contacted by Sarah Kelly, who is a clothing vendor with LuLu Roe. She asked if she could showcase her items at the Walk. I agreed to have her attend and she and her husband had a great time. Both lost their first spouse to cancer, so I think our Mattie Miracle mission has meaning to them.

For the first time, we had a carnival style photo booth at the Walk. People could go in the booth, put on costumes, and take photos. The nice part, was that a tangible keepsake photo was provided to participants. 

This is a picture of a picture, but it gives you an idea of the keepsake people went home with. Featured in this photo is Morganne (the Mattie Miracle funded child life specialist at Georgetown University Hospital) and Jane (our philanthropy contact at the Hospital).