Roanoke Island & Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge- Monday, February 19, 2024

     We were up to try to see the sunrise at quarter to 7:00 this morning, but it was overcast in the east so there wasn't much to see out of our balcony window today.   

     A little ways north of us is the community called "Duck."  When we were watching YouTube videos about the Outer Banks, every single one of them seemed to say that we had to try doughnuts from Duck Donuts.  They have stores throughout the South, and as far north as Akron, Ohio, but they started here in the Outer Banks, and there are three locations here.  When we confirmed that there wasn't breakfast available in the hotel today, we knew where we were going to go.  Julie got a "blueberry pancake," and a "lemon and raspberry" while Abby got "chocolate confetti" and "strawberry confetti."  The lady that made them said that she gave Abby extra sprinkles.  Julie said the doughnuts were good, but they didn't demand a second trip.  They were heavy and a lot like "Paula's Donuts" that way.  Meanwhile, Scott was happy getting brekky from McDonalds.   Julie also got a refresher from the conveniently located Starbucks to wash the doughnuts down.  

     We then headed to Roanoke Island.  We stopped at a Piggly Wiggly supermarket to get things to have a picnic lunch with later.  Julie had always laughed at the Piggly Wiggly name, but doesn't think she has ever stopped at one.  It's a very Southern thing.  Here's a fun fact: Piggly Wiggly was the first self-serve supermarket.  Before that, you had to give your list to someone like Ike Godsey and they would collect the groceries for you.  The staff here was very nice.  The large man who was our cashier gave Abby a treat because he was diabetic and couldn't eat it.  

     When teaching about the English colonies each year, Scott starts off with a quick look at the so-called "Lost Colony" of Roanoke.  It was the first attempt at a colony by the English and was the plan of Sir Walter Raleigh to try to catch up to the Spanish who were making an enormous about of wealth from their colonies in the Americas.  The settlers who were left here vanished, leaving empty buildings behind.  The only clue that the returning ship found was the word "Croatoan" carved into the side of a tree.  What that meant exactly and where the settlers went is one of the great unsolved mysteries of American history.  Beyond these basic facts, Scott didn't know much, though, but he wanted to use this opportunity to visit the location, at the Fort Raleigh National Historical Site.

     At the visitor's center is a display about the original English colonies and the later settlement of freedmen that came during the Civil War.  There is a slightly dated looking film that does offer a good overview of the English colony.  In a room paneled with Elizabethan era paneling is an interesting set of displays.  Out one of its windows, you can see silhouettes of Queen Elizabeth, Walter Raleigh and others as they plan the colony.

     Scott did learn a couple of things here.  The voyage that brought the lost colonists was the third one that Raleigh had sent to the area.  The first explored the area and marked it as a likely site for settlement.  The second was a smaller group of specialists, including the artist John White in 1585.  They built the small fort that is recreated today, but they left when distant cousin Sir Francis Drake showed up and offered them a ride home.  The third was the set of more than 100 colonists, with women and children, that were dropped off in 1587.  It was three years before ships came back to check on them, and the biggest reason for that was the threat of the Spanish Armada.  Every ship in England was commandeered to be ready to fight the Spanish invasion.  (Drake had a big hand in helping with that too, of course.)  

     We left the visitors center to walk the grounds.  We saw the monument that was placed there in 1896.  We walked around the reconstructed fortification that was rebuilt in 1950 based on the archeological remains of the original.   This is Fort Raleigh that gives this National Historic Site its name, but it is far to small to have contained the 1587 "lost" colony.  That settlement was known to have been inside a palisade but the exact location of that is not known.  Instead, we saw the stage of the outdoor show called The Lost Colony.  It's not running this time of the year, and we probably wouldn't have seen it anyway with our restless four-year old, but it must be an impressive production.  The backdrop is basically an overlook of the water behind it.   On our way out, Scott bought a book there, but was a little disappointed that they didn't seem to have the standard souvenir guide book that most National Park run sites seem to have.  

     Near the Fort Raleigh visitors center is another visitors center for the several national wildlife refuges that are in the area.  That was our next stop.  Abby was running from exhibit to exhibit, getting her picture taken, pretending to fly an airplane, looking for the various animals, and so on.  Mom was getting directions and a map for the roads in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.  We spent a some money in the gift shop here, where Julie got herself some earrings with herons on them (her favorite bird).  Abby ended up getting two things.  The first is an egg that has a toy turtle in it.  We didn't realize it at the time, but the egg has to sit in water for about two days in order to "hatch."  The second was a tub of playdough that had plastic butterflies and a gem inside it.  (She had fun playing with that as we were waiting for dinner, later.) 

     The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge gets its name because there is a population of American alligators that lives there.  It is about the far north as the alligators go.  However, the refuge might be even better known for the large population of black bears that make their home there.  We heard that it is "probable" that visitors will see a bear, and it's too warm for them to hibernate here, so we wanted to see if we could spot one.

     The most dramatic and exciting sighting that we had today happened before we even arrived officially at the refuge.  We had to take a bridge that took us from Roanoke Island to the mainland and Julie spotted a bald eagle that flew right past us.  It was both impressive and unmistakable, but it was flying in the opposite direction and was gone before we could get any pictures or video.   We followed the directions from the man at the visitors center to a place where there were walking trails and we hoped to see alligators.  We bundled up a little because it was only about 50 degrees even though the sun was shining.  We walked down the straight path called the Sandy Ridge Trail.  It took us through the pines and into the marshes.  It didn't take long before Abby had enough.  Since she's too big to carry far, she and Julie turned around and walked back.  Scott was curious, though, and continued on for quite a ways.  There was a portion of the path that was a long wooden bridge, and he was trying to keep his eyes peeled in the water on each side.  There was a portion that went through cattails that were taller then he was.  He figured he had walked for at least a mile before he turned around and walked back and the most wildlife he saw were either some tiny fish or some tadpoles, and they were too small and moving too fast to get video of.  

    We continued to drive through the many miles of roads that cut through the nature preserve.  We saw several turtles sunning themselves.  They were different than the box turtles we see in our area.  They seemed greener.  They might have been "cooters."   We were munching on the crackers, cheese and pepperoni that we had bought at the Piggly Wiggly as we were driving.  We let Abby into the front seat, partly to give her a better view and partly to pry her away from Adventure Time videos that have been playing ever since w left home.  We went to another part of the refuge where the guy from the visitors center said he had seen eight or nine bears this morning, but we didn't see any.  Maybe its because it was the middle of the day.  We saw some white birds, and at least some of these were tundra swans.  We saw a couple of heron that flew away from us quickly, but they eventually circled around and we got some pictures of one of them.  But that's about all we saw in terms of wildlife.  It was a little disappointing when we were hoping for bears and alligators.

     One thing that we did see when we were at the wildlife refuge was a large amount of smoke.  It was off in the distance but it seemed to be growing in intensity. At one point we were driving through the smoke and could smell it distinctly.  It seemed to be coming from the US Navy's bombing range that sits in the middle of the preserve.  (It does seem to be the wrong place to put a bombing range, yes.)   We're not sure what was going on and we will update this blog if we find out what it was.

     It was the middle of the afternoon, and that might be why the bears were scarce.  We heard they are most active in the early morning and at sunset.  We thought about sticking around until sunset, since that was only at 5:47 pm today, but that was more than three hours away.  We decided to go back to the town of Manteo on Roanoke Island to look for dinner.  

     We ended up eating at the Lost Colony Tavern, which brews its own line of beers.  It is located at the corner of Queen Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh Streets.  The tavern's menu, decor and drink selections are themed to the British Isles.  Julie and Scott were both excited to order Carolina-style barbecue pulled pork sandwiches.  We were a little disappointed in the sandwich.  We can't tell people in North Carolina what Carolina-style means, but we can say that we didn't like them as much as King's Barbecue in Petersburg.  (We miss that place, and it's closed forever now.)  Scott got a flight of beer called the "First Flight."  He was a little embarrassed to admit that it took him a while to get the pun.  The first beer on it was called a "Kitty Hawk Blonde."  His favorite, though, was the Hatteras Irish Red Ale, and he got a pint or two of it after the flight was done.  Of course, he had to get a sticker for his collection, and they opened the merchandise shop next door just for him.

     We had parked by a small park by the water- George Washington Creef Memorial Park, and after supper, Abby had a chance to run and play here.  There was a small playground that she climbed, swings to play on, and so forth.  Nearby was the small Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse.  It basically consists of a light on top of a small house sitting at the end of a pier.  It's not tall at all, but it is both cute and authentic.

     Making our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a Brew Thru.   These are drive-through beer and convenience stores, specific to the Outer Banks.  You pull into a colorful little building and have a wall of coolers on one side and snacks and merchandise on the other side.  An attendant then waits on you.  Scott got a 6-pack of the Hatteras Irish Red that he enjoyed at the tavern.  The attendant gave Abby a sticker, but we traded her an ice-cream so that Dad could have it for his collection.  

     We stopped at a souvenir shop for her ice cream and headed back to the hotel.  There, Scott enjoyed a beer out on the balcony while Julie and Abby finished the ice cream and headed to the pool.  Julie said the pool was oddly colder than it was yesterday and they had it virtually to themselves.  Abby didn't care if it was cold.  She's been talking about it all day.