Roanoke Island and the Outer Banks

Roanoke Island and the Outer Banks
June 24-30, 2006
Much needed time exploring and family time, there are 8 children with parents, mostly that’s OK, as long as you don’t need a nap. When I am not spending time with relatives, it’s off to see the sights.
This part of the country has seen some remarkable events, the first English Colony, then early American settlers, African Americans, first as slaves, then a freeman, even starting one of the first free communities, the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, this area is rich in it’s history, from its lighthouses, marsh lands,kite flying, wildlife, restaurants, abundant seafood and industrially, shops of all kinds, the beach, deep sea fishing, and putt-putt golf, even a couple of micro-breweries.
I was fascinated by the weather station at Manteo, having read ‘blue highways”, this is were the author was hanging out on the dock, and was asked if he wanted to go on a fishing boat and work soon, too. So I wanted to check it out. There are not many fishing boats here now, it’s a bit upscale, proporty rates, condo's, you know the story, but, to the south on Rt. 345 to Wanchese, there is a healthy industrial fishing fleet, and a community of working class folks, while checking out the docks, it's late in the day now, I drove around the area to see the community at ladge,there were guys at the end of their day, drinking beers and hangin' out around their trucks shooting the breeze.
The Manteo Weather Station on Roanoke Island is dedicated to Alpheus W. Drinkwater 1875-1962, weatherman, telegrapher, wreck commissioner, the US Weather Bureau once used the coastal warning display tower to fly flags to warm mariners of wind shifts or approaching storms. On Nov. 10, 1904, the Weather Bureau established this station, putting Drinkwater in his role as telegraph operator, he was the logalical choice for weatherman. He is also noted as for sending the news of the Wright Brothers. Beyond the symbolic colors and sharps that told a rainy day or flood tides of a northwesterly, weather flags when flown in various combinations of shapes and colors, signaled that it was time to take in the laundry or to set the fishing nets, part of everyday life. At night, two red and one white signal lights flashed storm warnings. The Manteo weather tower is believed to be one of five towers still in use, and may be the only one with all of its original signal lights affixed.
“Cross the creek and you will find safe haven”.
The Outer Banks were home to many African Americans, communities and family have been a significant part of coastal tradition, they fished the waters of the sea and sound, piloted ships around the dangerous shoals and though the narrow channels of the waterways and safe guarded the coast for hundreds of years. Most of the first African Americans were brought as slaves starting in the early 1700’s. Up the civil war the Outer Banks islands had significant slave populations. Many African Americans were skilled waterman, heavily involved in fishing, ferrying, piloting although the Civil War changed the lives of many on the Outer Banks and altered the demographics of particular coastal communities. Folks maintained a viable presence in the region. In fact Roanoke Island was the site of one of America’s first freeman colonies.
Even before Sir Walter Raleigh planted an English Colony on Roanoke Island in the mid-1580s, Africans had been on North Carolina’s shores.
In 1526, Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, a Spanish explorer and slave trader led an expedition of 500 people from the West Indies to settle near Cape Fear among them were several slaves. It is possible that the first blacks to visit came with Sir Francis Drake in 1586.
During the Civil War Free Blacks answered the call to arms, en mass following the Emancipation Proclamation their skilled knowledge of the area helped the Union, they were essential area to will the war.
The freedom of a freeman’s colony at Roanoke was the first in our history. Time for change, no different than today and for all Americans to have Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. That’s true freedom to me, and it is Free.“This, at present is safe asylum in all North Carolina, and God is lifting the yoke, and soon I feel there will be a great rush of those who are held by the last firm grip of expiring slavery”. Sarah P. Freeman, a missionary, teacher, writing about the Roanoke Island Freeman’s Colony on July 8, 1864. Sadly after the Civil War the Colonies land was given back to the original land owners.
There is a micro brewery here, theWeeping Radish, and a Eco-friendly Bavarian fare, open since 1986 on the Island, very good Bavarian fare, nice lunch of sausages, pretzel and beer, they had Corolla, why I don't know, and their own brews: a German pale lager, Fest, an amber lager, and Black Radish, a dark lager Munich Dunkel style and a seasonal Hefewiesen, they were all good full flavored, slightly flat, yet the Hefe was the best and had better bubbles. They use organic beef and work with local farmers to buy fresh organic vegetables.
On to Nag’s Head and Kill Devil Hills,
“the sand fairly blinds us, it blows across the ground in clouds. We certainly can’t complain of this place. We came down here for wind and sand, and we got them”

Orville Wright, 10/18/1900
The Wright Brothers of Dayton, “from the time we were little children, my brother Orville and myself lived together, playing together, worked together and in fact, thought together”, the bachelor brothers lived with their father and younger sister. They went into business in 1892. Wright Cycle Shop, at first they sold and repaired machines, but later begin to manufacture them.
Later they used the shop to build parts for their airplane, on there experiments the brothers said “all the experiment have been conducted at our own expense without assistance from any individual or institution”.
In order to fly a powered machine to Wright Bros. had to solve three major problems
1) Lift, 2) power, 3) control, climb and descent, steering, sideways balance.
All things I need to do in life.
On their 1902 glider “our new machine is very great improvement over anything we had built before or that anyone else has built”, The brothers made a thousand glider flights, many on them into 35mph winds at Kill Devil Hills, their record 622 ½ feet in 26 seconds
By adding horsepower and propellers at the end of 1902, the brothers had solved most of the problems of free flight. They began to work on the motor
The 1903 powered machine, their new machine was the promising, yet, now to attempt to fly.
On Dec. 13, 1903 the day man first flew. “Only those who are acquainted with the practice of aeronautics can appreciate the difficulties of attempting the first flight. Four attempts at controlled flight, the final flight 852 feet in 59 seconds.
“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return”. Leonardo da Vinci
Lots of great eats here, go to eat early in the summer, or better yet, go for a late afternoon lunch, you may get a table.
There is a micro brewery called Outer Banks Brewing Station, with great beers and creative food as well, their beers are Olsch, pale-Bubbha-bubba Hefeweizen-Hip Hop IPA-Golden Eye Alt-All Around Brown-Irish Breakfast Stout-Sledgehammer-Barley Wine.
I have had lots of great meals around the house, each day a different family will cook, chicken kabobs one night, chipped venison with cream sauce over toast for breakfast (SOS), BBQ Pork Sandwiches and mac and cheese, I grilled large tenderloins, mushrooms and peppers, and a salad of spinach, strawberries, toasted pecans, yellow heirloom tomatoes, with a cranberry mustard-honey vinaigrette, then topped with gorgonzola, we have some meals out, there are way to many options to choose, so do some research, check out High Cotton BBQ today, I would like to go to Awful Arthur’s for oysters, or Sooey’s BBQ & Rib Shack, while on an evening drive, I see that all the lots were full and the smells are delightful.
A beautiful place, great for R&R, time with family, it fascinating to see the different strains and influences in the family because of genetics I guess, my sister Valerie inspects our baby toes, the last little one, we apparently have a passed on a mutation, turned-in pinkie toes, some of us have web toes. A very special place to land for a week, good healing time catching up with the past and family, securing relations for today, and enjoying the future generations.
Off to Beaufort for see the Tall Ships on Saturday, then inland to the Mountains and then to the northeast.