THE FLYING SAUCERS HAVE LANDED

Sorry, nothing that exciting, just mushrooms in the grass that reminded me of a few B movies I watched in my youth.

I found them in the front of the house we were staying at in Corolla.  

One crash landed!

Another hiding in the tall grass.

They came in peace.  No longer able to fly again, except in my imagination. 

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were.  But without it we go nowhere."

~Carl Sagan~

"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."

~Albert Einstein~

~~~~

I hope so Albert, I hope so.  What say you?

A QUOTE

QUEEN ELIZABETH I - SCULPTURE IN THE ELIZABETHAN GARDENS

She was a complete surprise when I walked down the path.  I remember being totally enthralled. 

I knew nothing of the Elizabethan Gardens until I saw the sign a few days earlier, when we went to the visitor center at The Lost Colony. The garden has its own very interesting history of how it came about.  I will go into that at another time.  For now I want to share these photos.

From what I know of Elizabeth I, she would have been very happy with its beauty.  The sculptor was Jon D. Hair and she stands nine feet tall.

I have always had an interest in costumes down through the ages, and traditional clothing from other countries, which I have mentioned before. The details here were astounding. 

I also wanted to find out more about the design, and I did quite a lot of searching online. Eventually I found an article written in 2006, at a newspaper called the Virginia-Pilot.  The title reads, "Love of theater led to life's work in costume", and I was immediately hooked.  It told the story of a lady, Joan Brumbach, who sewed her first costume for a doll at the age of 4. As the article continues, her mother made home decor, clothes, Halloween costumes for her three daughters, and the seed was sewn, no pun intended.  She has had an interesting life and the article is a great read, but unfortunately when I check again the article had been removed. 

To get back to the focus of my post, Jon Hair chose the gown Joan had designed, from dozens of others he had studied, for his stunning Elizabeth.

I noticed a thick layer of cobwebs near the ruff of her gown, a sign of many tiny tenants .  

I also read a marker nearby that mentioned another tenant.  The Carolina Wren often makes its nest in the hand that holds the bouquet of roses.  

I tore myself away eventually, as it was time to explore the rest of the garden.  This is the day we visited The Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo, North Carolina.

CAROLLA, NORTH CAROLINA TRIP - NINTH DAY - 9-9-17 - JOURNEY HOME

Corolla, North Carolina Trip

Ninth Day

Saturday, September 9th, 2017

Journey Home

One last sunrise to enjoy from the vacation rental.  I shall miss this view.  The photo below was taken a few days earlier. The one above, the morning we left. 

We were on our way at 8:40 a.m., along with the rest of the family.  We intend to drop by Gregg's brother‘s home on the way north.

There were lots of people like this heading home today.  Our car was pretty well packed but not as much as this one.

We are entertained when waiting at traffic lights, interested in the stickers people put on back windows.  Some easily figured out, others leave us scratching our heads.

We stopped at what has become our local Harris Teeter for a coffee.  We often stopped on our way back to the house to pick up a few needed items.  They have a Starbucks inside and the line was long.  Customers were good-natured and friendly.

All week we have been passing by a lovely sculpture of a horse and foal.    

I asked Gregg if we could stop to take a few photos.

It is a beauty of a sculpture.

1:26 p.m. and we have just left Gregg's brother's house, after having a very nice couple of hours catching up. Their sister and her husband arrived about 15 minutes after we did. We drove over to a favorite sandwich shop, and ate at a picnic table outside. We couldn't have had more perfect weather.  It was warm but not too hot, and there was a lovely breeze.  It was great to see Gregg's brother as it has been a while. After lunch we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. 

We pass a familiar statue, one I have seen hundreds of times before.  It is a replica of the much larger one, not too far from where we live.

5.16 p.m.  and we are 28 miles away from home, 44 minutes to go according to the GPS. 

6.15 p.m. and rolling in our driveway.  "Hello house, good to see you house!"  We have had a super week but you know how it goes, Home Sweet Home!  It is great to be back.

~~~~~


If you have missed any of my vacation posts or would like to take a second look, you can click here to see them again.

COROLLA, NORTH CAROLINA TRIP - EIGHTH DAY - 9-8-17 - ELIZABETHAN GARDENS

Corolla, North Carolina Trip 

Eighth Day

Friday, September 8th, 2017
Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo

Gregg and I left the house at 10:15 a.m. This is our last day as we are leaving tomorrow.  It has certainly been a wonderful holiday, in large part due to the generous spirit of Gregg's sister and her husband, who invited us to spend the week with them.  We had also been invited to the engagement party of our mutual friend's daughter.  It was a wonderful week being with the family and seeing our dear friend.

12:23 p.m. and we are sitting at one of the picnic tables in the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo.

It is a lovely place.  You enter the garden through their gift shop and pay an admission fee of $9.00 per person.  

There are pathways leading to lots of wonderful areas, with one taking you down to the water's edge.  

I was pleased to see many pretty flowers still blooming.  I can only imagine what this place looks like in the height of growing season.  

There are Argiope spiders making their decorative webs.  

There are lots of butterflies.  

I see only three types today, Swallowtails, 



 Clouded Sulphur Butterflies 
(with my grateful thanks to David of Travels with Birds for the correct spelling of the spider and the above).

and Skippers, but there are many of them.



And the bees were very busy today, and way too fast for me but I managed to get one as it flew in front of me.  It was a complete surprise, taken with my cell phone and only found when I cropped the photo and saw it on my laptop.



There is a magnificent statue of Queen Elizabeth I.  It is beautiful!  I intend to do a stand-alone post for her later, but here are a couple to be going on with.



There are many more photos to share from the garden, too many for one post.  More to follow.

Walking by the window I noticed it would make a great reflection shot of the two of us.  

We couldn't leave without a look at all the lovely items inside the gift shop.  I guess that would be me and the mouse in my pocket, but Gregg is always a good sport about it.

Pretty angels,

pretty ceramics



and beautiful glassware in all kinds of shapes.



A delightful gift shop, with my thanks to the lady behind the counter who gave me permission to take these photos.



We took our stickers off and knew this wouldn't be our last trip to the garden.  One day we will be back.



Next stop was a walk along the waterfront, still in Manteo.  It was lunch time and we saw Poor Richard's Sandwich Shop.    



Their sandwiches were very good and I enjoyed the artwork on the walls, including a mural,



 a crab



and this handsome old truck.



On our way back to the car we walked along all the boats.



We weren't the only ones. This sweet family made a pretty picture.



When we reached the bridge we walked up the steps, across the road and back to our car.

6.45 p.m. We are at the house and have enjoyed eating leftovers, using what is left in the fridge before our departure tomorrow.

We enjoyed one last game of Trivial Pursuit but we were all very tired and beds were calling.  Everything is packed in the car, except for our clothes for tomorrow and an overnight bag.  We will be on the road between 8.00 and 8.30 a.m.  Our vacation in Corolla is almost over.