MORE FROM THE ELIZABETHAN GARDENS IN MANTEO, NORTH CAROLINA

 

I have a doozy of a cold so if your comment is late in appearing, it is because I have the pace of a snail 🐌 right now. Thank you all for visiting and thank you everyone who leaves a comment.  I probably won’t be posting again until Monday. 

The Elizabethan Gardens' website can be found here.

Right outside the gift shop/entrance there was a very large selection of garden ornaments.  I would have enjoyed taking a few of these home but managed to keep myself in check.  We are downsizing and trying not to add anything else right now.

They were fun to look at though.

So, I tore myself away from all the garden goodies and started to explore.

These beautiful gardens can be found within the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, on 10 acres next to the  Roanoke Sound.  There are hundreds of native plants, and many others from around the world.  We didn't see any wildlife apart from a few squirrels, but it is home to a variety of birds and animals.

The Elizabethan Gardens are only yards away from the original homes of the 1580's Lost Colonists.  In the photo below is the building that contains the gift shop where we bought our tickets.

The following photo showing the iron gates were once placed at the French Embassy in Washington DC, and they gave them to the garden as a gift. 

We came across a statue of Virginia Dare.  The original sculptor's vision carved her as an adult, with fishing nets draped around her waist.  He saw in his mind-eye, what he believed she would look like had she grown up on Roanoke Island.  

Virginia Dare was the first baby born to the colonists in the New World, and was only an infant when she and the other colonists disappeared.  (There is a very interesting history here.  And there is also an urban legend of Virginia Dare and the White Doe here.  As legends often are, it is a rather sad and fanciful tale.)

This statue itself has an interesting history as it was carved in 1859 in Rome and was eventually donated to the gardens.  First, however, it survived a Spanish shipwreck, was a controversial display in the Raleigh State Hall of History, and then had a long stay with the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, and original author of the Lost Colony play, Paul Green.  There is a popular belief that Virginia Dare survived and was assimilated into the local Native American culture, that maybe others were too.

The Garden itself was officially opened to the public on August 18th, 1960, on what would have been Virginia Dare's 373rd birthday.

There were a lot of nooks and crannies to find, and more flowers to share, but I will leave those until next time.

If you would like to see my other posts from the garden, you can click on the label below this post that reads, "The Elizabethan Garden_Manteo_NC.”

I have also included two maps of the area and where it can be located.

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.

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.