Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and NC State Aquarium

We took a rainy day to visit Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, where the first English colonists settled in the New World on Roanoke Island.  The colonists were there between 1584 and 1590, predating the enduring settlement at Jamestown.  What happened to them is a mystery, but legend holds that they moved, seemed to be completely gone when people came looking for them, and were rediscovered years later.

We checked out the visitor center and watched the movie before we ventured outside to look at the earthworks that remained from the fort.

Earthworks

We discovered the Waterside Theatre, where they evidently put on some kind of dramatic interpretation called "The Lost Colony."  Sounds Disneyish to me, but OK.  Next door was something interesting that we didn't get to see, the Elizabethan Gardens.  That did look interesting, at least from the gate, but we were kind of tired of being wet.

After lunch, we went to the North Carolina Aquarium just down the road.  We were thrilled that our Friends of the National Zoo membership didn't just give us a discount - it got us free admission altogether.  That membership, which we only bought two months ago, has already paid for itself.

The aquarium was very well done, but I thought it was false advertising on their website when it said "Interact with scuba divers, touch an alligator and feed the stingrays as you explore the 'Waters of the Outer Banks,'" since I got to do none of those things.  Nevertheless, I did like the part where I got to touch starfish, urchins, rays, sharks, and a guitar fish in the interactive exhibit.

 

Alison liked the otters, and got a t-shirt with an otter on it.

This cool little tank made it easy to look down on the fish.

Amber and Alison touch things

The aquarium has "the largest collection of sharks in the state."  They definitely had a lot!

So the aquarium turned out to be pretty cool, and since we didn't pay admission, we made up for it in the gift shop.