Exploring Roanoke

 A couple weekends ago, we took a trip with some friends out to Roanoke Island. It was our first time on the NC coast (embarrassing, given how long we've been here), and definitely inspired us to go on more day trips (see my Aurora post). The real draw, other than getting out of the house, was that they've opened a new archeological dig in the hopes of finding a new clue about what happened to the Roanoke Colony and have invited members of the public to check it out.

The site of the former colony is a national park today, and we had an absolutely lovely ranger give us a tour and some back story. It left me wanting more though, so of course I bought a book from the gift shop! The natural area is gorgeous-- really made me think of the southern Georgia coast, which is funny given how far away it is. Lots of live oaks and Spanish moss!

The museum had a room that was brought over from 17th-century England. The carving was stunning, and it made me think of something my mother would put in the house.

There's also an amphitheater where they stage plays during the summer months. We'll have to remember to go back!

We did get to speak with the archeologists as well. We were very lucky, because our guide told us that up until our visit they'd only found a plastic fork and a Levi's patch. (The dig had only started a day or two before.) But that morning they'd found their first artifact from the colonists: a piece of a large clay jar. To us it just looked like a slightly odd rock, but one of the archeologists explained how he looks for the fingerprints of the potter as well as a specific pattern (darker on the outside, lighter on the inside) that arises from the firing process. He also pointed out that since interest in the colony hadn't really been revived until the 19th century, anything that isn't modern (within 150 years or so) can be reasonably assumed to be from the colonists or the indigenous people who lived there.

We took a little walk on the beach as well, and it was so strange to think about the colonists standing on that same beach (well... the shoreline has moved but you get the point) so many years ago, and what they must have felt.

Finally, we wrapped up the day with lunch and a little wander around town.