Thursday, June 20, 2013

Day two Manteo

June 19, 2013
We decided to stay in Manteo a few days.  I did a load of laundry at the marina and realized I should have brought quarters.  The wash was $1.50 and the dryer $1.00.  Charlie took a bike ride to Wells Fargo and brought back a roll of quarters for future washings.

We have been eating breakfast and lunch on the boat and enjoying dinner out.  This morning we had scrambled eggs and I made a strawberry banana smoothie in our new Bella Rocket.  It turned out well. After the laundry and breakfast, we put Bella in the crate and this time cabled tied ALL the zippers.  We decided to take a bike ride on the bike path that runs the length of Roanoke Island.  When you first leave Manteo, it is a narrow sidewalk, but after a few blocks it turns into a well paved bike path.  We were headed to Airport road to visit the aquarium which sits on Croatan Sound on the west side.  We soon found out that the bike path does not take you up Airport road.  We were forced to bike on a low shoulder road that had a posted 35 mile per hour speed limit.  Up to this point, the residents had been very courteous to us.  On airport road however, traffic was heavy and the cars were surpassing the speed limit and apparently did not have the time to wait for on coming traffic before passing us.  It was very scary.  We wondered where all the traffic was headed. The road only led to the aquarium and the airport.  Certainly everyone was not going to the airport.
When the road made a sharp left turn, we got off our bikes and walked them. The road was very curvy and we were afraid some crazy person was going to knock us off.  As we approached the aquarium, we found out where all the cars were headed.  The crazy drivers were not residents, but tourists. It was a cooler and overcast day. Everyone decided the aquarium was a good spot for the day.   The line appeared long to enter, but it moved quickly. The price for an adult was $8.00.  It was crowded, but we enjoyed ourselves.  The best tank was the last one which had several large sharks.  In fact, there was a poster that advertised you could spend $195 to swim with the sharks.  No thanks.
Shark tank on Roanoke Island
After confirming with aquarium management there were no alternate routes back to the marina, we walked our bikes around the curves of the road and then biked to the path. We made it back uninjured and Bella was still in her crate when we arrived!  I guess we just need to sacrifice a cable tie each time we leave her in the crate.  After lunch, we put Bella in my bike basket and we traveled the boardwalk until Marsh Light Marina.  Then we took a neighborhood road and I let Bella run and pull my bike as she chased Charlie’s bike which was in the lead.  Soon the road turned to a sidewalk and Bella went back into the basket. We followed the sidewalk to Stripers Bar and Grill on Bay Club Drive.  They have a happy hour special each day from 3:30 to 5:30 which includes a different drink special each day and half price crab legs and shrimp.    The special was our dinner.  We ate out back on the deck and Bella stayed with us. They even offered her a bowl of water.  It was windy on the point, but we were protected against the building.

Bella taking a bike ride to dinner
We went home and Charlie watched game four of the Stanley Cup finals and I worked on the blog.  Tomorrow we will visit Festival Park which has a walkway right next to the Marina.

1 comment:

  1. You could use your leash clip and if you have extra leashes with you, you could use them. At least you wouldnt need a new cable tie each time.

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