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.
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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