THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 15, 1994 TAG: 9407150551
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MARGARET TALEV, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ICEPLANT ISLAND LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
The barrier island shores were barren when English explorers Philip Amadus and Arthur Barlowe claimed the Outer Banks for their queen 410 years ago this week.
But tourists who came to celebrate the anniversary of the Englishmen's arrival Thursday were greeted with exhibits, music, food, historical re-enactments and a party for the 10-year-old Elizabeth II state historic site.
Held across from the Manteo waterfront, Coastal Heritage Days was begun this year to celebrate a decade of the Elizabeth II. The state-owned replica of a 16th-century sailing ship was launched in November 1983.
The official dedication of the gift shop, support facilities and state site was 10 years ago this week.
``I love historical things,'' said Cheryl Wilson, a newlywed from Columbus, Ohio, who visited the festival Thursday on the sixth day of her Outer Banks honeymoon.
Wilson and her husband, Rick, were drawn to the event when they saw the Elizabeth II ship from the Manteo waterfront. A replica of the Santa Maria, one of the ships Christopher Columbus and his crew sailed, is docked in Columbus. The Wilsons couldn't resist comparing replicas.
Michael and Liza Lin of Silver Spring, Md., attended the festival with their two children.
``We like this place,'' Liza Lin said. ``We didn't know really the history. We didn't know this place was the original place discovered by the English.''
The Lins' children, David, 6, and Cathy, 8, were less interested in the history than in gift shop souvenirs.
``I learned about Elizabeth II and I got a globe pencil sharpener and an arrowhead,'' Cathy said.
One 6-year-old boy from New Jersey also was excited with his piece of the past. He swung a rope which he had watched historical re-enactors make. ``I don't really know how they made it,'' the boy said with a partially-toothless grin. However, he said, he would probably show off the rope at school in the fall.
Many festival-goers who took tours of the Elizabeth II were surprised how much smaller the ship seemed up close than from across the water.
``I don't see how they got so many people in there without them getting on each other's nerves,'' said Beverly Shock of Hurricane, W.Va.
The Elizabeth II was named after one of seven ships that took the first English settlers to Roanoke Island in 1585. When Sir Thomas Cavendish's original ship crossed the Atlantic, it carried 55 passengers in the shallow wooden hull.
Built with state funds to celebrate North Carolina's 400th anniversary, the Elizabeth II is 70 feet long and 17 feet wide, with an 8-foot draw and a 65-foot mast. It is a composite of dozens of ships that sailed during the last quarter of the 16th century, said Wynne Dough of the Outer Banks History Center. Dough's office adjoins the Elizabeth II gift shop and is part of the state site.
Although the first Coastal Heritage Days celebration only concluded Thursday afternoon, Dough said already there has been talk of making the two-day festival an annual event. But, he added, he'd like a day or two of rest before tackling next year's plans.
``Given that we're all rank amateurs at this kind of thing,'' Dough said, ``I think it turned out pretty well.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DREW C. WILSON/Staff
Living history interpreter Curtis Cahoon of Columbia climbs the
ratlines of the Elizabeth II, over the heads of visitors to Coastal
Heritage Days on Roanoke Island.
by CNB