
DATE: Sunday, July 27, 1997                 TAG: 9707250276

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 42   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JENNIFER LANGSTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANNS HARBOR                      LENGTH:  112 lines

CROSS THE SOUND FOR SAFE (MANNS) HARBOR MAINLAND VILLAGE TRIES TO MAKE VISIT WORTH YOUR WHILE

Cross the bridge that stretches across the Croatan Sound and the atmosphere seems worlds away from the beach communities on the Outer Banks.

Stately farmhouses share the landscape with trailers.

Front lawns are just as likely to be covered with elaborate flower gardens as boats, stacks of crab pots and rusting cars.

There are no traffic lights.

``Manns Harbor is basically a little small fishing village,'' said Dallas Morris, owner of the Manns Harbor Marina and Motel - about a 15-minute drive from downtown Manteo. ``Most of the people here don't want to get into the beach traffic.

``It's kind of a nice, out-of-the-way spot.''

Business owners say making the trip to Dare County's mainland is worth the extra gas. Most cater to a mix of tourists and locals, keeping the prices (in some cases) lower than their counterparts on the beach.

The motto in Manns Harbor seems to be ``Drive a little, save a lot.''

Cleo's Seafood sells shrimp, crabs and fish at reasonable prices as well as vegetables picked from a private garden.

The store and wholesale operation is located at the end of Shipyard Road near a state facility that repairs and maintains the North Carolina ferry fleet. Handpainted signs direct visitors to the small shop in back of a waterfront house.

Owners Cleo and Sid Tatem took refuge in Manns Harbor 15 years ago when the highway department built a bridge over their property in Virginia Beach.

``I wanted to be the troll under the bridge. But they wouldn't let me. So we're here,'' said Sid Tatem, 69. ``It's a good place to catch seafood.''

The Tatems sell five different kinds of shrimp. Most cost less than $5 a pound - about half the price of Nags Head seafood shops. To supplement the local harvest, Cleo's also imports scallops, lobster tails and fish rarely caught on the Outer Banks.

``Frozen is frozen. Fresh is fresh. We don't thaw anything out and pretend that it's fresh,'' said Cleo Tatem.

Fishing used to be the lifeblood that held this once-isolated outpost together.

Manns Harbor was connected to Roanoke Island only by ferry - and to other parts of the mainland by roads - in the 1930s.

But residents say declining fisheries and increasing regulations have led younger generations to find work on the beaches or open new businesses along the increasingly congested highway.

``Fishing has just about become a thing of the past,'' said Wade White, who owns a convenience store and lunch counter bearing his name on Highway 64/264. ``There are a few people making a living from it. But it's hard.''

Nature's Harmony, a Manns Harbor nursery that sells everything from herbs to water lilies, came to fruition after owners Ron and Sherry Foreman decided to give up a life of crabbing.

When the motor broke on their boat, the couple invested the repair money in a gardening venture. They started selling herbs six years ago, and since then the business has blossomed.

In three greenhouses on Shipyard Road, Nature's Harmony offers hundreds of plant varieties from huge, hardy hibiscus with flowers the size of dinner plates to cactuses that resemble sea vegetables.

The Foremans sell a wide selection of fruit trees - apple, nectarine, kiwi, plum, pear and other citrus treats. They also carry salt-tolerant plants that can thrive in a marine environment.

``People just rave about the variety that they find here. That's just because I'm addicted to plants,'' said Sherry Foreman, 50.

Nature's Harmony grows about 60 percent of its plants in the local greenhouses. These are organically grown without chemicals. The shrubs and other varieties Foreman buys on her off days are not organic, but are not treated once they reach the nursery.

``We don't spray poison sprays. We use beneficial insects to clean up the bad bugs,'' Foreman said.

She orders ladybugs, praying mantises and lacewings - which eat aphids and other plant pests - by mail and keeps the insects refrigerated until they are ready to hatch.

Wandering through the jungle of plants, bugs and creeping vines makes a nice excursion, whether you're trying to beautify a yard or just seeking some greenery off the sandy Outer Banks.

Another local business perfect for browsing is Thieves Antique Market just across the bridge on Hwy. 64/264.

The shop specializes in driftwood, sharks' teeth and antique bottles. Green glasses advertising extinct soda drinks and homemade swamp remedies line the front window.

Anyone in need of a Roy Rogers lunch box, a fake leopard-skin coat or an entire box of 3-D glasses can find them here. The store also has crates of vinyl records, good buys ranging from $2 to $5.

``It makes for a very unusual mix,'' said store manager Doris Shanks. ``All this stuff that looks like one man's trash is another man's treasure.''

On the way back to the beach, thirsty visitors can stop for a drink at the bar in the Mann's Harbor Marina, a neighborhood watering hole for commercial watermen, sport fishermen and residents.

The bar on the fringes of the quiet, family-oriented community offers pool tables, a jukebox and a live band on weekend nights.

``For the most part, it's a mellow crowd,'' said owner Morris. ``There's no place that is trouble-free all the time. But usually it's pretty quiet around here.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by WILLIAM P. CANNON

A 58-foot boat whose indoor construction phase was completed in

Mann's Harbor is being transported by Spencer Yachts to the North

Carolina ferry maintenance facility in Mann's Harbor.

Graphic

HOW TO SEE IT

What: Manns Harbor

Where: Take U.S. 64/264 across the bridge from Roanoke Island to

the mainland. To reach businesses on Shipyard Road, go straight

through the first stop sign. Other sites line the highway route.

When: Most stores are open daily.

To Do: Plant shopping, antique browsing, roadside crafts,

walking, fishing. Charter boats are available at Manns Harbor