Evening star., 1937-08-15
CAROLINA BANKS
DRAW TOURISTS
Manteo's Virginia Dare CeI-
ebration Set in Unspoi|ed
Scenes.

MANTEO, N c., August 14-There
Is this season more than a good ex-
cuse for Eastern Seaboard travellers
to dip into a country most of them
have heretofore missed-the Pamlico
and Banks" country Of North Caro-
1ina-for across the sound on Roanoke
Island, is Manteo's Birth of a Ma
ton" celebration.
Manteo's Virginia Dare celebration
Is easy on the vacationist's nerves,
and so is the rest of the Pamlico
country. At restored Fort Raleigh,
reached by hard-surfaced roads from
any Eastern point, there is none of
the carnival atmosphere of the usual
exposition.
Three nights a week Paul Green's
unusual symphonic drama, The Lost
Colony" is presented at an open-air
theater built upon the very beach
which first received the imprint of
English settlers. OF the play visiting
critics say it will head both for Broad
way and Hollywood after its all-Sum-
f11er run at Manteo. Like Green Pas
lures 1t is compounded Of drama,
music and costumery, and its theme
purports to explain the mystery of
Sir Walter Raleigh's Inflated colony
which $50 years ago vanished into the
wilderness.
No High Pressure Hawkers.
But the case-hardened tourist will
find Manteo most gratifyingly back
ward community. The islanders have
not discovered, and apparently do not
care to learn. how to "gyp' the visitor
At Fort Raleigh-Where there are re-
stored forts, stockades, blockhouses
and museum of relics gathered from
all over the world-there are no ped
dlers and souvenir hawkers.
There is not merry-go-round, a
balloon salesman nor a professional
photographer on the island and, mira
cle of miracles, pop costs only nickel
q bottle. Manteo refuses to be "upsot"
by celebration-it has seen too much
spectacular history made.
The sightseer, therefore, has a de-
cent chance of having a vacation un-
molested at Manteo. On the way in
to the island many tourists are visit
Ing, for the first time, the Wright
memorial beacon, which is open to the
public all the time-climbing to the
top Of that tower atop Kill Devil Hill
from whence the intrepid Wright
brothers launched their frail plane for
the first true airplane fight. The hill
Itself, once sand dune, has been
moving majestically up and down the
coast ever since until at last it was
anchored by laborious planting of
sturdy grass and shrubs. The business
OF anchoring geography is still going
on around Kitty Hawk and Hatteras
In the Pamlico country are Bath,
oldest town in North Carolina; Eden
ton, where the State capitol once
stood, and New Bern. history drenched
But once on the island many are
tempted to strike out down that outer
bank which guards the coast. The
map shows q long narrow strip of land
which has been aptly termed grave
yard of the Atlantic" The visitor
can ferry across Oregon Inlet from
Roanoke Island in a few minutes a.
at low tide cars can be driven down
the firmly packed beach to Cape Hat
teras, easternmost point of America.
Autos Without Licenses.
There are no roads to Hatteras-
every man makes his own highway
and sand-banks natives who have au-
tos are not required to have license
tags for them. The banks are still
one of the widest and most natural