Exploring the Elizabethan Gardens of Roanoke Island, NC

Most people visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina and anticipate sitting on the beach all week, enjoying some fresh, local fish, and relaxing. Sounds great, right? Especially when you factor in taking your first 2-month old child.

With lots of people available to help babysit in the house, it sounds like a perfect vacation for the parents (Mr. and Mrs. InACents) to get some well deserved rest and relaxation.

Well lets be honest, we are not like that. One of the first adventures our new family of three (at the time) had was taking a week long vacation to the Outer Bank for a family wedding on the beach. Several families went in and shared a three-story home together for our first family vacation together, and it was spectacular.

The time the family got to spend together was forever memorable, and even though I was personally a little disappointed with exactly what the Outer Banks entailed, I still look back on it as a great experience.

My wife, our new baby, and I often would get in the vehicle and drive down the coast with the windows down and the ocean breeze blowing through our hair. On one such day we decided to take a drive down to Roanoke Island, North Carolina, and boy were we glad we did. In addition to a stop at the Aquarium and a quaint lunch in an English style garden restaurant, we paid a visit to the Elizabethan Gardens to take in the majesty of the Queen’s grandeur.

The gardens reside on the northern shores of Roanoke Island along the Albemarie Sound. The gardens were constructed on ten acres and began construction on June 2, 1953, which corresponds with the date Queen Elizabeth II was crowned Queen of England.

On the 373rd anniversary of the birth of Virginia Dare (August 18, 1960), the first child born in America of English parentage, the Gardens were formally opened.

The Gate House, made of handmade brick from the Silas Lucas kiln in Wilson, North Carolina, is modeled after the architecture of a 16th century orangerie with a flagstone floor, hand-hewn beams and a wide door with cross design. Above the entrance is set a sculptural stone coat-of-arms of Elizabeth I.

The entrance wall is constructed of handmade brick and feature iron gates which once hung at the French Embassy in Washington and were a gift of The Honorable C. Douglas Dillon, Undersecretary of State and later United States Treasurer and Mrs. Dillon.

The white Carrara marble fountain forms a center piece of the herb garden.

Queen Elizabeth I statue, the world’s largest bronze statue of her majesty.

The Sunken Garden, featuring statues of Apollo, Diana, Venus and Jupiter, and surrounded by clipped dwarf yaupon, pansies, blue ageratum, white vinca and pink begonias which compliment crepe myrtle. In the center lies an ancient Italian fountain and pool with carved balustrade.

What I find rather soothing looking back on these pictures is that the Outer Banks was not only our first getaway as a family, and meant for some relaxation, but that the Elizabethan Gardens was probably one of the most relaxing moments of that trip. With Bug in his stroller, we were able to slowly meander through the property, quietly taking in the fragrances and smells of the gardens, while feeling like royalty.

At one point the three of us found a quiet pavilion overlooking the water, and just sat and relaxed as a family, not knowing what was in store for our future.

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