Try Roanoke Island for break from beach

A nighttime outdoor performance of 'The Lost Colony' is an Outer Banks staple.
By ELISSA LEIBOWITZ
WASHINGTON POST
The kids are sunburned and whining -- and so are you. You're tired of sand in the house and bathing suits that won't dry. The cloudy sky is unable to make up its mind. All good reasons to pile into the car and cross the Nags Head-Manteo Causeway to distraction-filled Manteo and Roanoke Island.
More than two decades before the first permanent English settlement of Jamestown was established in Virginia, Sir Walter Raleigh and his mates set up temporary digs on Roanoke Island. The oak-tree-filled Fort Raleigh National Historical Site ([252] 473-5772; free) exhibits some artifacts found on-site and shows a film of what life was like for the New World Colonists.
In case the film isn't real enough for you, consider a nighttime outdoor performance of "The Lost Colony" ([800] 488-5012; $16 adults, $8 children), a long-running song-and-dance Outer Banks staple that tells how the Colonists disappeared. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paul Green wrote it, and such actors as Andy Griffith and comedian-actor Chris Elliott once starred in the show, which Outer Banks grannies probably saw as children.
Model ship
Roanoke Island Festival Park ([252] 475-1500; $8 adults, $5 children) is worth visiting for the Elizabeth II, a model of a 1587 ship that carried some of the colonists to the New World. Kids can play around with 16th-century war gadgets and try on armor at the Settlement Site, a re-creation of a temporary English settler commune. The Roanoke Adventure Museum has hands-on exhibits for antsy children, and the small Festival Park Art Gallery is a good place to recover from history overload.
The petite North Carolina Aquarium ([252] 473-3493; $6 adults, $4 children) hosts a number of child-friendly programs, and its "Graveyard of the Atlantic" reef tank is filled with 285,000 gallons of water and a variety of fish, including sharks. Just avoid the place on a rainy day -- it can be as packed as a can of sardines.
Garden spot
While the Elizabethan Gardens ([252] 473-3234; $6 adults, $2 children) are loveliest in the spring and autumn, a summer visit is nice for a shelter-seeking stroll. Be sure to see the antique fountain topped by a statue of Aphrodite -- especially pretty when the crape myrtle is in bloom -- and the sunken gardens, with their ancient artwork. Mosquito spray is a must.
To save some money, consider the Roanoke Island Attractions Pass ([252] 475-1500), which costs $17 for admission to the park, aquarium and gardens. For an additional $14, the Queen's Pass adds admission to a performance of "The Lost Colony."
For lunch, stroll by the shops and eateries along the Manteo Waterfront. The Full Moon Cafe (in the Waterfront Shops, [252] 473-6666), in particular, is a well-priced and delightful little place for sandwiches and vegetarian dishes. From $6.99. The Weeping Radish (Route 64 upon entering Manteo, [252] 473-1157) is extremely popular among lunchtime tourists craving German cuisine and kitschy gifts from the Christmas store next door. Meals from $5.95.
XFor more details, call (252) 475-1500 or visit www.roanoke island.com.