Manteo

Manteo fit our family perfectly. The island had so much character, was quiet yet offered a wide variety of things to do. Definitely a family friendly place. Straight out from where we stayed was the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse and to the left of there was a Maritime Museum. Yes, my husband liked that! Pretty sure he stopped by at least once a day. :) Very close to the museum were lots of shops and galleries. I love browsing through art galleries and Kaelyn really enjoyed them as well because most had a pet inside! Win, win for the whole family. Here are a few of the highlights from Manteo...

Maritime Museum

{this sailboat had just been built, Roanoke Lighthouse in the background}

North Carolina Aquarium

{Kaelyn's favorite part ~ petting the stingrays}

Elizabethan Gardens

A very unique garden. I wouldn't say the flower gardens were all that impressive but the statues sure where!

Amazing!

North Carolina bees are enormous!

Seriously, they look like they could eat you!

Roanoke Island Festival Park

A great spot for kids to learn and play.

We were lucky to be able to look around the ship before a storm came.

 

There were several more things we could have done on the island but these were the bigger things we chose to do and they were all very affordable.

 

I kinda wish I had a job reviewing different destination spots... of course my family would have to join me to really test them out. :)

Do you have a favorite place you like to visit? I would love to hear about it!

Let Go & Trust ~ mixed media

Remember this "Let Go & Trust" mixed media piece I showed in progress a few weeks ago? Well it is almost finished. I just need to sign it and seal it, and hopefully not mess it up during the sealing process. Here are a few more progress photos:

She's coming alive! :)

Now for the pop of color on the bird.

And there she is as of today. I had fun experimenting with the border by adding water to charcoal. It was like turning the charcoal into watercolor. Worth trying out if you haven't before.
One of these days I hope to get better pictures of this piece and my last mixed media in good lighting. I think that is the hardest thing to do. :)