Roanoke Island Festival Park Adventure Museum — Attraction in Manteo

This was a great view into the past about 450 years ago. My friend, grandmother and I visited the park. It was 11 dollars for my friend and I, and 10 for my grandmother. But aince she is a AAA member we saved a dollar each on admission. We got to see swimsuits from 1890 to 1990 for free behind the desk. Its interesring to see how they changed so much. After we walked outside and saw how the natives lived and we eventually even saw the Elizabeth II ship. We climbed aboard and learned about its past. We even learned that my friend and I back them would be middle aged at 22 and have our own ship/family. That and the people who went to new world and were not crew paid a cargo fee and got fed once a day and got a gallon of beer as well since it kept better than water. The decks below were the beds and the oficers got ACTUAL beds, but they were where the water would come in during storms and right below the rutter so they would get smacked if they were too high up and hear...

Worth the visit. I learned a lot, even after doing my research. The staff want to be there and enjoy what they do. They are in character and know what they're talking about. It made it great.

We boarded the Elizabeth II and went below deck and the boatswain's area, but the captains room and cargo hold were off limits.

We learned some indigenous history in the movie theater. A lot of the names in the area make more sense now.

We were trained as pikemen and how to stop a cavalry charge, finish the rider and loot them.

We watched furniture being made and then sparred in metal breastplate armor and helmet with a buckler and sword. It is heavy, and only the sword was wood.

We also watched a blacksmith heat and hammer red-hot metal into a hook on the anvil, which we got to take as a souvenir. We missed the musket firing this...

This is a very interactive museum. My two kids (7 and 11) were a little skeptical, but had such a great time once they were there that it was actually their favorite activity in OBX. You get to board a ship and talk with the crew, actually run old machines to make wood products (we were working on a table leg), and see a blacksmith make a nail that you can take home. All of these were hosted by staff that was in character the whole time. My kids also really liked a separate part of the museum that focused on the first interaction between the Natives and the Colonists - they try to describe certain parts of their lives without words (like charades) and trade items. Really fun - highly...