Day 4 – Monday, May 26

Well, Ray and I truly did sleep in today. It was 10:00 a.m. when we woke up! However, in our defence, that was about 7:00 a.m. Pacific time!!! Around 1 pm, we all set off in the Subaru to drive down to Roanoke Island and a visit to the Aquarium. The advertising quotes: The Aquarium is an educational attraction focused on “inspiring appreciation and conservation of our aquatic environments.”” And it was true to its word! We had a fabulous time watching and learning about the local sea creatures, and the different environments in the area, such as wetlands, rivers, ocean, sound, etc., all of which seem to attract different species. For example, I was horrified to learn that there are alligators in the Sound! My goodness, we used to swim there thinking we were safer than in the Ocean …. Now I am thinking …. Oops, but there were alligators????   Other delights included the amazing Jelly Fish which apparently have the highest level of intelligence without any tissue, Sharks, Sea Turtles and a Sea Turtle Rescue room which provided medical help to the rescued sea turtles. As one example: Sea Turtles get cold very quickly, and can easily get “frost bite” on their backs! Who would have thought of that!! There was an interesting “white” alligator – a pigment, just as you see the odd pure white bird, or other animal! Then there were the Sea Horses, and I wondered at the rough similarity to a true horse’s head. The interesting part of them was the way they clung on to plants with their tails! And for me, the best of the whole exhibit was the river otters playing with each other. It was hilarious when one caught the other by the tail as it tried to escape and slowly pulled it back to the pool it had just escaped from! All very exciting! At the end, we had a snack. A first time for “French fries and cheese” …. Ray actually wanted to try the “French Fries with Bacon and Cheese” but  I declined that choice! Interesting …… not sure I would choose it again!! But it does seem to be a thing down here. I supposed a little like “poutine” but no gravy, just cheese!  Then after all that excitement, we drove north up the highway to our little sanctuary in Duck.