Art-o-mat Adventures in Manteo, Roanoke Island, and Dare County Arts Council

Recently I had the good fortune to travel to Nags Head, NC, on business.


Of course I made a point to stop in to the Dare County Arts Council and purchase an Art-o-mat original during my short stay.


This Art-o-mat resides in the Arts Council gallery on Roanoke Island on the corner of Queen Elizabeth Avenue and Sir Walter Raleigh Street in Manteo, NC.  If this sounds familiar, it should:  this is the site of the Lost Colony.



Although it was pouring the rain and the Outer Banks were flooding, I still managed to grab some photos on the porch of the Arts Council historic building.  "Only through service can one be great," read this Clerk of Court honorary marker.



Sheriff Cahoon also left his stamp on the area.



Inside I found the machine.


It is always so hard to decide what to vend.


I think they have a "Mystery" pull because there are a miscellaneous few artists left don't have enough art at the time to devote to an entire column.


So many excellent options in this machine.



Artists in Cellophane:  See if you can find your art here.



After assuring the staff that I did not have the skills to fix the light or service the machine in any way, they gave me a token.


I settled on a pair of lovely rose stud earrings by Crystal Miyake.  Very happy with this purchase.

If you ever have the opportunity to make a trip to Nags Head, Manteo, or Roanoke Island when it's not flash flooding, then enrich your mind with its mysterious history first.  You may really enjoy the conundrum that's baffled archaeologists and historians for ages:  the legend of the Lost Colony and the Dare Stones.

If you are looking for some excellent summer reading, then any or all of the North Carolina Outer Banks collection by Justice Charles Harry Whedbee make excellent reads.  "Legend Writ on Rocke" is a chapter in his book entitled The Flaming Ship of Ocracoke.  I was very glad I read this book before traveling to the OBX.








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