North Carolina Aquarium (Manteo, NC)

One of Anouk's favorite things to do on a weekend day is to go to the Virginia Aquarium in VB (we have definitely gotten our money's worth and then some from our membership). In fact, she loves it so much that James and I thought we would surprise her a few weeks back and drive her down to the North Carolina Aquarium in the Outer Banks as a treat.

The NC Aquarium is on Roanoke Island, near Manteo, just a little over two hours away from Norfolk. It's a nice drive -- there are plenty of places to stop on the way. Even in the off-season, the aquarium drew a good crowd, the place was full of people but not packed. There was plenty to see: we spent time looking at the fish (and alligators! snakes! adorable otters!), petted a few stingrays, and then were lucky enough to be able to see the sharks get fed. The staff were all very knowledgeable and able to answer every question we had (and there were a lot, Anouk might have gotten her aquarium love from me).

The real standout of the visit, though, was the sea turtle rehabilitation facility. Sea turtles from around the OBX area that are found sick or injured are taken to the NC Aquarium where they are treated and rehabbed before being released. You can tour the facility, and speak to the workers who help to treat the turles. We learned a lot about their habitat and the dangers these animals face, and then headed over to the play area, where A. practiced at being a turtle doctor herself.





The play area was really nicely done -- very clean and organized and easy for little kids but still engrossing for big ones. We saw kids of all ages in the white doctors coats, bandaging up their turtles before "releasing" them (aka sliding them down a trapdoor into a bin so they could pick them up and play with them again). Lucky A. picked up a sea turtle doctor kit from the gift shop, so the fun continues at home. Hurray for playing something other than Barbies!

Highly recommended for a day trip during your next Outer Banks vacation, or even as a standalone trip in itself (Manteo is pretty adorable any time of year).