The first night we were in Manteo, the lady at the hotel desk suggested we drive to the end of the island to a small community called Wanchese (which I later learned was the name of one of the Indian guides to the new colony). At the very end of the road was a restaurant that only served local food and was supposed to be very good. So we went.
It was an interesting drive. And it was clearly a wharf, with several boats attached and a place for unloading their wares. But the only possible place we saw for a restaurant was over the wharf - up two very tall flights of steps. We looked around for an elevator or sign, and nothing. I finally decided to go up and ask if there was another entrance, and I was very glad I did!
The elevator door looked like a storage closet and was kept locked so children couldn't open it and get crushed or fall into the moving cables...which makes perfect safety sense. Locals all knew to call ahead and they'd be watching/waiting to come unlock the elevator for any patron who needed it.
We shared a plate and decided to try something we'd never had before. So we ate a fish called wahi (and I'll mention that again in tomorrow's post). The "salsa" that came with it was actually pinapples, tomatoes, onions and herbs, though Bobby said his had something spicy in it. We laughed afterwards that his favorite thing was their mashed sweet potatoes, and mine was the steamed squash/zuchhini. I wasn't dressed up, and was feeling a tad underdressed (even though as Bobby pointed out our waiter was in denim shorts), but then two families came in who were in shorts and flip-flops. But our favorite part about the whole place was the background music...softly played hymns. It was awesome. Our waiter actually bussed our table, and mentioned to us that he was trying to help out the girl who did that job. She was a little overworked that night, was a good girl, and was saving money to go to a Bible college. We were impressed, mentioned to him how much we appreciated the music, and he grinned really big. The owners and all but one of the employees were members of the local Assembly of God church, and one of the fishermen they bought fish from was also a fellow church member. It was a neat experience, and was one of our surprises on our vacation.
It was an interesting drive. And it was clearly a wharf, with several boats attached and a place for unloading their wares. But the only possible place we saw for a restaurant was over the wharf - up two very tall flights of steps. We looked around for an elevator or sign, and nothing. I finally decided to go up and ask if there was another entrance, and I was very glad I did!
The elevator door looked like a storage closet and was kept locked so children couldn't open it and get crushed or fall into the moving cables...which makes perfect safety sense. Locals all knew to call ahead and they'd be watching/waiting to come unlock the elevator for any patron who needed it.
We shared a plate and decided to try something we'd never had before. So we ate a fish called wahi (and I'll mention that again in tomorrow's post). The "salsa" that came with it was actually pinapples, tomatoes, onions and herbs, though Bobby said his had something spicy in it. We laughed afterwards that his favorite thing was their mashed sweet potatoes, and mine was the steamed squash/zuchhini. I wasn't dressed up, and was feeling a tad underdressed (even though as Bobby pointed out our waiter was in denim shorts), but then two families came in who were in shorts and flip-flops. But our favorite part about the whole place was the background music...softly played hymns. It was awesome. Our waiter actually bussed our table, and mentioned to us that he was trying to help out the girl who did that job. She was a little overworked that night, was a good girl, and was saving money to go to a Bible college. We were impressed, mentioned to him how much we appreciated the music, and he grinned really big. The owners and all but one of the employees were members of the local Assembly of God church, and one of the fishermen they bought fish from was also a fellow church member. It was a neat experience, and was one of our surprises on our vacation.
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