Wanchese
Wanchese
Wanchese isn't exactly a tourist town; it's a fishing village, and almost always has been one. Long before the first European explorers landed, the Algonquin Indians, and perhaps others before them, traveled to the southern end of what is now known as Roanoke Island to fish and gather shellfish.
A huge mound of discarded shells was once located near a place referred to as "Thicket Lump," but early farmers in the area carted the shells off as a source of limestone for their crops, before archeologists had a chance to learn more about the culture that left them behind.
Fishing is still the main enterprise in Wanchese, which is named after one of the Indian chiefs (Chief Manteo was the other) who traveled to England with Sir Walter Raleigh, living there for a year before returning home to Roanoke Island.
If you take a drive around Wanchese, don't bother to look for the downtown area, as there isn't one, unless you count the post office. However, two-lane roads wind about the village, and the homes here are an eclectic mix, many with small rowboats and brightly colored decoys as yard art. You'll discover neighborhoods where mobile homes are neighbors to new construction, old farmhouses, and slightly tumble-down homes from a generation or two before.
There are a few diners, a bed and breakfast inn, and even a couple of art galleries. For decades, the population has consisted of mostly fishermen and the children of fishermen, but that's beginning to change as folks from other parts discover the town's quiet, not yet commercialized atmosphere, a refuge from the beach, even though it's just down the road.
Come on down to Capt Malcs Seafood and get your Fresh Outer Banks Seafood by Wanchese Fish Company.
