Lost Colony Weekend-Vintners Dinner and Grand Tasting Make It Special

The Lost Colony Weekend kicked off with the spectacular Vintner's Dinner on Friday night.
The Lost Colony Weekend kicked off with the spectacular Vintner’s Dinner on Friday night.
A Spectacular Beginning to an Important Weekend

This is a big weekend for The Lost Colony.

Now that the shows are wrapped up for the summer, the longest running outdoor drama in North America can move on to some other things, and one of the most important of those things is raising the money needed to keep Waterside Theater open, the staff employed and the actors paid.

This weekend is the largest fundraiser the organization does all year, and there are two events with something for everyone.

Today, Saturday, it’s  the Grand Tasting with over 100 wines to sample, local microbreweries on hand and some great finger food from area restaurants. Anchored by the Sound Stage Theater—which used to be the dressing rooms and costume shop for the production—the setting for the event is beautiful. Bordering Roanoke Sound the exquisite views of the sound make a great time even better.

We were there last year and had a great time.

This year, though, we had a chance to go to the Vintner Dinner featuring the wines of Virginia Dare Winery paired with some amazing dishes.

At one time Virginia Dare Winery, created in the 19th century in North Carolina, produced more wines than anyone else in the United States. Prohibition and changing tastes though doomed the label, but, as the story goes, a young Francis Ford Coppola fell in love with the jingle he heard as a young child and the beautiful young girl on the label.

After making his fortune in movies, Coppola turned to wines and with his Coppola Winery well established, he created  the Virginia Dare Winery and as tribute to the first English child born in the New World, has helped The Lost Colony with the wine dinners.

Held in downtown Manteo this year, the kitchen and menu was organized by Sam McCann of Blue Point Restaurant in Duck.

Sam brought in two outstanding chefs from Durham to help with the evening— Phil Bey of Saint James Seafood and Josh DeCarolis of Mother & Sons.

The wines, coupled with the food made for a very, very special evening. What really seemed to help was having Rick Toyota, director of hospitality for  Coppola Wines on hand to tell the story behind the various wines.

All the wines were themed around the tales of the Lost Colony, including a chardonnay, the 1587, that had not even been officially released yet. The wine was excellent.

There is no way to pick out one dish, or even wine that stood out over others—they were all that good.

And as a fundraiser and a way to help a great organization—well, it all went to a good cause.

Fall is festival time on the Outer Banks. Don’t miss out. Book with Joe Lamb, Jr. & Associates today.

Surf & Sounds-Better Than Advertised

Katie Hyun, Elizabeth Vonderheide, Jacob Fowler and Luke Fleming performing Debussy's String Quartet in G Minor at the Duck Amphitheater.
Katie Hyun, Elizabeth Vonderheide, Jacob Fowler and Luke Fleming performing Debussy’s String Quartet in G Minor at the Duck Amphitheater.

Better than advertised … that is the only way to describe the Surf and Sounds Chamber Music that the Don and Catharine Bryan Cultural Series brought to the Outer Banks this year.

Tuesday night’s performance at All Saints Episcopal Church in Southern Shores was absolutely amazing. And then the musicians equaled that with their outdoor presentation at the Duck Amphitheater last night.

Jacob Fowler—cello, Luke Fleming—viola, Elizabeth Vonderheide—violin and Katie Hyun—violin are musicians at the absolute top of their game. Tuesday night’s performance also included Amanda Halstead on piano, which allowed the performers to take on music with a little more orchestral sound.

The performance at the Duck Amphitheater was a traditional string quartet—and it may have been nice if the piano could have been there as well, but moving a concert grand to an outdoor stage doesn’t seem like a good plan.

Nonetheless, the music was sublime leading with a classic Haydn composition, his String Quartet in G Major. They came back with a Debussy piece, String Quartet in G Minor, that challenged the musicians and the audience.

The Tuesday night performance spanned the 400 years, from Mozart to Paul Schoenfield, modern American composer. His Cafe Music written in 1985 was a revelation and a delight to hear.

There are two more concerts scheduled: tonight (Thursday) at the Blue Point in Duck and Friday evening at the Dare County Arts Council Gallery in Manteo.

#joelambjr

Chamber Music Comes to Outer Banks

JLconcert

Here’s just about a perfect way to end the summer on a high note—the Don and Catharine Bryan Cultural Series is bringing chamber music to four locations on the Outer Banks.

Looking at the professional experiences of the musicians, these are incredibly accomplished artists with very strong performance backgrounds. The concerts are free, and what is particularly nice about this series are how perfect the settings are for chamber music.

It will be interesting to see how the Blue Point sets up the restaurant to accommodate the musicians, but no matter what it will be great music with amazing food.

Although all of the venues should be excellent for chamber music—with the Blue Point caveat included—one evening in particular may really be worth considering. The Wednesday concert at the Town of Duck Amphitheater is an outdoor setting that is beautiful. Set in a slight bowl, the sound should be perfect and, although now weather forecast is faultless, right now conditions appear ideal for an outdoor concert.

Surf and Sounds Chamber Music Series-Venue Schedule

All Saints Episcopal Church, Southern Shores

Tues August 23, 7:00 p.m.

Town of Duck Amphitheater,  Duck

Wed. August 24, 7:00 p.m.

Blue Point, Duck

Thursday August 25 – 6:00 p.m.

Dare County Arts Council, Manteo

Friday August 26, 7:00 p.m.