THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 25, 1995 TAG: 9506220213
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
PICTURE YOURSELF sitting on a shaded park bench nestled between two immaculate beds of begonias, listening to the joyous cries of children at play and little else.
A young couple strolls by on their way to watch the sunset over the sound. A family parks their bicycles under a stand of trees.
Now picture this scene next to the busiest traffic stop on the Outer Banks.
That's exactly where Brian and Elizabeth Newman decided to build their 30-acre entertainment village known as The Promenade - just off the Wright Memorial Bridge in Kitty Hawk.
And it's where my daughters and some of our friends decided to visit one day this month.
I had traveled past The Promenade hundreds of times in the past few years but never really knew what the place offered nor that it's now into its sixth season. Seems I'm not alone.
``That surprises most people because we're so tucked away,'' Elizabeth Newman said. ``People will say they can't believe they've passed us for five years.''
The Promenade has something for children of all ages. There's Smilin' Island for infants on up, an arcade and miniature golf course, water sports, a grass putting fairway and a golf driving range.
We arrived early on a Monday and had the place pretty much to ourselves. First we planted our feet in the sand under a huge, 20-foot-long umbrella while the children went wild on plastic jungle gym equipment.
Donna Lewis of Kill Devil Hills and Kathy Brickhouse of Currituck are regulars here, where it costs from $1 to $5 for all-day or all-night play at Smilin' Island, depending on the age of the child.
``It's a good place to let them burn off steam. It doesn't cost a whole lot either,'' Lewis said while keeping an eye on her toddler.
``And it doesn't interfere with naptime,'' Brickhouse added.
Next, we took a short train ride along the cobblestone pathways encircling the various sites.
The trip cost each of us a dollar and offered a chance to see the driving range and clubhouse, the lush greens, a pond surrounded by decorative cattails and a 1937 fire engine recently added to the menagerie.
The fire truck once served as Elizabeth Newman's school mascot when she was a student at Western Branch High School in Chesapeake. ``Kids love fire trucks,'' the mother of three young children said.
Kids also love to play miniature golf, which is where we next headed for 19 holes bordered by bricks, canna lilies, rhododendron, waterfalls and covered bridges.
Each of the children chose from nine brightly colored balls that somehow managed to find their ways into the proper holes, although only one dropped on a first try.
Our cheers grew louder as we tackled increasingly difficult greens, including the three-tiered Hole No. 14. By the end of the game, we were hot but happy and eager to walk inside the adjacent, air-conditioned arcade.
The eatery serves as both a source of refreshments like popcorn, sodas, coffee and ice cream; and entertainment like the video-game standards Ms. Pac-Man, Frogger and Donkey Kong.
Some of the games, like Skeeball and Bopper, offer tickets that can be traded in for everything from cheap plastic spiders to a map of the Outer Banks. A word of warning: Machines may be out of order while ticket supplies are being replenished.
The Promenade is busiest between 7 and 10 p.m., when families have been to the beach and are done with dinner.
The place was short-staffed the morning we visited; I wasn't able to talk to anyone at the putting course, with 27 holes, or the full-size driving range with open and covered tee areas.
We also ran out of time before exploring the full-service water sports center that offers kayaking and parasailing, among other things.
The employee shortage, however, has since been corrected with the recent hiring of several British students, Newman said.
The students, she said, add to The Promenade's appeal. ``Now people will come here and hear a different accent. I don't know how many young children have ever heard a British accent,'' Newman said.
The Promenade is open from 8:30 a.m. to midnight.
``You can come here and not really realize where you are,'' Newman said. ``You don't feel like you're in the middle of a huge tourist land because there's so much open space.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Meghan Miko, 2, of Sterling, Va., emerges from a slide with her
father, Steve's aid at Smilin' Island at The Promenade.
by CNB