A Little Getaway, the Second Day

Ward and I are on a little, 3-day getaway to Chincoteague (CH) and Assateague (AS) Islands in Virginia. Here is our second day.

The morning looked cloudy and windy as Ward and I made our way to the dock, where we joined Captain Dan and six other passengers for a cruise around the islands.  We were motoring into strong winds, and it was COLD! I had on three layers, but still sat tensely trying to keep warm. Ward had on an unzipped sweatshirt and was not cold, or so he says. That's hard for me to believe, but we are different people.

Captain Dan's family had been on CH for 8 generations, and he was quite knowledgeable about all things CH and AS. He also had been in the Navy and worked commercial fishing boats, so he knew a lot about the ways of the sea.

Along the way, he pointed out various things, such as these oyster houses. Oysters were a big business at one time, and these houses were used for harvesting and protecting oyster crops. No structures are allowed to be constructed in CH Bay now, but these were grandfathered in. Now, they are used for fishing and duck hunting. We also saw a bald eagle sunning itself, but I didn't get any pictures.

Our first stop was near the north end of CH, where we saw our first band of ponies. I was very excited, to say the least. It is foaling season and we saw two colts less than a week old with this group. There are several bands of horses (a stallion and up to 15 mares) on AS, and Dan knew the names of every pony, who had mated with whom, and their roaming habits. At first glance, they all looked roughly the same to me - brown and white. But he was pointing out small patterns that differentiated them, and I was amazed. We spent a while here watching the ponies graze on seagrass. We were out of the wind, and I was very thankful to feel warmer. 

We were able to get closer to the ponies on our next stop where we saw this young stallion, Norm, with his "girlfriend." She was an older woman, 22 years old, and probably Norm's first attempt at forming his own band. She looked like she was pregnant, but Norm may not be the father. Gestation for horses is 11 months, and then there are 8-10 days after that that they can't conceive. Then, they're good to go again.

This is Norm's girlfriend. The ponies belong to the CH Fire Department, but their treatment is regulated by the Wildlife Service. The ponies are monitored and receive regular vet care.

By the time we made it back to the dock, the sun was shining. The forecast was for clouds all day, so this was a very pleasant surprise.

Our cruise had taken us around some of AS in the water, but after lunch, we decided to explore the island itself. Our first stop was AS Lighthouse. The short trail to the lighthouse is famous for horrible mosquitoes, so I told Ward I was staying in the car. He convinced me to come along, and to my relief, the wind had gotten rid of the mosquitoes for the afternoon. This lighthouse was built in 1867 and is still operational today.

Along the side of one of the park roads, we saw two more bands of ponies. In the morning, we had only seen them grazing, so it was exciting to see this group trot by. A knowledgeable bystander told us that they were going to a watering hole in the woods. This was a group of mares only as the stallion was getting vet care for an abscess on his leg. (I never take videos, so excuse the "extra" footage.)

The park service has determined that AS* can only support 150 ponies, so the CH fire department, which owns the ponies, sells some of the colts each year to keep the population down and raise money for equipment. They have a drive, and the ponies swim from AS to CH each July for this. After the sale, the ponies go back to the island. They keep some of the young ones to keep the herd going. (The water depth in CH Bay that they swim across is usually only 4' or less.)

Tis the season. Not only did we see foals, we saw goslings crossing the road. 

A little further down the road, we had a terrapin crossing. It shut down traffic for a few minutes as it made its way along. I had another person taking a picture to put her foot out for scale.

Then we made our way out of the bay waters to the beach and the Atlantic Ocean. It was cold and windy (for me anyway, see Ward in shirtsleeves), but it was a pleasant walk, all the same.

Then, we decided it was time to go back to CH. As we explored CH by car, we found the Captain Timothy Hill house. It was built in 1800 and is the only structure remaining of the 13 houses that were on CH at that time. Hand-hewn logs and a wooden chimney.

After an Italian dinner at a local restaurant, we found a nature trail for a nice walk.

Yesterday was a very full but great day. Now it's time to check out of the hotel and get on the road home.

Until next time...

Note:

--AS is a long barrier island owned half by Maryland and half by Virginia. The fire department owns the ponies in VA, and the park service owns the ponies in MD.

--I didn't have time for editing, so just read around whatever doesn't make sense.

A Little Getaway, Day 1

Almost dark on Chincoteague Island

Ward and I are on a little getaway to Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. CH and AS (as they shall be known from here on out because typing those long names gets tiresome) are barrier islands off the coast of Virginia. CH is where most of the people live in the area and AS is a wildlife refuge. Besides the beaches, they are famous for their wild pony population. Wild ponies have been living on AS for hundreds if not 1000s of years. Stories differ on how they got there, but the most popular one is that they escaped from a Spanish galleon during a storm. 

I have heard about these ponies my entire life and have always wanted to see them. So, here we are. We planned the trip just before Memorial Day to hopefully beat the crowds. So far, so good.

The islands are about 4 hours from home, and we took a leisurely drive (at least after we got around the beltway to get past Baltimore) to get there. On the way, we listened to Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henty, which is a story about two children raising a pony from the pony roundup they do each year. The narrator is quite good, and we are enjoying this historical fiction kid's book, especially since we are now where it took place. 

This morning, we have a cruise scheduled around the islands to see the ponies and other wildlife. However, about 10% of the time, the ponies are not seen. But hey, that means that 90% of the time, they are. I have high hopes. The weather is in the 50s and windy, so I will be bundled up. I'll let you know how it goes, but in the meantime, here are some pictures from our day yesterday.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is often a choke point going to the Eastern Shore - especially during the summer. However, we had smooth sailing over it, luckily.

After a couple of hours, we decided to stop in Cambridge, MD. They had a very nice park with piers into the water to walk around.

There was also a free lighthouse museum we explored.

Harriet Tubman was born close to Cambridge and there are many things about her throughout the town. On this trip, we visited the Harriet Tubman Memorial Garden. We will do more the next time we visit.

We drove a couple of more hours and then checked in at our hotel.
This is the view from our balcony. (The same view as the sunset picture at the top of this post.)

After a seafood dinner, we walked around town and figured out that many attractions in the area are not open until next week when the summer season begins. That's okay with us. We are finding plenty to do and are happy to avoid the crowds.

Now we're off in search of the ponies.

Until next time...