Chincoteague & Assateague Island

Seriously ... this post is a year in the making. I've been meaning to post about our visit to Chincoteague & Assateague Island for almost a year now ... and now I'm finally doing it.

In August of last year, Mike's mother was visiting to help us celebrate Mike's 40th birthday. We knew we wanted to do something special, but we just weren't quite sure what that was. We decided to get in the car and just drive. We really didn't have a destination set ... we just knew when we got there, that's where we would be. We did think we might end up on the coast of Maryland.

Finally, we started seeing signs that said we were getting close to Chincoteague. I said ... hey isn't that where the wild horses roam? That's pretty much all I knew about the place. My mother-in-law Bett loves horses, so we decided to see if we could find a room there. Well, let me just say, that was no easy task. On the entire island there seemed to be only one room available. The Presidential Suite in one of the hotels was all that was left. Mike said we should just do it ... let's just say the cost of the room was VERY presidential. It was nice though ... right on the water, balcony all around, jacuzzi, HUGE room.

If you would like, you can click on any of these pictures to see them in a bigger view.


This is a picture of us on the drive ... we stopped off at a rest area that was over the water. It was beautiful! As you can see Griffin had no interest in looking at the camera. It was all about looking at the boats for him.


I had never seem a ship like this before. Wait ... maybe I have in Tampa Bay ... I don't remember. But it was HUGE!!


The first night we were there, we ate at a place called Steamers. Okay ... let me just say ... it was SO good. And what is a post from me without a picture of food, right?


After dinner, Mike and Griffin went back to the room and Bett and I went for a walk. Here we are in front of a statue of the famous "Misty of Chincoteague".

The Chincoteague Pony was made famous by Marguerite Henry’s 1947 children’s novel Misty of Chincoteague, and the subsequent sequels Sea Star: Orphan of Chincoteague, Stormy: Misty’s Foal, and Misty’s Twilight. The real Misty of Chincoteague was born on Chincoteague in 1946, and her descendants still serve as ambassadors of the breed.


And here we are entering the seashore area ... I didn't take pictures of the beach. It was what I would say looks like a lake shore ... not really beachy at all to me.


And I just LOVE this picture of Mike and Griffin walking along the path that would lead us to where the wild horses and ponies were. It was quite a hike there, but we finally made it!!


We did see the wild horses, they were way off in the distance. I was a little surprised there were condos in the distance too.

From what I hear, many times the horses can actually be seen on the beach. Here's a little history lesson for you.

There are two theories of how the ponies came to live on Assateague Island. The legend is that a Spanish galleon wrecked off of Assateague Island and the surviving ponies swam to the island. However, the more likely theory is that early 17th century colonists let their animals loose on the island to avoid the tax on fenced livestock. Whichever theory is true, the free-roaming ponies of Assateague have been living there for hundreds of years.

The Virginia feral ponies are owned by Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department. The government allows the fire department to keep a maximum of 150 adult ponies in the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island. For over 80 years, on the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday in July, Pony Penning is held on Chincoteague. The herds on Assateague are rounded up, and on Wednesday of Pony Penning week the ponies swim from Assateague to Chincoteague. The ponies are held in a pen at the carnival grounds on Chincoteague until they swim back on Friday morning. On Thursday, an auction of most of the foals is held with a few kept as future breeding stock. The proceeds of the auction are used to care for the feral ponies and finance Chincoteague’s fire department. A second roundup is held in the fall for a vet check, an informal sale of the foals born after Pony Penning, and the foals sold in July that were too young to be weaned are picked up by their owners.

If you ever have a chance to visit ... I highly recommend Chincoteague. It's a quaint, beautiful place for families.