Road Trip to Chincoteague – where the wild ponies live
What do you do if you are stuck in a country for 19 month thanks to a global pandemic, travel bans to contain the spread and the job opportunity you always dreamed of? Well you go on a road trip! After month of anxiety caused by said pandemic, a shitty health care system in the country of your current residence and finally being vaccinated against the Roona all I could think of was getting a break from work and some much needed RnR.
So I asked around on where to go that is in easy driving distance and has a beach to relax on, which is why I ended up in Maryland on the eastern Seashore, and boy did that NOT disappoint! After a long drive thanks to traffic accidents, road work and in general way to many people eager to get away for the weekend I finally arrived at the Chesapeake Bay in this tiny town called Crisfield where I would stay for the next two nights. My Airbnb host turned out to be the sweetest lady, an artist and general well of knowledge on where to go to have the weekend I dreamed about.
Not knowing where to go for dinner she offered me to join her and her friends at the harbour eatery for some crab (well I am in Maryland after all) and it was a great start into the weekend. The Red Shell Shanty offered a variety of easy diner foods with a seaside twist and because it wasn’t any fancy tourist trap I really enjoyed myself with some really interesting company. After I was sufficiently nourished I decided to chase the sunset, which thanks to some nice and fluffy cloud coverage promised to be a nice one. I followed my hosts and her friends instructions on where to go for the best view and it was totally worth it. I also took the opportunity to get my feet wet in the Chesapeake Bay, just so that I can say that I did 🙂
The quietness of the little beach and the absence of a lot of people made me breath deep for the first time in month and as I was sitting on the beach, admiring the sunset I realised just how badly I needed this short break…
I woke up super early the next day, thanks to some birds singing really loudly in the backyard…what assholes 😀 But I took advantage of the early start, got some coffee and a few pieces of melon from my host and was on my way to explore the islands on Chincoteague and Assateague in Virginia. It was a really chill drive over to the other side of the peninsula and after driving through the small town on Chincoteague I made my way over to Assateague and into the state park to hike, swim and see the wild ponies.
My first hike of the day was around the lighthouse loop, which I did twice because it was so short 😀 It was a cute loop with some elevation in it but the crowning glory of the loop was the lighthouse and the view over the Island from there. Sadly due to Covid I couldn’t climb to the top of the lighthouse but it was still worth the stop.
Obviously that tiny loop, even done twice, wasn’t enough to fullfil all my hiking needs, so after a short stop at the visitors centre I decided to add the woodlands hike. I was warned by the park ranger that I need to apply bug spray, but in my naïveté I thought the amount I had applied at the start of the day was enough…oh man was I wrong…all the sweating from just standing in the shade must have diluted the protection because the mosquitoes seemed to like me…Other than the annoying buzzing next to my ears the hike was gorgeous and I even explored a little side trail going to the water edge. Overall it was a good hike, even though I didn’t see any wild ponies, they must be hiding in the dense jungle like forest from the heat. It’s only 10 am and I’m already baking at this point, so how would the ponies feel with all the fur? I would hide in the shade as well.
After all this exercising it was time to chill at the beach. My original plan was to hike until lunchtime but after these two hikes I was ready for some fun in the Atlantic Ocean! It was just too hot for more hiking. My pale skin is probably going to curse me later today for chilling at the beach before noon but you only live once! The parking situation wasn’t as bad as I feared but I still had to find a good spot on the beach, everyone is ready to get back to a pre-pandemic lifestyle and I can’t blame them. I found a nice spot next to another solo traveler, Tiffani, and she agreed to look out for my stuff while I frolic in the Atlantic, and what a fun time I had. Jumping over the waves like we used to on our summer holiday trips to southern France, nearly loosing my bikini multiple times while underestimating the waves, drinking half the ocean (it doesn’t taste less salty on this side 😂) and overall just enjoying myself and the cool water. It was a blast!
While chilling on the beach and working on our tans, Tiffani told me about a platoon boat tour that would get us to hidden places to see the wild ponies, or at least try to see them. Since it’s getting hot on the beach and I’m also hungry I decided to join her and luckily the boat guy had one spot left on his boat. And I’m happy that I did join her! The boat tour was so much fun, which the guide telling us a lot about the Islands and events that usually happen around the islands. One is the yearly pony swim, where all the ponies and the babies will be brought over from Assateague to Chincoteague and the babies will be auctioned of to finance the volunteer fire department and that this is one of the biggest tourist attractions they have on the island. He was a great story teller and managed to find a small herd of ponies not too far away from the water. It was a great tour! By the end of the tour and after so much activity I was beat and decided to drive back to Evelyn’s place to shower and hunt down some food.
To end the day perfectly, and without planning for it, my lovely host Evelyn invited me to join her and her friends again for dinner, this time BBQ in her backyard. Such a great group of people! And the best end to such an amazing day! To top it all off a Mantis decided to join us 🙂
After a good nights sleep I decided that I want to take the scenic route back to PA so after a really tasty breakfast in Crisfield I drove all the way to Berlin 😃 a cute little town near the Maryland entry point to the Assateague state park (yes that comes with wild ponies as well). There was a little farmers market on the main street and the town was just super cute and picturesque. From there I followed coastal highway 1 all the way to and through Ocean City and wow, that city is amazingly trashy! Massive figurines on diners, crazy building forms, gigantic dinosaurs on mini golf courses…I have to spend a weekend there sometime soon 😂!!!
Sadly I couldn’t find a parking space to explore this craziness more, so I continued on highway 1 to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware for a short stroll on the beach there. Overall this very scenic drive back home was the perfect ending for this spontaneous and amazing beach weekend. I can’t wait for my next weekend trip! Until then I’ll still be going on day trips hiking the Lehigh Valley and surrounding area or chilling on the Jersey beaches 😊.
