Couldn't drag me away

When I was a child, one of my favorite books was "Misty of Chincoteague". Written in 1947 by Marguerite Henry, the eponymous Misty was a wild foal from the Virginia side of Assateague Island. The wild ponies are actually feral horses, who have lived on the island for centuries. Every year, in order to keep the herd healthy, firefighters from the nearby island of Chincoteague head over to Assateague, corral the entire horse population into the water, and make them swim across the inlet for an auction. The remaining horses are then returned to the wild for another year.

I've always wanted to see the wild ponies for myself, ever since I was little and reading about them in London. So it was my first destination on this road trip. I left New York City around 10:30 in the morning, and after charging south on the New Jersey turnpike, I decided to take a more scenic and leisurely trip alone Delaware's coast towards Virginia. Delaware is famous for its gorgeous beaches, but it was pouring rain when I rolled up to Rehoboth beach for a quick break. So instead of the beach, I wolfed down a delicious plate of happy hour oysters ($14 for a dozen!) at the Henlopen City Oyster House and headed back on the road.

Around 5:30pm, I arrived in rainy Chincoteague and checked in at the perfectly decent Rodeway Inn. Fortunately, the clouds cleared in time for a sunset cruise with Captain Mark and the Assateague Explorer. From the boat, we could clearly see several groups of the famous horses in the distance. They won't be corralled and sold until July, so this was a great time of year to see entire families intact.



After that, there was nothing more to do but enjoy the sunset which was fortunately mosquito-free. During the day? They are everywhere, especially at the wildlife refuge trails on Assateague Island. I went for a ten minute walk around the lighthouse the next morning, wearing 99% deet insect repellent and still got eaten alive. I much preferred being on the water, to being on the land!