Assateague

For those who have never been to Assateague Island, it is a beautiful and completely unique place.  The barrier island is 37 miles long and lies in both Maryland and Virginia.   We are camped in the National Seashore in Maryland.  The island is undeveloped and doesn’t have a road which covers the entire length.  To get to either side, you have to drive back to the mainland and around.

Last night we got here in the dark and didn’t get to see much.  When we woke up this morning as the light streaked across the clouds, we were surrounded by beautiful dunes, deer and ponies. Wow.

Our camp spot is just 50 feet from the beach over the sand dunes.   It’s very good to be back on the water.  Tim and I both love the sound and smells of the ocean and we’re camped at a perfect place to enjoy it.  Walking out to the water, you see vast empty stretches of sand on either side.  Empty of people that is.   These beaches are the home to the Assateague Ponies, which you see everywhere.

Folklore dates the ponies back to the 17th century.  While some stories say colonists brought the horses to the island to graze, I like the more romantic tale that the ponies swam to the island after a Spanish galleon was shipwrecked.  Recently a Spanish wreck was found off the coast of Assateague, so I am sticking with story number 2.  Now there are about 300 ponies and they seem to particularly like the campground.  We’ve had about 10 cruising around the various sites, snacking on marsh grass and nibbling on the trees.   They don’t pay any attention to the people around them, but seem to enjoy the company nonetheless.

When the ponies move on, the Silka deer move in.  These graceful creatures are smaller than white tailed deer and speckled with white spots.  Tim and I have had a family of 5 hanging out about 20 feet from the van keeping an eye on us most the day.

Though today was a work day, we ended in time to fly the kite in the stiff breeze that had kicked up at about 6 pm.  Tim was at the reins giving me a refresher tutorial when he decided to land it.  The tide was high and there were puddles of salty still water all around the beach.   Sure enough, the wind shifted just as the kite was gently coming to rest on the dry sand, and dragged it through the collected water and back across the sand.  The kite was a mess of sand and sludge.  We spent the next 1/2 hour washing the sand out of the many wind baffles.  I think there may have been some horse poo in that water as well so we were EXTREMELY thorough.

We ended our day after much hand washing with Tim’s favorite Thai Peanut Chicken and Reggae on the Zune.   A great end to a unique day on Assateague Island.