Our trip to Chincoteage, Virginia was a special one this past Easter Break. Our kids were able to bring their good friend and neighbor, Elena, with them on the four night trip. Our children absolutely love camping and have been begging to go since Christmas and there’s nothing better than sharing something you love with someone that you love.
We stayed offseason at The Chincoteague Island KOA but there were many amenities that the kids loved. Aside from the two playgrounds, they spent most of their time on the bounce pillow. Bouncing all day and finding many different ways to slide off the pillow led to sleepy campers at night.
We booked a boat ride on the Assateague Island Explorer with the objective of just seeing the wild ponies and it didn’t disappoint. We were able to see a small family herd of horses in addition to osprey and other water fowl. We saw nary one horse on while in Carolla, NC last year so we had to make this happen, particularly for Sarah. I’m so happy to report that this was not our final encounter with The Assateague Wild Ponies. More below.
We took a very short hike to the light while we were on Assateague Island, For some reason the lighthouse keeper never came back from his/her lunch break so we didn’t get to go inside but it was a cool learning experience nonetheless.
On Friday afternoon we got rained out at the campground so we ventured out for some rainy day compatible activities. We visited NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility which has surprisingly more rocket launches than any other NASA facility.
They mostly monitor weather at The Wallops Facility, launching giant weather balloons and data gathering rockets.
We probably spent about an hour of our rainy day here and I think the kids might have even learned a thing or two besides the gift shop visit.
Also on Assateague Island is Toms Cove Visitor Center and Beach. The kids had a great time at the visitor center learning about the indigenous wildlife. There was a touch tank, aquarium and various fossils, shells and bones that they were able to handle.
We went to Toms Cove Beach the second day of our visit. When I spoke to the park ranger ate the gate I mentioned swimming and she replied “you’re not going swimming today, the water is 58 degrees…” I explained to her that she didn’t know my kids, “they’ve gone swimming in North Carolina in February!” I could only bear to go in up to my knees and yet my their hair was wet. They just don’t feel it!
We were on our way to Toms Cove with our sand toys when we encountered a group of cars pulled off the road taking pictures of horses a couple hundred yards fro the road. We took our pictures and moved ahead only to find a few more cars pulled over. The horses were right at the roadside and later in the road! We ended up being surrounded by these wild animals! Linda moved away from one horse and nearly backed into another. We were completely surrounded by these gentle but large ponies. They stayed for about a half an hour before the herd’s stallion corralled them away. This was a lifetime experience especially since feeling that we’ve been chasing these wild horses since Cape Hatteras.
Check out the video above to see more of our trip to Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. We had a wonderful time and were happy to share our experiences with our friend. I’m not sure where we’re bound to next but stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.
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