It turns out Chincoteague and Assateague Island National Seashore are even better in the daylight than we imagined at night. Perhaps not having been leveled by a major hurricane in the last few years has allowed them to keep their small seashore cottages that are each different from the next. No bigger than the next one or just like the next one condos here. Also, there seem to be no direct roads from the DC area so it must be most of those folks are choosing places closer to the city to go on weekends. We did hear a group of locals talking about "road rage" that hits Chincoteague during the summer on Sunday afternoons at the bridge when everyone is leaving. Winter is definitely the time to visit.We did see some ponies at the seashore, lots of birds, miles of "peopleless" beaches (of course it was about 40 degrees and the wind was whipping... no place for wimps!) and walked the trail to the lighthouse. (Most of the trails were closed because of deer hunt in progress to control the deer population.) Can you believe the lighthouse used fish oil until the 1960's when it was changed to electricity to run its light? If we had known to pack our mud boots we could also have picked up oysters and dug for clams. Next trip.
After a quick stop at the NASA visitor's center (we never knew many of our rockets are launched from a NASA base near Chincoteague) we headed to St. Michaels to spend the night with Virginia and Cousin John. They're in their 80's and ALWAYS a delight to visit. When Virginia (known affectionately as "the queen") needed an operation this past spring, her neighbor's gave her a going away cocktail party (and another one when she got home).
Then it was off to spend the next couple of nights with Judy & Cousin John (on the other side of John's family). One weekend when we ALL got together, all Virginia, Judy & I had to say was "John" and we got all their attentions. Sometimes it certainly makes things easier! As John says, "you can never have too many johns".
