And a new adventure begins!
The pre-planning:
If you read my Decade of Dreams trip report, this will be redundant, and if you didn't, you should!
Sue and the DoD trip that "Just might end up on the Internet somewhere" report!--COMPLETE 6/5/09
Anyway...this year there would be no big trip to WDW due to budget constraints. That's the politically correct way of saying OH MY WORD WE HAVE A SON GETTING MARRIED THIS YEAR!
When my future DDiL said "yes", we said "no" to a big trip this year. But we were OK with that, and went ahead with planning a few smaller, driving trips.
One place we really wanted to go back to was Hilton Head Island. We had stayed overnight at Disney's HHI in 2004 as we were passing through on our way home from Florida, and really only got a tiny taste of island life. It's about a 12 hour drive from us, so that was doable. We were going to drive down on Sunday, May24, and come home on Saturday, May 30th. I whipped out my DVC card and called at my...oh about...6 1/2 month DVC booking window to see what I could get for the last week of May.
Who knew that HHI was so popular on Memorial Day weekend? And who knew that they were limited on 1 bedrooms? And who knew that they held some of the rooms for cash? So I booked May 26, 27, 28, and 29, and waitlisted for May 24 and 25.
And waited....
And waited...
And waited some more. I called to book my DoD trip and checked. Got that, but no availability at HHI yet. I called to do an RCI exchange. Got that, but no availibility at HHI yet. I called to book a treehouse for January 2010. Got that, but no availability at HHI yet.
Hmmmm. What to do.
We had a few choices. One was to pay cash somewhere for a few nights in HHI. I wasn't keen on that one because I hate changing resorts. The second one was to just go Tuesday to Saturday. I didn't like that one either, because it seemed like alot of driving for a short vacation. And then there was option 3....
I started to think about combining 2 vacations into one. Where could we stay on the way down that would be something we could enjoy, and that we both wanted to do?
(Aside here....I have a "bucket list" on my computer. It used to be called "Things to do before I die" but the after the movie of the same name, "bucket list" seemed so much more appealing!)
So I took a quick perusal down my bucket list. Hmmmm....Glacier National Park is nowhere near South Carolina, so that's out. Italy? I don't believe we can drive there...
Assateague Island...
STOP RIGHT THERE!!!!
Oh baby, we are SO there! After all, I love horses!
And so the planning began....
Wait!!!
What do you mean you don't know what Assateague Island is famous for?? Assateague Island
Assateague Island National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) is a small barrier island off the coast of Maryland. Depending on which part of it you are in, it is governed by the State of Maryland or the National Park Service. And right down the road a piece is Chincoteague Island, which is a tiny island sandwiched between mainland Virginia and Assateague Island. Chincoteague is a fun and funky shore town, with restaurants, shops, hotels and people. Assateague is wild and untamed, basically uninhabited except by campers and the NPS. Oh and of course, the wildlife.
Ah yes. The wildlife.
Assateague Island boasts a herd (actually 2) of wild ponies. They are really full size horses, but the locals and visitors alike who love them and protect them have given them the title "ponies". The NPS and state government protect these wild creatures to assure they are there for future generations to enjoy.
Did I happen to mention, I love horses?
One of the items on my bucket list was to be able to see the wild ponies. And now I had a chance to make it happen. I ran this by Steve, who had never heard of Assateague or Chincoteague, but, good guy that he is, he just said "sure, dear, whatever you want." (Do I have him trained or what!
)
And on I went to stage two of the pre-planning!
Next...where should we stay and what should we do?