The pre-planning continues....
We had the Hilton Head part of the vacation down, but we now needed to figure out where we were going to stay for the Chincoteague part. By the way, it is pronounced SHIN-co-teeg (hard G). Steve spent the entire vacation trying to pronounce it, and came up with anything from Sheenotuck to Chickpeas!
I did a Google search (why oh why is there not a Passporter for every state in the union?
) and came up with a few choices. We priced out a big name hotel, and the price per night was
. Yes, they gave you breakfast, but at that price, it should have been served in a private room with a butler and a maid attending you. Hmmmm. Let's check out an alternative. We (ok, well, *I* ) did a little research and found that Chincoteague is teeming with bed and breakfasts! Having never stayed at one, this seemed to be intriguing. There was only one small problem. It was Memorial Day weekend, and they all wanted a 3 night minimum stay. That meant, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Could we leave on Saturday? Well, since we were now contemplating a 4 hour drive, yes, we could do that.
I looked at several websites and tried to figure out where we wanted to stay. I felt like guest who have never been to Disney...overwhelmed! So many choices, where should we pick? And then...and then....
Let's digress back to Chincoteague and the ponies for a moment, shall we?
In 1947, Marguerite Henry wrote a little book, called "Misty of Chincoteague". It is the story of 2 children and their adopted Chicoteague Pony, Misty. It is a beloved children's book, and it put Chicoteague and Assateague on the map. It is a story, but there is alot of facts in it, and in fact, Misty was a real horse, as was the Beebe ranch noted in the story. Several sequels followed, including "Stormy, Misty's Foal", "Sea Star, Orphan of Chincoteague" and "Misty's Twilight". It was one of my favorite books growing up, as a matter of fact, I still have my copy. Have I mentioned lately that I love horses?
...and then....I found
Miss Mollys Inn: A Chincoteague Virginia Bed and Breakfast Miss Molly's is not only a bed and breakfast, but is THE HOUSE where Marguerite Henry wrote "Misty". And...the room where she wrote the book when she boarded here WAS AVAILABLE!!!
Being a nice wife, I actually showed Steve the pictures on the website before I booked it, but it was already a done deal. A click of the mouse, and we were golden!
So, I got ready for the DoD trip, went to work, worked in my garden, scrapbooked...all of a sudden it was two weeks out and I really didn't have anything planned! I had the travel details done ("camp" for the puppies, had hired my kitty sitter, stopped the mail, did the finances, etc, etc, etc) but I really didn't have anything planned. So I sat down at my computer, and all I can say is, wow, how did we travel before the Internet? I sketched out a basic itinerary, printed a plethora of papers, found a folder, made about six million lists, and waited for the day to arrive.
Which it finally did! The week before had been a whirlwind of getting the car in for an oil change, etc, doing my bills in advance, going to the bank, making a packing list or two or three, cleaning the house, getting in enough cat food for my cat sitter (my nephew) to feed, working, getting my nails done, shopping for groceries for HHI, mowing the lawn so we didn't come home to a forest, etc etc etc. I always feel like I need a vacation just from the planning of the vacation!
But soon, it was Saturday, May 23rd! And we were ready to go!
Next...the journey down, and arriving at Miss Molly's! And yes, the pictures will begin...all 1129 of them!
(well maybe not all of them...
)