Horses, Harbours and Happenings:Steve and Sue visit Chincoteague and Hilton Head, May 2009! - COMPLETE About This Page:

[chezp]

Wonderful update Sue - my goodness, the area is just packed with beautiful places and amazing things to see and do.

[Eeyoresmom]

OC, MD still looks the same! It's the beach we'd visit when I was young. Your photos brought back a lot of memories.

Your photos of the horses are amazing!

[Colexis Mom]

More great pictures Sue! Sounds like a great time!!

[lauren-roxy]

Great photos of the Boardwalk!! Looks like a fun place to visit!!

[KristaB]

I have to say, it's interesting to read a trip report about your own local area. I live on the Delmarva Peninsula, about 2 blocks over the Maryland-Delaware state line. We're about a half hour from Assateague (MD) and go there quite alot, year round. Chincoteague is a wonderful little town, and I have several friends and co-workers who live there. But I will tell you, the town has changed greatly over the past 10 years...alot of transplants! Sounds like you had a wonderful time. If you ever come back and need a tour guide, look me up! Lol...

[rescuesk]

Sue - I've been putting off reading this TR because I have ALWAYS wanted to visit Chincoteague and Assateague my whole life - well, ever since reading Marguerite Henry's books over and over. (I still have my copies of 'Misty.." and "Stormy...", too!) I knew this TR would make me realize I haven't achieved that goal yet...but we're going to rectify that next summer. I promise.

I still have my copies, too! This is definitely a place you must visit!

Can't wait to read more.

It's coming!

my goodness, the area is just packed with beautiful places and amazing things to see and do.

And there are things we didn't even have time to do!

Your photos of the horses are amazing!

More great pictures Sue!

Great photos of the Boardwalk!!

Thanks!

I have to say, it's interesting to read a trip report about your own local area. I live on the Delmarva Peninsula, about 2 blocks over the Maryland-Delaware state line. We're about a half hour from Assateague (MD) and go there quite alot, year round. Chincoteague is a wonderful little town, and I have several friends and co-workers who live there.

We really fell in love with the area, although several locals told us that it has changed quite a bit! You live in a beautiful area of our country!

[mcc0313]

Just got to catch up with your last few updates...what a wonderful trip so far. I love the view from the lighthouse but what a climb Your pictures are amazing, love the sunset pictures that you took after dinner, they were so beautiful. Can't get over all the horses just grazing along the road...

I have often thought of taking a long weekend down to Ocean City - glad you both were having a great time.

[rescuesk]

Day 3, part 4....

After a shower and a nap, we headed out to dinner. We decided on Don's again. I wanted to try the Prime rib, and as far as Steve goes, you can never have enough beef.

Steve decided on a Captain and Coke, and I had a Sam Adams!

The prime rib did not disappoint:


After dinner, we decided to walk through town.

We met some more locals:

This was another Bed and Breakfast:

Down towards the canal:

Earning extra money by selling shells on the honor system. You take the one you want and leave your cash!

The Coffee House we never got to:


We walked down Maddox Street. Our destination was the Chincoteague Pony Centre. According to the brochure, the Centre was supposed to be open until 10 PM and was the only place on the Island to see Misty family descendants. Sadly, when we got there, it was closed. Happily, the horses were housed in corrals out front!










Up in the front were two ponies in a corral. I looked closer,a nd sure enough, one of them was Ember! Ember is a direct descndant of Misty, and she had a rough statr in life. Born premature, it was uncertain if she was going to live. But she did, and showed alot of spunk, just like her great-great-great grand relative did all those years ago! This is her story:
Chincoteague Pony Centre

And this is her picture: (she is the one in the background in the first picture, and sort of hiding in the other two!)






By now it was getting really dark (it's hard to tell because I shot the pictures on night and manual). We had a pretty far walk back, so we walked over to Church Street (4 churches that we counted on it) and back to the B & B. Steve insisted I take this picture:



I took a few night shots:




And when I left the porch, I ran into...




The third cat! Yes, he really did live here! I didn't have any more success petting him then I did the other two, but at least he sat for his picture.

We were soon ready for bed. It had been a long day, and we had a long journey tomorrow.

Next...goodbye to Sam and Lin, is that a bridge? a tunnel? a bridge? a tunnel?

[Grammy Grumpy]

Really amazing. I'm really surprised that Disney hasn't done a picture based on these stories. Well, maybe someday.

Can't wait to hear more.

[chezp]

Another stunning update - there are just so many beautiful sights here.

[lauren-roxy]

Those horses are just absolutely beautiful!!! What a wonderful town, I really need to check it out more.

[goofysdtr]

You've had some wonderful experiences! I can see why you've been so fascinated by the area!

[KristaB]

We do live in a beautiful area. But yes, it has changed greatly...not always for the best either..(property values running up taxes, over development..)
Next time you're this way, go to Lewes, Delaware. Lewes is a very lovely old town. It was the first settlement in Delaware. It's filled with little shops and wonderful resturants... Then there's Rehoboth...and Dewey Beach, and Bethany... All are far superior to the tourist trap that Ocean City has become.

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Sue!! Great night!

[rescuesk]

Day 4...

We were up and packed at around 8. Sadly, we were leaving Chincoteague, but we still had adventures ahead of us. We went down to our last delicious breakfast:




Then it was time to hit the road and say goodbye to Sam and Lin. I hate goodbyes, so we made plans to return to the area in the near future!
Me, Lin, Sam and Steve:

Lin and Sam:


And we were on the road.

Garmin told us we had about an 11 hour ride to Hilton Head, which was without any stops. We knew it was a long drive, but we were ready.

Our journey south was going to take us through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. I was totally thrilled by this! I had been through the CBBT when I was a little girl, and I remember how excited my parents were. It truly is an engineering marvel. The last time I was on it, it was only one lane in both directions. Now it had been upgraded to two lanes in each direction, and was more of a highway. I tried to share my unbridled enthusiasm with Steve.

He was...lets say, less than thrilled.

His first response: "I've been through this already" Oh yeah, when? "When I came to Baltimore." Um...honey, if you went through the CBBT on your way from Pennsylvania to Baltimore, boy were you lost.

His second response: "It's just a tunnel, anyway." Umm...no...it's a bridge...then a tunnel...then a bridge....then a tunnel...

His third response: "Will we lose our Sirius radio signal in it?" Sigh. He's come a long way, but I guess I still have some work to do.

I was driving. We fueled up right before the tunnel and used our EZ Pass to pay the... $12 toll!! I hadn't replenished our EZ Pass before we left,,,,I would need to check that (more on that coming in a later installment! ). We went through the toll, and I did actually get him to film it. I snapped some pictures from the driver's seat:














Well, Steve might not have been too impressed, but I thought it was waaaaaay cool!

We drove another few hours and stopped in North Carolina for lunch at a Cracker Barrel. I didn't take any pictures. Our waitress was BettiAnne and she sounded just like a BettiAnne fro North Carolina should sound! What a sweetheart! We both got the Campfire Chicken, and were soon back on the road.

Our little stop added about an hour, and garmin now had us arriving at Hilton Head at about 8:30. I took a few pictures from the road:








...but most of the trip was spent listening to the radio, putting the top up and down as we drove through rainstorm after rainstorm and doing some videotaping. We got off of 95 at about 7:30 and took the road towards Hilton Head Island. We needed to make a grocery stop. I told Steve I would run out in the morning if he was tired, but we found a Publix and I ran in and filled my list in about 20 minutes flat! A few more miles down the road and Garmin announced we were "Arriving at destination on right!"

I took some outdoor pictures that night, and believe me, I took alot more during the next few days. (I know, you're shocked.)
We are definitely in a Disney resort:


Disney's Hilton Head resort is sort of like Wilderness Lodge meets Old Key West. It has an earthy, woodsy feel to it, while encompassing all the amenities of a beachside resort. It is beautiful, and we had several days to really fall in love with this place!
I had done online check in, so the check in process was a breeze:


We got our key cards, and drove to where our room was. We needed to park under the building and take the elevator to our villa. This was the only issue we had the entire time. There was no parking, and I do mean, none. We had a car full of stuff, no valet (it's self serve) and no place even remotely near our villa to park. And why, you may ask? Because one of the spots was being used by an EMPTY boat trailer, and another two that said "compact car only" (which we would have easily fit in...the convertible is small) was being taken up by ONE mini-van. So what did this ex-New Yorker and her street-savvy DH do? We made our own spot! Along the wall was a place big enough for our car and small enough that we weren't blocking anyone else in. Park, top up, trunk uloaded, locked, we're golden! We would have to move it in the morning, but that was another day!

We hauled our stuf up to our villa, and opened the door. Our last villa had been very nice, albeit a studio, and we were not disappointed at our 1 bedroom accomodation! :
Kitchen:

Dining area:

Living room:






Bedroom, complete with towel critter:







Bathroom:








I unpacked the groceries while Steve ordered a pizza. He also figured out how to turn the icemaker on so we would have ice for the frozen drinks we had brought! the pizza was there in no time at all, and we were soon sitting on our dining room table, eating pizza, drinking wine coolers and relaxing. I hooked up his laptop and tried the internet code they had given us, and lo and behold, it worked!

Steve watched some TV but soon, I was ready for bed. It had been a long drive today, and we had alot more adventures coming tomorrow. He came to bed not too long after, and we were both asleep quickly. No street noise in our villa, just cool quiet air conditioning and a big comfy king size bed!

Next...we really fall in love with this resort (and take alot of pictures, too! )