Chincoteague and Assateague Islands are located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and are home to wild ponies made famous be a story written by Marguerite Henry in 1947. The book was later made into a movie in 1961which led to the area becoming a tourist destination. I thought it would make for a fun day trip.
Crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) is the fastest way to make the trip to the Eastern Shore. The CBBT was designated as one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern world. It is twenty miles in length.
There are a couple rest areas along the bridge which offer beautiful views. There is a toll to cross the bridge from both directions, so for tourists just wanting to experience the bridge, the rest areas also offer a chance to turn around without paying the toll on the return end.
Across the bay we could see the lighthouses we had visited at Fort Story the day before.
There is a foot bridge that connects either side of the highway at the rest area. Walking through this was my least favorite part. There is glass on either side which offers views of the highway on one side and the entrance to one of the tunnels on the other.
There is a fishing pier on the backside of the rest area. Aaron and my dad walked out to see if the fisherman were catching anything.
When driving across the bridge the road appears to disappear. This is actually a view of where the tunnels descend under water.
Hannah likes taking pictures of wildlife and captured this picture of a seagull.
After crossing the bridge, we stopped at a welcome center. The lady working gave us information regarding the wild ponies, but she also mentioned there was a gun that had been removed from a Navy ship and placed near some old World War II bunkers in the area. As soon as she said that, I knew my dad would be on a mission.
We drove to the area where the gun was supposed to be, but couldn't find it. We another visitor's center where we were told we had been right by it. We returned to where we thought it was and hiked down a path. No gun.
We did find this sign which explained that the refuge where we were was purchased by the government in the 1940s. During World War II, large bunkers were built to protect the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. Most of the structures have been removed by the refuge management in order to restore the natural habitat.
This trail was one of Hannah's favorite parts of her day because she saw many butterflies and dragonflies.
There were blackberry bushes lining the path.
Once we reached the sign, we realized we must have missed the big gun. We turned around and headed back to the parking lot. We met a retired sailor on the trail who told us the gun was right by the parking lot. As we reached the parking lot, we could see the entrance to an old concrete bunker. It was well camouflaged by the trees.
Here is a picture of my dad, Aaron and P.K. with the big gun and the bunker in the background.
After we found the gun, we continued our quest to find the wild ponies. The highway through the Eastern Shore is full of old houses. I loved them all.
When we arrived in Chincoteague, we started at the visitor's center. From there, we visited the Assateague Lighthouse.
The red and white on the lighthouse was so pretty against the clear blue sky. We didn't climb it because the last climb was at 2:30 and we were too late and we had just paid to climb a lighthouse the day before.
P.K. and the kids at the base of the lighthouse
We then drove trough several areas of the park. It is very beautiful. We finally spotted the ponies.
We spent about an hour walking around Main Street checking out some shops then Dad treated us to a nice seafood dinner at a local restaurant. It was delicious and I ate grits for the first time.
The trip was so beautiful. It would be nice to spend a weekend on the islands.
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