Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge

After our breakfast at the hotel, we rode about three miles away to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. As you can see in the photo, I am clearly enjoying myself this day! As soon as you ride on Beach Road into the refuge, you will have a few trails that you can visit, so we decided on the Lighthouse Trail. This trail is unpaved and about a quarter mile round-trip. It was an easy walk, with there being the slightest incline, as seen in the photo above. We ended up seeing, you guessed it, a lighthouse! The Assateague Lighthouse, rebuilt in 1867, is still in use today, with flashes that can be seen from miles away. After heading back to the car, we drove further into the refuge. There is one spot on Beach Road where you are able to pull off on the side of the road and see the ponies grazing in the field. On the first day that we drove in, they were further away, but on our second day, they were a lot closer up!  To see the ponies from a different area, we parked at the Woodland Trail. This 1.6 mile trail  is paved and has a section called the "north side" where there is a boardwalk out to an overlook to see the ponies. We did not have to walk the entire loop; we went far enough to get to the baordwalk to see the ponies and walked back. Again, sometimes they are closer and sometimes they are further away. Just depends on their mood! I will say, that in this area, we got a couple of mosquito bites, so make sure that you apply some bug spray!  During our time in the refuge, we made two more stops; we walked on Assateague Beach and stepped inside the Toms Cove Visitor Center. Here, you will have opportunities to see different exhibits, signage, and artifacts of wildlife and the area itself. They have one exhibit that has containers of sand from a variety of different places. It was neat to see the differences, depending on their locations. This visitors center also has a small gift shop with pins, stickers, maps, and a couple of different types of books. While we did spend more time in other places within the refuge, this would be a nice spot to bring children, especially if you need a break from the heat (or for us, the cold!).

Pony Pop

We stopped at an adorable food truck called Pony Pop on the way back from the Chincotague National Wildlife Refuge. This was one of the stops that visitors could go to for a stamp on their Death by Chocolate paper, but they also had special treats since it was Valentine's Day weekend. Colin and I purchased a chocolate mousse cup and OMG was it good! It was chilled, fluffy, and the perfect not-too-sweet treat.

Captain Timothy Hill House - 5122 Main Street

The Timothy Hill House was built around 1800 and is the oldest known house on Chincoteague Island. It was moved 1,000 yards to where it currently sits to prevent it from demolition. The couple who purchased the house recognized how important it was to learn more about the history of the house, ultimately learning about there being 26 homes on Chincoteague Island in 1838 and this being one of the last known survivors. They also learned more about the materials and construction used for the building; log planks joined at the corners with a full dovetail notch. This was a form of architecture brought to the New World up to the Delaware River in 1638 that was adopted by many early settlers throughout the colonies.