Chincoteague, VA (USA)

I woke up at 0400 this morning and finished packing - Mollie got out of bed soon after that. We ate breakfast and left for Chincoteague Island. Used I-495 and US-50 (Bay Bridge).  Got gas in Stevensville (MD) at 0550. Mollie slept most of the way but I managed to stay awake during the roughly three hour drive. We used US-13 to VA-175 to get to the island. Our initial activities included a stop at the pony pens on Assateague Island National Seashore (we just missed the end of the pony roundup), hiking on the dunes, a climb up the lighthouse steps (LOTS of mosquitos), a visit to the NWR visitors center (saw some good movies). We then explored the island down to Toms Cove (very hot), located the Pony Swim site and went to Pony Center (where we petted ponies related to Misty). We ate lunch at Jackspot (1230) on the water and then walked down to Robert Reed Memorial Park to see the Misty statue. I read that the Beebe Ranch (where I took Brenna and Erin in 2008) had closed. So we instead went to the Museum of Chincoteague Island (1315) to see the items loaned by the family. Mollie did a pretty challenging scavenger hunt. The cell signal was bad all day (i.e., no chance for web searches), so we collected local Intel to get ready for Wednesday - the local residents gave us lots of good details about Pony Penning Days. At around 1600, we finished our pre-Pony Swim exploring and checked into our hotel (Navy Gateway Inn) at Wallops Island SCSC. Mollie and I cleaned up and took naps until 1900, when we drove back to Chincoteague to get dinner (Asian Express - 1930) and do some shopping (Family Dollar - 2000 - bug spray and sunscreen). We also visited the National Seashore again so we could see the ponies and then went walking on the beach until after dark. Mollie commented that she had really missed the beach. On the way back to our hotel, we started chasing Pokemon (the ranger asked what we were doing)... Amazing day!