Chincoteague, VA (USA)

The day was much more relaxed but we had lots more adventures! We woke up late (0830) and tried to make it to the pony pens in time to watch the vets check the baby horses.  We were a bit late (1055) but settled for watching the two herds again. I got a Interagency Park Pass (so we could have more adventures in the future).  Mollie loved all the pony attention! We decided to take a long walk on the beach (probably around three miles total) - it was great! We found many interesting shells, watched the sea birds (we are calling the black headed gulls "Seymour", cousin to white headed "Sam" and salt/pepper "Sally") and sand crabs and got lots of sun. We also got really wet as the tide was coming in. The beach got really crowded and we headed back to town. I finally (1130) heard back from the hotel in Pokomoke that our reservation had been cancelled (what a relief).  We ate lunch at Ledo Pizza (Mollie had chicken parmagian with salad and I had a Greek stromboli - we both had fancy fruity drinks) and then visited the Coast Guard Base open house (boat tours, knot tying, damage control and boat driving simulators, etc.). We wrapped up the first part of the day with a visit to the NASA facility (Mollie has already started plotting a return visit for the Perseids star party)... Rested for a few hours at our hotel (1530-1830) and then headed back to Chincoteague so we could go to the Pony Penning Days Carnival. We ate some great food, saw tiny foals that were being spared the swim, watched the gulls trying to steal snacks and enjoyed the pleasant evening with all the locals (who seemed genuinely thankful for the boost to their local economy). Afterwards, we drove down to the beach for one more night stroll at the low tide. Got some pretty views of the lighthouse and had the sand almost entirely to ourselves. Unfortunately, we ended up being deterred by huge swarms of no-see-ums - what a difference from last night! Feeling like the bugs have really enjoyed our visit... But Mollie found a Pikachu, so I guess it wasn't a total bust. Drove back to the hotel (Navy Gateway Inn) at Wallops Island SCSC at around 2200, happy after another pleasant day of Island life. The big event is tomorrow!