|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mid-Atlantic Vacation Blog
Of course, we took lots of other pictures, but there is a space limit on the blog.
We then drove up the Virginia Eastern Shore (that little tail that isn't connected to the rest of Virginia but is connected to Maryland). We saw lots of shops advertising fresh Virginia hams and sausage; I never knew it was such a big industry. We then veered into Chincoteague (the city at the south entrance to Assateague Island National Seashore) and found some local places for lunch and ice cream before heading into the park. We got to the beach area and if that area was a wildlife reserve, the only wildlife was homo sapiens. Since we weren't prepared for beach bumming, we headed back into the park and walked one of the trails that advertised that we might have a chance to see the famous wild (feral) horses. We were pleasantly surprised when we saw several sets, including this set that was sharing its grazing area with the marine birds:
We also managed to get several other views of the horses, including this one (with the same set as the two above):
Along the trail, we not only saw horses and birds (I'm not really into identifying specific species of birds, but there were a bunch of different kinds), but all kinds of other wildlife, including a rabbit, toad, spiders, bees, other large insects, and most annoyingly, mosquitos. A sprayed myself with Off!, but I think that just made them hungry. Brooke was smacking them off of me throughout our walk. Of course, I never did see the mosquitos she smacked, so maybe she was just letting out some frustration.
Before we left to head up to Ocean City, we drove around one last wildlife loop and happened upon a group of deer ("sika deer", I believe):
We then headed north toward our hotel in hopes of making it before dark, but once we got to Ocean City, we realized that it may never be dark here. Brooke said that the main road reminded here of Las Vegas. There aren't casinos or anything (that I know of), but the beach is wall-to-wall hotels, shops, and restaurants. At least there is no lack of things to do. We tried to have dinner at a restaurant called The Greene Turtle (once I convinced Brooke that they didn't serve turtle), but the indifferent hostess told us it would be a "really long" time before we could get a table. This was at 9:15 on a Tuesday night. We then went into a different reptilian-themed place near our hotel, Croc's Sports Steakhouse that was a weird mix of sports bar and family restaurant (it looked like a sports bar, but most of the people eating there were families). They even have a mascot, Sheila:
Anyway, it wasn't too crowded and our food was really good. I have to admit that I stayed away from the "Chef's Specials" because what sports bar really has a "chef"?
After dinner, we of course found ice cream, this time at the Candy Kitchen, a place that lets you make your own sundaes (very dangerous). Then we made it back to our hotel and crashed.
Wednesday is Independence Day, so we are going to independently rest for a little bit before doing anything. We didn't see much of Ocean City our first night, and I don't think we've seen the ocean, so we might make a point of getting there. There is also a boardwalk here with a carnival atmosphere. We may also go to the Maryland end of Assateague Island and explore a little bit. Finally, given how wild the scene was here last night, I can only imagine what the Fourth of July fireworks will be like!
Click here for the next day's entry.
Blog Archive
Home
