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History of Assateague:
In the 1960's, developers had sold nearly half of the 900 available lots on Assateague Island to private owners.
Development had begun, with paved roads and some houses being built when a huge storm hit and destroyed it all.
After this, the owners were persuaded to sell their lots to the National Parks Association and it has become a protected
area ever since. If the building had continued, the area would have looked much like Ocean City. Instead, it is filled
with wildlife and marsh fauna.
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Bathing Beauty of the Day
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Ponywatch 2001
Spotty: 4
Shaggy: 3
Brown: 23
Old: 2
Injured: 1
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Wild Horses Couldn't Drag Me Away
Oct 3 -
Holy frickin' frack! There's ponies on this island! This is the kind of island that makes
you want to phone all your friends and say "Holy Frickin Frack, Cindy! There's ponies on
this island!!" And we would have too, if it hadn't been a weekday and our cell phone only
had weekend minutes left.
And besides, who would have believed us? Ponies don't just pop up
anywhere. And most people we know have never encountered a wild pony. Moose, yes.
Bear, yes. Martin*, yes. All of these are within the realm of Canadian belief. But ponies?
Why, an island full of ponies is a girl's dream come true! I can pet them and ride them and brush their hair and braid their tails! They'll eat out of my hand and nuzzle my neck! The only way this could be any better would be if
they all had purple hair and stencilled hearts on their bums! Gosh golly, this is better
than the Christmas I got the My Little Pony Pink Princess Castle! And that castle turned all my
ponies a strange fluorescent green. Well, that wouldn't happen this time! I was in for
the perfect pony-lovin' day of my life! Time to find some ponies...
"Hey, hey, hey... Mr. Park Ranger... where can I go to find the most ponies, and the nicest ponies, and the cutest ponies.. " - Me, peeing my pants with excitement.
"They're around. You'll see them." - Park Ranger, looking bored.
"But... but... is there somewhere..." - Me, clearly wanting a bit of pony insider information.
"You'll see 'em." - Park Ranger, looking really bored.
Obviously the Rangers aren't paid to exude excitement. I had to be content with finding ponies on my own... it didn't take long.
Jen & Jon: Campfire Buddies
Our new neighbours just moved into Site 75. They're very much like us, only they had the
forethought to bring a remote control duck. Our beach fire was a smashing success,
thanks to the mounds of firewood they brought, not to mention Jon's ability to keep back
the tide with the power of his mind. Thanks for the coffee!
Supplemental: The day after we left, they went on a hike. They returned
to find everything they owned eaten by horses. Bad horsey! No apple!
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Holy Frickin' Frack! What the heck is THAT? That's the size of a moose.
THAT is not a pony. That is an overgrown vicious-looking mega-horse! It could plow us down without realizing it had stepped on anything!
Golly Gee Wonkers! There's another one!
Hide! Hide! Get the siren flashlight!
Later that night I experienced a new fear. Walking from the outhouse to the tent, for the first time in my life, I was afraid of ponies jumping out at me from the bushes.
"Snap, crackle, pop." - Sound from the bushes.
"ehhhhhhhhh..." - Me, appropriately frozen with fear, unable to switch on my life-saving siren flashlight.
"What's all the ruckus out here? Aim, why are you standing there like an idiot in your PJ's?" - Kev, oblivious to the danger he's in.
"Smunch." - Purple Pony with hearts on his bum, leaving behind two smunched campers without even blinking an irredescent eye.
___________ *For those of you unfamilar with martin, imagine a small woodland
creature about twice as long, twice as wide, and twice as nasty as a ferret.
Ask a Couple of Clammers
Meet Rob and John, a pair of die hard fishermen from Chicago. Camped at the tip of
the Bayside, they know clams like nobody's business. Here's what we learned...
How do you clam? If you look at what I'm doing, I'm
just digging around in the sand with my toes. Clams are usually no more than 6 inches under
the sand, so if you poke around until you feel something like a stone, reach down and
check it out.
Wouldn't you be better off with a rake? Yeah, it's
easiest with a rake, we just don't have one in the boat with us.
How many have you found? Four.
Doesn't sound like a good day... Nah, we just headed
over to that island, thinking no one else goes there and we'd probably find a whole bunch.
No luck though.
Why do you have chicken in a cage? That's for catching
crabs. Crabs love raw chicken. You put a drumstick in the cage, the crab goes in, you haul
it up. The crab's got to be 5 inches across to keep it.
Crabs like chicken? Yup.
Wouldn't a crab be suspicious, like "mmm, chicken... hey, wait a
second..." Nah, crabs
aren't that bright. Meat's meat.
My toes hurt. Yeah, it's not that exciting. Takes
patience to catch a clam.
John and Rob headed off to clammier waters, but they tossed us a clam as they departed.
We put him in a little bowl with water and sand, and a few shells for colour. We didn't
have the heart to eat him. Instead, we drew eyes on him, wrote "roadtrip.beimers.com" on
the bottom, and tossed him back into the marsh. Bye Clammy!
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Today's Weather:
Who cares? We've got horses!
Sleeping Quarters |
Assateague Ntl. Seashore
Site 84. What a place! The weather is gorgeous, the ocean is wavy, the horses are beautiful... The pesky dune mice circled us during the night and tried to get in, but nothing can penetrate our tent! (except rain, of course)
Cost: $14.00
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Bkfast:
| Campground Assateague |
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Shared: | Dry Lucky Charms |
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Lunch:
| Smokey's BBQ Pit Ocean City |
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K's Order: | BBQ Beef Sandwich |
A's Order: | Chicken n' Dumplings |
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Cost: | $11.48 |
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Dinner:
| Beach Cookout Assateague |
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Both: | Beef Skewers Hot Sausages |
Jen & John: | Chili from Can Hot Dogs |
Burnt: | Jiffy Pop |
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