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July 25, 2006
Chincoteague Island
I was one of those kids that was a nut for horses, and read any book I could find on the subject. When I was about nine years old, Aunt Connie gave me a beautifully illustrated book for Christmas -- King of the Wind, by Marguerite Henry. After reading it, I eagery sought out any of the other books by Henry, including Misty of Chincoteague and Stormy, Misty's Foal.
And this is how Aunt Connie and I came to plan a vacation to Chincoteage to see the real setting for the books, and to see the annual swim of wild ponies from Assateague to Chincoteage Island.
We've been here most of today, and so far have seen:
- Assateague National Seashore (including getting my feet wet in the Atlantic for the first time!)
- The Chincoteague Pony Center
- A waterfront lunch with porpoises swimming by
- The Beebe Ranch, featuring descendents of the books' characters, Misty, Stormy, Grandpa and Grandma Beebe, and cousins of Paul and Maureen
- A visit to the pony pen on Assateugue Island, where the ponies have been rounded up and are waiting on the big swim tomorrow morning.
And we still maee it out for ice cream this evening! We also picked up our raffle tickets, so tomorrow it's off at 5:30am to get our spot to watch the swim and then to the carnival to win our horse!
Posted by terrie at July 25, 2006 06:34 PM