Life's a Trip: Chincoteague Island, Virginia

After touring Fort McHenry in Baltimore yesterday, we drove east, north, and then south. East and north to get to the top of Delaware...just because we wanted to drive all the way through it from north to south...and then south and east some more until we arrived on the island of Chincoteague in Virginia. This is where we spent the day, today...

Chincoteague Island is home to a famous herd of wild horses...you may have heard of them from the Misty books. Well, I'm here to tell you that they are real! We saw a small group of them across a marsh today and it was SO neat. The looks on my kids faces was priceless...complete and total awe :). So much so that we stopped and bought several of the Misty books to have for our own...any of you that live in a tiny space know that this is a big deal since books are heavy and often bulky. Totally worth it - I have happy kiddos this evening, curled up reading stories about wild ponies that they have seen with their very own eyes. Love, love, love :)...

I just skipped straight to the end of the day, haha! Let me back up a little...

The first place we stopped this morning was at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. The sign going in said we had to stop there to pay our entrance fee and what we found when we went in totally surprised us. The lady at the desk was really friendly, she answered all of my questions and then gave the kids each a Jr. Ranger book...for the Wildlife Refuge! We didn't even know they had a program, so this was a nice surprise. She told us that the answers could be found in the vc, and they mostly were (some you had to get from outside). The other surprise was how nice the vc was! We probably spent a good two hours in there reading exhibits and trying everything out...

learning about plover habitat...

studying plant cells under the microscopes...

junior ornithologists hard at work...

When the kids had done all they could on their own, they went to get some help from the Ranger. One thing they needed was a bird identification guide and the Ranger had it. She could have just handed it to them and told them to help themselves, but she didn't. She was so great with the kids!!! She went through the book with them and helped them while chatting about all the different birds and laughing with them...I'm pretty sure the kids didn't even realize they were learning and doing their school for the day at that point :).

When their books were finished and they were given their badges/patches we grabbed some maps and headed out to explore the island some more. It was just down the road a bit that we saw the horses...

Heading further south, we came to Tom's Cove. The NPS has a visitors center there that is part of the Assateague Island National Seashore, this was our next stop...

Chincoteague Bay on one side of the vc...

Hoo, boy! There are no trees around the cove area where we were and the WIND WAS CRAZY!!! We darted quickly inside as the wind pushed against us and literally took our breath away...

...and the Atlantic on the other

What we found inside was very different from the Wildlife Refuge VC, but just as interesting and fun. The Ranger that was there today was great with the kids and happy to answer alllll.... :) their questions. We spent at least two hours in there, also, and other than one lady we were the only ones there. The Ranger said the wild winds and chilly temps (it was 38 F) were keeping everyone away...everyone except us :).

The kids (of course) got their Jr. Ranger books. They were only required to do 6 pages to get their badges, but the books were so much fun that they did the entire thing...12 pages. Some of the required activities included sticking their hands in the touch tanks and then writing about the creatures they held, looking through the telescope at the beach and marsh and then drawing a picture of what they saw...fun and creative activities (the perfect compliment to the more studious books they had just completed at the other vc).

this clam squirted Trevor...

...and then Tyler could barely contain his excitement at the thought of that clam squirting his sister, haha!

There was also an area full of bones that the kids were encouraged to hold and examine. These were a big hit :)...

When the books were done and badges awarded, the kids and I chatted with the Ranger and the other lady at the desk for a while about all kinds of things. --- Did you know that horseshoe crabs have blue blood? And that new vaccines are first tested for bacteria on horseshoe crab blood because it clots much faster than human blood? She told us this is because it is copper based where ours is iron based...interesting. And before you get upset, the crabs aren't harmed (much...other than a pinch). They have small amounts of blood drawn (just like when we give blood) and then they are released. ---

We were just about to walk out the door when the Ranger told us to wait a minute, she had something else to show us. She took us to the touch tank area and we got to watch her feed all of the creatures! She had the kids gather all around and she explained how each thing ate, etc. It was VERY neat, our own private little show!

We left there and went into town to get a (very) late lunch. Then it was right back out to the beach! We rode the wildlife loop, but we didn't see much of anything. The cold day had most critters hiding...except for some birds...

Next, we went back out to Tom's Cove with hopes of spending some time walking on the beach. Hahaha! Funny. We walked quickly from our car down to the edge of the water, stood for about 2.5 seconds, and then RAN back to our car :). It was c-c-c-cold!!! It was pretty, though...