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Chincoteague Vacation – Day 5

On the morning of Day 5 of our vacation (Wednesday, April 10th) we rode our bicycles from Tranquil Shores (our vacation home) to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island, VA. It is approximately 2 miles from Tranquil Shores to the entrance booths.

We followed the bicycle trail to Woodland Trail. We rode the Woodland Trail, where we saw several wild horses in the marshland.

Woodland Trail – Wild Ponies

Leaving Woodland Trail we took the Black Duck Trail to the Wildlife Loop. We rode the Wildlife Loop. We saw egrets, birds and wild ponies.

Wildlife Loop – Snowy Egret

Wildlife Loop – Red-Winged Blackbird

For the first time since 2011, when we first visited the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, we saw wild horses in the marsh, while on the Wildlife Loop.

Wildlife Loop – Wild Ponies

From the Wildlife Loop we returned to Tranquil Shores.

Crossing bridge from Assateague Island to Chincoteague Island (Beach Access Road)

We rode 11.69 bicycle miles in the morning.

We ate lunch at Metompkin Seafood Market in Bloxom VA, which was a 13-mile drive from Chincoteague.

Metopkin Seafood Market

Metopkin Seafood Market
Food ordered here.

Metopkin Seafood Market
Fresh Seafood

Bob ordered a fish and scallop platter. I ordered a fish platter. We both had two generous pieces of fish with French fries, coleslaw and hush puppies. Bob had scallops in addition to the fish. There were three cats that were looking for handouts.

A bold cat at Metopkin Seafood Market

On our way to Metompkin Seafood and on our way back to Chincoteague, U.S. Navy airplanes kept circling us.

U.S. Navy airplane

I took these photographs from inside our car, through the windshield. We were traveling at about 55 MPH at the time. The airplanes were flying from NASA Wallops Flight Facility. It was awesome having the airplanes fly so close to us!

Before returning to our vacation home, we stopped for homemade ice cream at the Island Creamery.

Island Creamery

Island Creamery
Ice Cream Selections

Bob ordered two scoops of coffee ice cream in a cup. I ordered one scoop of Peanut Butter Cup and one scoop of Peanut Butter Chocolate, also in a cup. Delicious!

We went for a drive around the Wildlife Loop in the evening. The wild horses that we saw in the morning were still there. The horses were even a little closer to the road than they were in the morning.

Wildlife Loop – Wild Ponies

Wildlife Loop – Wild Pony

For dinner we ate salad. Bob had a Cobb salad; I had a chef salad. Neither of us were very hungry after eating a big lunch and ice cream.

Later in the evening we watched a few episodes of NYPD Blue and then went to bed.

I hope that you are not getting tired of seeing photographs of wild ponies. I will be sharing more wild pony photographs in my next blog post. Those ponies were closer to us than all of our other encounters!

TO BE CONTINUED

Chincoteague Vacation – Day 3: Wildlife Loop

On Day 3 (April 8th) of our vacation, we drove to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. The wildlife refuge is located on Assateague Island, VA. We carried our bicycles via bike carrier, even though the wildlife refuge is only a couple miles from Tranquil Shores, our Airbnb rental.

Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge Trail Map

We rode our bicycles on the Wildlife Loop (3.25 miles), which is open to walkers and bikers all day. Vehicles are permitted to drive the loop from 3:00 PM until dusk. We rode several trails branching off the Wildlife Loop and ended up with 6.86 bicycle miles. We also got in a few walks, mostly to the ocean.

Black Duck Trail branches off the Wildlife Loop.

The Black Duck Trail can be used to connect the Wildlife Loop to the Woodland Trail. On this day we rode to the Beach Access Road and back (2 miles round trip) on the Black Duck Trail. The sign indicated that we might see Canada goose, tundra swans, black ducks and other waterfowl; deer; snakes; and songbirds. We did see a few birds, including a Flicker, but I was not able to grab my camera quick enough to capture any photographs. The only photograph I took, while on Black Duck Trail, was of the lighthouse.

Assateaugue Lighthouse, as seen along the Black Duck Trail

Swan Cove Trail branches off the Wildlife Loop.

Swan Cove Trail (0.5 mile one way) is a popular route to the beach.

We saw this pool of water, as we were bicycling to the beach on Swan Cove Trail.

Swan Cove Trail leads to the beach.

Continuing on the Wildlife Loop, a short distance from the Swan Cove Trail is a boardwalk trail.

The boardwalk trail leads to an overlook of Snow Goose Pool.

This is a Service Road that branches off from the Wildlife Loop.

The Service Road is a gravel foot path, 7.5 miles one-way, with limited bicycle access. Bicyclists can access the trail for 1.25 miles (one-way) to the D-Dike beach access area. Cars are not permitted on the Service Road, with the exception of Oversand-Vehicle (OSV) Permit holders.

Public Nudity must be a problem. Otherwise, I wouldn’t think a sign would be necessary.

Bob, riding to the beach on the service road

Beach access from the service road

This was our fourth year on the Wildlife Loop, but it was the first time that we saw it via bicycle. With the exception of the boardwalk trail, we had not been on any of the trails that branch off from Wildlife Loop. We rode around the Wildlife Loop several times during our vacation, both by bicycle and by car. I will share more photographs from Wildlife Loop in future blog posts.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chincoteague Vacation – Day 2: Annapolis, MD to Chincoteague, VA

On Sunday, April 7th, at 7:10 am we departed the Best Western Annapolis and continued our drive to Chincoteague, VA.

We crossed over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge about 10 minutes later.

Our first stop at 9:00 am was at the Salisbury Zoological Park in Salisbury, MD. We arrived just as the zoo was opening.

Salisbury Zoo – East Gate Entrance

We spent a couple hours walking around this wonderful, free zoo. I created this slideshow to share with you some of the birds and animals that we saw, while at the zoo.

This was Bob’s first time at the Salisbury Zoo; it was my second visit. My first visit was more than 30 years ago in August 1982.

Our second stop was for lunch at Subway at the intersection of Routes 13 and175.

After lunch, we crossed Route 13 and took Route 175 to Chincoteague Island, VA.

Our third stop was at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, located on Assateague Island, VA.

Located on the East Coast along the Atlantic Ocean in Maryland and Virginia, Assateague Island is the largest, natural barrier island ecosystem in the Middle Atlantic states region that remains predominantly unaffected by human development. The Virginia portion of the island is designated as the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with the exception of 448 acres in the refuge’s Toms Cove area maintained by the National Park Service. These 448 acres are part of the Assateague Island National Seashore. The Assateague State Park and the Assateague Island National Seashore are located on Assateague Island, MD. This year marks our fifth visit to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and the Assateague Island National Seashore, located on Assateague Island, VA.

Admission to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is $20.00, which is good for multiple days. We didn’t have to pay the admission fee, as I purchased a National Park Service senior pass in February 2018, when I turned 62 years old.

We rode our bicycles on the Woodland Trail. The Woodland Trail, which takes you through a pine forest, is 1.6 miles round trip, paved and wheelchair accessible. The trail is open to both walkers and cyclists. A couple years ago many of the pine trees were damaged by a southern pine beetle infestation.

We went for a bicycle ride on the Woodland Trail. This boardwalk leads to an observation platform from which you may see wild ponies.

We looked for wild ponies from this observation platform. We didn’t see any ponies.

Leaving the Woodland Trail, we rode our bicycles on the Beach Access Road to the Assateague Island National Seashore and back to the Woodland Trail parking lot.

We saw two horses and riders at the beach.

Egrets are popular at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

We watched one egret, as it was hunting, standing immobile or wading through wetlands, to when it suddenly took flight.

Great Egret Hunting

Great Egret, Lift Off

Great Egret in Flight

We watched another egret standing in a tree.

Great Egret in a Tree

We rode our bicycles a total of 4.16 miles on Woodland Trail and to and from the beach.

We arrived at Tranquil Shores, our Airbnb rental, at approximately 3:00 pm–1 hour before check-in time. Tranquil Shores is located on Chincoteague Island, VA. I telephoned our host shortly before we checked in to see if an early check in was possible (and it was). Tranquil Shores was our home away from home for 5 nights. I will publish a separate blog post pertaining to Tranquil Shores in the near future.

An hour later the car was unpacked. At 4:40 pm we left to pick up some groceries. We shopped at Food Lion at the intersection of Routes 13 and 175. We picked up dinner, breakfast foods, snacks and beer.

Tonight’s dinner was rotisserie chicken, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw and, for dessert, cheesecake. We purchased a sampler cheesecake platter, which lasted us through four dinners.

We watched a couple episodes of NYPD Blue and then went to bed. As a side note, we started watching NYPD Blue on Amazon Prime in early February this year. NYPD Blue is an American police drama set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. The series was originally broadcast on the ABC network, debuted on September 21, 1993‚ and aired its final episode on March 1, 2005. Bob says this was one of his favorite TV shows. We both saw the series, when it aired. We may or may not have seen each episode, though. I certainly do not remember each episode’s story line. There are 12 seasons, 261 episodes. We watched Season 9 episodes, while on vacation.

Please check back soon for more blog posts about our Chincoteague vacation.

Crazy Weather!

What crazy weather we are having here in Northwestern Pennsylvania! Bob and I went for a bicycle ride this afternoon.

We rode to Pioneer Arboretum, located approximately 1.5 miles from our house.

Today is January 21st. The temperature was just shy of 60 degrees, when we left on our bicycle ride. How nice it is to have Springlike weather in the middle of Winter!

Bicycle Ride

We went on our first non- motorized bike ride this year. We rode through our neighborhood, through the Warren State Hospital grounds to Pioneer Arboretum.

Bob took this picture of me bicycling through the Warren State Hospital grounds.

We took a break at the Arboretum.

Parked at Pioneer Arboretum

We returned home via the North Warren/Warren bike trail.

My legs and right knee hurt quite a bit starting out. The pain eased up a lot, as we made our way back home. I could have made it to the south end of the trail and back home. I decided not to push it, though.

Afternoon Bicycle Ride

I went on a 3-mile bicycle ride this afternoon. I took the Warren-North Warren Bike/Hike Trail from our house in North Warren to Morck Park in Warren and then back home. I rode to Morck Park alone; however, I had company for the ride back. Bob rode his bicycle into work this morning, which is a 3-mile ride from our house. I surprised Bob by meeting him at Morck Park. We rode home together.

Flowering Trees at Morck Park

Flowering Tree at Morck Park

The Warren-North Warren Bike/Hike Trail is near the Conewango Creek.
This is my favorite view of the Conewango Creek from the Bike/Hike Trail.

Bicycle Ride

Bob and I went for a bicycle ride through our neighborhood and across the grounds of the Warren State Hospital to Pioneer Arboretum. I asked Bob how far we rode. He said 2 miles. I brought my camera along for the ride. I didn’t take too many photographs, only three.

The Pioneer Arboretum is at the north end of the Warren-North Warren Bike/Hike Trail. This train stands as a reminder that the trail was once a rail corridor.

On our way back home we rode past this patch of crocuses.

This is Peek-A-Boo.

I haven’t ridden a bicycle much in the 15 years (almost) that I have lived in Warren. It was very windy today. I found the pedaling easy, when the wind was at our backs. The pedaling was very hard, though, when we faced the wind. We faced the wind the whole way back home from Pioneer Arboretum.