Chincoteague
Overview
We made a short overnight road trip to Chincoteague, VA. There are a couple attractions here to see in addition to the well known wild horses. One is the number and variety of birds that can be seen in the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (https://www.fws.gov/refuge/chincoteague/).I enjoy watching birds, and anyone who does should add this place to their list of places to see. In one July afternoon we identified: White Ibis, Great Blue Heron, Willett, Bonaparte’s Gull, Herring Gull, Brown Pelican, and several other species.
A couple other things to mention, do not, I repeat do not plan on walking the trails in the wildlife refuge anytime after April or before November, you will be eaten alive by mosquitoes and other nibbling insects. The best option is to ride a bike, which are available for rent in quite a few places in town. You will still need repellent, but you can outrun most of the bugs. We learned this hardway, we went 2 weeks ago, and I still have some welts from a 5 minute walk into the forest, at which time we turned tail and ran back to the car, and yes, we had plenty of repellent on. It was amazing.
The beach is nice, clean, and not too crowded, it is rather narrow, but there is plenty of room. There are bathrooms, changing rooms, and showers available right next to the parking lot, and the parking lot is just a step from the beach. The beach was a very good experience.
We did see wild horses at a distance, they were munching some foliage a couple hundred yards away, we got good views with binoculars, and some decent pictures with a zoom lens on my camera.
We chose the day we went because it was the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch (not landing), and the NASA Wallops (https://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/home) launch center was having a bunch of activities. Well, what a disappointment. The NASA Wallops visitor center isn’t worth more than 15 minutes of your time. NASA does some really cool stuff at Wallops, they just don’t have a good visitor center.
Food
Island Creamery (https://www.islandcreamery.net/) cannot be missed, it is always crowded, but it is worth it. They actually make the waffle cones (which I suggest you get), right in front of you as you wait in line. The ice cream flavors are always changing, they are unique, and the quality is excellent.
Dinner was at Don’s Seafood Restaurant (http://donsseafood.com/). It wasn’t anything special, I had shrimp stuffed with crab-meat, they were large, and filling that is about the best thing I can say about those. The salad bar was good, the best part was a really creamy ranch dressing. The hush puppies were ok, not great, a little over done.
Lodging
We stayed at the Hampton Inn (https://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/virginia/hampton-inn-and-suites-chincoteague-waterfront-CCGVAHX/index.html?SEO_id=GMB-HP-CCGVAHX) it was very nice right on the bay side, the sunset we beautiful, and the breeze pleasant. There is a nice boardwalk along the bay with adirondack chairs, rockers, and a couple tables to sit and enjoy the scenery. The room was nice, typical Hampton Inn, which we find serviceable for a night or 2. The breakfast that was included with our room was disappointing, little variety, cold things that were supposed to be hot, and warm things that are supposed to be cold. There are probably better places to stay.
