One of the cooler places we've visited since moving out east is Assateague Island on the Maryland/Virginia coast, part of the Delmarva (DE-MD-VA) peninsula. It seems every little girl reads about Chincoteague Island because of the wild horses. Well, the horses actually come from neighboring Assateague.
You can visit from either the Maryland or Virginia side, as there's no road that traverses the length. Both feature hiking and wide beaches. The Maryland side is Assateague National Seashore, though there's also a state park with a visitors center, boat launch and camp sites. The larger Virginia side is Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, the area most associated with the wild horses, and has a cool old lighthouse. The refuge, named 'Chincoteague' like the adjacent populated island (and pony), is actually located entirely on Assateague.
Much of the east coast shoreline, including Assateague Island, is really cool natural land formations. Exceptionally long and narrow, Assateague is a 'barrier island' exposed entirely to the Atlantic Ocean. It's special because the government has preserved the entire 37 mile long stretch to protect the naturally diverse ecosystem. Most other beaches north and south are well developed for vacationers. Ocean City, MD is much too busy (among other things) in my opinion. I hear the Outer Banks in NC are nice but we haven't been.
When we heard OCMD was opening up, we decided to go for a couple nights just to get out of the house. It's generally not our scene. A three hour drive from Frederick, we drove out Friday and back Sunday. Besides picking up some beer from Burley Oak on the way, our only priority that weekend was to check out Assateague, which we did Saturday morning.
From Ocean City it's a ~25 minute drive down to the north (MD) side. The state park visitors center was closed, obvi, so we just went over the bridge to the island. If you're interested in visiting I highly recommend going early in the day. We arrived maybe 1030a and the line into the park was already lengthy (typical for National Parks). As it's operated by the National Park Service, you have to pay to get in. A one-time pass, however, is good for a week and for both sides of the park if you choose to see it all.
Once inside there's a large parking lot just past the gate. It was a nice day so most people were there for the beach, which is without lifeguards. We could bring our dog onto the beach but not the hiking trails. A short road leads to the different trails, which each have a small lot as well. We went on one of the three ~one mile trails. The options are marsh, forest and dunes, showing off the ecological landscape. There was also a line for the sand vehicles ('OSV') entrance inside the park, which is apparently quite an attraction and only allowed on the Maryland side.
We only spent about an hour and half there. Checked out the beach, did a short trail, and drove up and down the road. While waiting in line a horse strolled by through the parking lot, and we saw a number of others from a distance. There were definitely more than we expected. Evidence of them, the poop, was everywhere.
With a bit of time the next morning we went back and walked the empty beach, since it wasn't nearly as nice and we got there earlier. The pictures below are from that day after forgetting the previous morning. Admittedly I didn't do the best job planning this post.
After visiting, and especially after writing this, I want to go back and see the south side. The refuge is even more protected and has a large variety of wildlife in a bigger, wider space. To enter is another hour south on the mainland or you could drive up the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from the Virginia Beach area. When I was a kid, about 10, my family went there and I have good memories of that day. I definitely think my wife and kid would enjoy it. Plus Chincoteague Island itself sounds super cute and I don't remember it at all.
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