A weekend getaway

This past weekend Gerard and I decided to take Anna on an over night trip to Virginia. It was what we refer to as a turn and burn trip. They are fast, furious and filled with adventure. It is no secret that Anna loves horses so it felt natural that we should take her to Chincoteague Island to visit the Assateague Island National Seashore to see the horses. Gerard and I took a short drive to the Cape May-Lewes ferry where we put our car onto the ferry to cross over to Delaware.

It was bitter sweet to be in this part of Delaware again after so many years. When Gerard and I first started dating and talking about getting married we had decided to move to a very small town in Delaware after I finished school. We had looked at a few houses, applied for jobs but never did move there. Things happen for a reason, I do truly believe this.

We drove another 1.5 hours to reach Chinoteague, Virgina. The national park has a number of walking trails for hiking in search of the wild ponies. We saw a few from the road but decided to head down to the beach for the afternoon instead. This was the first time Gerard has gotten to go to beach with Anna this year. Gerard is not much of a beach goer in fact he jokes and wants to know why everyone is just sitting around doing nothing productive. I just laugh.

Anna had him in the water in about 2 minutes flat swimming and jumping over the ways. We spend about 3 hours at the beach then headed for our hotel. I enjoyed this area so much that I am thinking about booking a cottage there for next year. Perhaps we will even bring down one of the boats. The town is so cute and quaint. There is not no big amusement park or chain restaurants. I highly recommend a visit.

In town there were foals for sale from the annual pony swim that is held each July. The ponies are a big deal in this area. I had researched a little bit and was able to find a place for Anna to ride a pony. Monday we decided to skip the beach and let Anna ride a pony than travel to the Maryland side of this National park.

When we got to the Chinoteague Pony Centre it was even better than I had imagined.  After watching the ponies for about 30 minutes Anna wanted to ride one. We stood in line and she got her turn on on the pony. Anna was super charged after this ride and wanted to ride the pony again. Gerard and I were considering it than I over heard that she could have a private 30 minute lesson for 40 dollars. We looked at each other and decided to give it a try.

Anna was one of two children in the private lesson. The other little girl was just a year older than Anna but had been riding for over a year. Anna's pony was named Tigger. She loved riding the pony. Anna quickly learned to steer the pony through cones and even got to trot around the ring.

After her lesson we got into the car and headed to the Maryland side of the park. the drive was a little over an hour but it was on the way home for us. As we entered the park we had to stop the car because the rode was blocked by 4 wild ponies. I thought it was so magical to see the ponies wandering through the dunes. If I were a camping sort I would have opted to camp on the beach with the ponies. The pictures do not do this trip justice.

These were taken on the ferry

Anna playing pony on the beach

This one was taken on one of the hiking trails

This was one of the  ponies for sale

Here is Anna on her pony ride

This was one of her and Tigger

Tigger was standing on a stool

Here are some of the wild ponies in the wild