• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Getting Here

Access to Virginia’s Eastern Shore is through Maryland from the north, or via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel from Virginia Beach to the south ($10 toll each way). Route 13 runs the length of the DelMarVa Peninsula – everything’s described as either “on 13” or “off 13.”

The closest airport is Norfolk International Airport (tel. 757-857-3200, www.norfolkairport.com).

Regional Information

Eastern Shore Visitors Center and Tourism Commission, Route 13, Melfa, tel. 757-787-2460, www.esvatourism.org.

The Virginia Tourism Corporation operates a Virginia Highway Welcome Center on US 13 south of the VA/aMD border, tel. 800-VISIT-VA, www.virginia.org.

Chincoteague

The legend of Chincoteague’s famed ponies holds ancestors swam onto this large barrier island from a shipwrecked Spanish galleon. It is legend, insomuch as there is no direct link or eyewitness accounts, but the story has circulated as fact for the last century.

Historians can pinpoint specific shipwrecks on the shoals off Assa­teague Island, in which the boats were known to be carrying horses or ponies. Further scientific proof is found in skeletal remains of some Chincoteague ponies in which one vertebra is missing. This trait denotes not only a Spanish Barb breed of horse, but also the American Mustang, a descendant of the Spanish Barb.

And so they could be Spanish or they could be American. What’s unquestioned is how popular the ponies are today. They are arguably the Shore’s most famous and beloved residents, with a national reputation built on the storytelling of Marguerite Henry in her children’s book Misty of Chincoteague.

Around Town

Throngs of visitors descend on this resort village each July for the annual Pony Swim and Auction. Business stands still for two days mid-week as ponies are corralled on Assateague Island and herded across a narrow channel to Chincoteague Island. Many people take off work or close up shop to spend time at this carnival-like event. Buyers come from all over the country and bid on the trainable horses, many for use as children’s mounts.

Proceeds from the auction benefit the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department, which owns the herd. The firemen hold a fair every weekend in July leading up to the swim, and for two weekends afterward.

Beach crowds and pony watching keeps Chincoteague hopping from Memorial Day through Labor Day. There are seafood restaurants at nearly every turn; if there’s a wait at one establishment, you can get nearly identical fare at the next. Bike rentals and mopeds are a popular way to explore the island. Small boutiques carry everything from decoys and designer dresses.

After Labor Day, Chincoteague reverts to a sleepy coastal town. It’s far from boring; this is our favorite time to visit. In early spring, late fall and throughout winter, a different kind of Chincoteague emerges. We hike, bike and bird watch on the wildlife refuge, confidant that cool temperatures will keep bugs to a minimum. The peak of waterfowl migration is in November and December, when tens of thousands of snow geese swim among the refuge’s impoundments.

The refuge is a wonderful diversion in any season. A 3.2-mile Wildlife Loop circles the Snow Goose Pool. Refuge managers raise and lower the water in these pools in each season to provide suitable bird habitat. These practices are detailed in a brochure that describes numbered stops along the way, a convenient way to learn about barrier island ecology, its wildlife, birds and plant life. This gravel road loop is great for bikers, and from 3 pm until dusk each day it opens up to vehicles.

For a more wilderness experience, you can hike along the beach for miles and miles. Specifically, it’s 10 miles north to Maryland and the Assateague National Seashore. There – and only there – is back­country camping is allowed. Find a site and set up your tent among the dunes. There’s nothing in the world like being lullabied to sleep by waves crashing on the beach.