Chris, our son Christian, his fiancé Claire and myself spent some time at Chincoteague, Va camping, well maybe glamping on the island noted for the wild pony roundups each year. The ponies are registered descendants of a Spanish galleon that wrecked off the coast of nearby Assateague Island hundreds of years ago. The ponies were made famous when author Marguerite Henry wrote the book Misty, telling the true story of how two children raised the filly of a wild Chincoteague Pony. Each year “saltwater cowboys” round up a number of the ponies and auction them to worthy homes, benefitting the local fire department. This is a story, however, of taking a ride to the wild side of the island and what we discovered.
The morning started off with a gourmet breakfast cooked by Chris—well a gourmet as possible on a camp stove and a Blackstone grill. It was pretty a pretty hearty breakfast sandwich. Then we geared up for the several mile ride from the campground through the wilderness trail across the bridge to Assateague Island. Chris and I are no strangers to the ride on the paved bike path through the marshes and tall grass along the way. There is always plenty of wildlife to see, mainly a multitude of different species of birds. We make the trek on our well-geared Fuji Crosstown bikes. Claire and Christian, however, were at the mercy of one-speed, well-used bikes rented from the campground.
Christian, at 6’4” and a former college defensive end, looked like a normal person riding a small child’s bike, his knees tucked about under his chin legs peddling along in the 85-degree humidity. So you can imagine how it was us gliding along on our swift machines and Christian and Claire getting a real workout and we were hardly a quarter of the way around. About halfway around the wilderness trail there was a sign for the wilderness beach, pointing off a winding path through tall grass and sand. It said the beach was a half mile away. So we took the bait. Pumping our legs along and working up a good sweat, we finally reached an area where there were several bike racks and parked, took our shoes off and left them beside the bikes. There was a sandy path leading up through the dunes.
Alongside the path was a sign that read something like “Wilderness Outhouse Courtesy of Parks and Recreation.” It consisted of driftwood log and a roll of toilet paper on a twig. Up the path, over the dune, was an untouched beautiful beach that stretched for miles in each direction. Beauty to behold. We gathered for a couple of pictures and tested the cold water, then headed back. I was teasing Christian that I could ride his bike better and we had a Tom Sawyer moment where I got to give it a try. Well, no mercy. I kept up but it was a real hard workout all the way back, and I had the leg cramps to prove it! The good book says to commit your work to the Lord and he will establish your plans. My plan was to make it back, which was established. We were relieved to return, but basked in the memory of the ride to the wild side.
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