PARASAILING WAS FUN!!!

I WONDER WHAT'S NEXT? ZIP LINING MAYBE???




Friday, October 1, 2010

OCMD Vacation Day 5

Thursday, September 23, 2010
Sunny, 88 degrees, light breezes

We decided to take a trip to Chincoteague Island, VA on this day.  It's about an hour's drive from the little Housita that we stay in.  


We had breakfast at home and I packed a lunch to take along with us.  Ham and cheese sandwiches and turkey and cheese sandwiches.  I added plums, nectarines (for me) and peaches (for John) and some of the Doritos we've been snacking on all week.  


Our first stop was at NASA Visitor Center at Wallops Island Flight Facility, just outside of Chincoteague.  We weren't allowed inside the real facility, but they had a small museum at the Visitor Center, which was cool!




They've done tons of testing of weather balloons and rockets and stuff here for years and years.  If your'e a science nerd buff, you'd probably get a kick out of this place!  


click the picture to see it larger




I could tell we were getting near the place because I saw a bunch of these:


There were more than a dozen of these dishes all over the place!  


John having some fun!

I didn't take a lot of pictures inside.  They also had several short films about NASA and science stuff, some of which we actually saw at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

There were some picnic tables near the parking lot, under trees, so we had our lunch there... and got eaten alive by mosquitoes!  I managed to not get bitten all summer and in 5 minutes I had about 10 bug bites on me!

Then we continued on to Chincoteague!  Chincoteague looks more like a New England fishing village than a beach resort.  I was collecting sand for my sister (she collects sand from all over the world).  Do you know that I couldn't find one single beach on Chincoteague Island? I always thought Chincoteague was below Assateague, MD but it's not,  Chincoteague is in between mainland Maryland and the island of Assateague.   So it's all bay!  Chingoteague is nestled in between Maryland and Maryland.   The only place that actually has a beach is Tom's Cove Beach, which is in Chincoteague National Park, which is located on Assateague Island, in Maryland!  We drove all over that stupid place, looking for a beach so I could get sand for my sister.  By the time we left there, I was so frustrated that I got a bit pissy.  That, in turn put John in a bad mood.  

But before the day went south on us, we had a nice time.  We drove to Chincoteague National Park and found  Assateague Lighthouse.  We couldn't go up to the top  because there was a wasp swarm inside. (darn! I couldn't walk the 198 steps to the top of the lighthouse)  They had pictures for sale of the lighthouse, looking all pretty and shiny, but I kinda like my photo better.  






After the lighthouse (and before the pissing match), we drove around a bit and found Tom's Cove Beach.  It's not a large beach.  As a matter of fact, it's a long narrow beach, only about 20 or 30 feet to the water's edge and you can park your car  within feet of your blanket, just over a small dune.  We only stayed for a minute or two.  I didn't get any photos.  Sorry.

So it was a very quiet ride back to Ocean City.  Neither one of us was in the mood to do anything fun, so we ordered Pizza delivered from Lombardi's and watched  the CSI and The Mentalist premieres.  


What's in store for tomorrow??  Why, it's Sunfest!!!  and John got happy again!


**psst!  I'm wondering who is the person who reads my blog every day from Broken Arrow, OKlahoma.  I'm as curious as my cats!

8 comments:

Rose said...

thanks for the tour. i esp. like the lighthouse. enjoy rose

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to clarify things a bit since I live on Chincoteague. Assateague Island is located in both states Maryland and Virginia. The Maryland portion of Assateague is run by National Park Service as well as Assateague State Park. The Virginia portion of Assateague holds two governtment agencies as well: the National Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife. Assateague Island itself is over 30 miles in length starting across the inlet of Ocean City, MD and runs all the way down past Chincoteague VA. It actually protects Chincoteague from the Atlantic Ocean. The beach stretches the entire length of Assateague. If you had parked on the east side of the parking lot if the Virginia side of Assateague you could of walked the ocean side north or south for miles. I'm sorry your visit to our island caused frustration. It is confusing how one island is part of two states and 4 different government agencies. Hope this info helps. Glad you are enjoying your escape!

Joanie said...

Thanks for the clarification!

Unknown said...

God, I love that lighthouse... would make a great painting!

Sueann said...

Great pics and it sounds like you had a great time..even though you couldn't find any sand. That is strange...no beach??
Love the lighthouse!!!
Hugs
SueAnn

Bill Lisleman said...

thanks for post the NASA stuff. I'm very interested in science and space. I had not heard of this place. I gather it is a test range and they launch (throw) stuff into the Atlantic.
Good name for a test range - Wallop.

Heather said...

Hubby would totally love to go to the Nasa facility. Love the pic of John as an astronaut!
What a bummer, not getting to go up into the lighthouse, that would have been fun. I like your pic too!

Sorry you had such trouble getting sand and that it messed up the rest of your day, but glad to hear it didn't last long.

Anonymous said...

OK, immature I know-but LOL@ Assateague. I'm so moving there asap.

Groooovyyy lighthouse!