Wild Horses Couldn’t Drag Me Away…
Day 79 of the stay-at-home order and this girl is getting ready to break some rules. I have ordered an abundance of supplies, thank you Amazon for delivering everything I think I need (I probably don’t need about 90% of what I order online) in 2 days. Tent – check, Cooler – check, air mattress, blankets, pillows, beach chairs, umbrella, generator – I have it all checked off the list. I am beyond prepared – I even have a brightly colored wet suit for kayaking because the weather forecast is a little on the chilly side. The car is packed, and we are off on our first solo camping adventure.
Assateague Island here we come…
Ever traveled with an 8 year old?
Well… It goes a little like this. Five minutes into the drive, “When will we be there?” followed by “I’m bored” and “Are we there yet?” like clockwork every 5 minutes. Lord help me! What was I thinking?
After about 7 hours, 5 pee stops, our body weight in snacks, and a years worth of caffeinated beverages we made it.
This place is B E A U T I F U L but, holy moly is it cold and windy here! Everything is better at the beach right?
Anyone ever tried to pitch a tent in hundred mile an hour wind? Me either, but it is windy as hell and I need to set this tent up in what feels like hundred mile an hour winds. Ok it isn’t that windy, but it sure feels like it the way this thing was whipping around. After wrestling with the blue beast of a tent for what felt like hours the tent is pitched, beds are made, and camp is set up.
Instead of transporting food with us we decided to just buy everything once we got here, after a quick trip to the store for food, firewood and essentials we are ready to relax by the fire and enjoy our first night at camp.
We are camping at Assateague State Park in Berlin, Maryland.
The park is pretty quiet, and we are literally steps from the beach. The little one is not quite done with school yet so she will need to get online daily for her classes, and I will likely need to work while we are here so a generator was a must for this trip since the sites are primitive and don’t have water or electric hookups. Lack of power and water are a little out of our comfort zone but waking up to wild horses a few feet away makes it worth the sacrifice.
Beach Please! After winter and nearly 3 months of being stuck at home I am beyond ready for a beach day. It is too chilly to get in the water, but we can still lounge and play in the sand.
One of my favorite things about this island is the ability to see both the sun rise and sun set over the water. The sun rose before I did today, but I am not about to miss the sunset over the bay.
While watching the sunset we had some unexpected visitors, there were a number of horseshoe crabs near the shore. Initially we didn’t think much of it until we noticed that there was a large number of them.
Assateague island is located is a barrier island located between the Chincoteague Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The Chincoteague bay is the perfect spot for paddle boarding and kayaking. The water is calm and there are a number of small islands that you can paddle to. We spent some time on the bay in our kayaks today but didn’t travel far because it was Evy’s first time out on her own in her new kayak.
After our horseshoe crab siting we were curious as to why there were so many of them so close to the shore, so we did a little research and learned that it was horseshoe crab mating season. According the US Fish and Wildlife Service “In the late spring and early summer, horseshoe crabs arrive on the beaches en masse to lay their eggs. The peak of spawning on the Atlantic coast occurs in Delaware Bay where thousands of crabs will arrive on the sandy beaches in May and June”. Surprisingly horseshoe crabs are very interesting and we learned a lot of fascinating things about them. Needless to say, we are going back to see them (and the sunset again tonight). We literally saw hundreds of horseshoe crabs and Evy even used them as the topic for her science project.
Want to learn more about horseshoe crabs? Watch Evy’s Video Project or visit the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
This trip has not only been a much-needed break from the monotony of quarantine, but we have learned so much and seen so many fascinating things. Our beach days have truly been educating and the amount of wildlife just roaming around the island is amazing. Although Ocean City is just a short drive away, you really do feel like you are on a secluded island. I wish we could stay longer – I am truly in my happy place.
