While we were celebrating my birthday with the Wessels, the topic of the Great Ice Cream Tour came up. I’ve been a little amazed that people are so interested in our progress. That night a few of the relatives said they definitely wanted to go on one of the trips, especially the one to Chincoteague.
I read Misty of Chincoteague in grade school and always had a yen to visit the island to see the wild horses. The Island Creamery, sixth on the TABICS2015 list, provided the perfect reason not to put it off any longer.
U.S. 13 winds through rural “slower” Delaware down to Virginia’s Eastern Shore. We took our time and stopped for lunch at the Cheddars restaurant in Camden DE. They serve tasty food at reasonable prices. We enjoyed our lunch and debated about having dessert but decided to save our calories for ice cream.
Chincoteague is well off the beaten US13 track. You turn left (if you’re headed south) onto VA-175 (AKA Chincoteague Rd) and drive about 11 miles between the NASA Wallops flight facility and the Wallops Island National Wildlife Refuge before it turns to cross marshland and various bays until it delivers you to Chincoteague.
I researched the best places to stay in Chincoteague and found the Island Resort. It’s right on the Inland Waterway, with a boardwalk along the water. We didn’t occupy ALL of the rooms at the resort, but we accounted for a decent number of them with the 15 people in our party. Both the Wessels and the Roses were well represented. Nice pool, nice breakfast, nice staff, nice rooms. I did not want to try to herd 15 people, so we all did things on our own schedules and intersected periodically, mostly at the pool (but sometimes at breakfast!).
The first thing we did after checking in to the hotel was (surprise) head to the Island Creamery for our first taste of their ice cream. Yum. They have a good system for dealing with crowds–each employee takes ownership of a group and completes the order from (difficult) decision about flavors to ordering to payment. It’s efficient and the line moves quickly because they have a lot of servers.
Becky Wessel suggested Daisey’s Island Cruises as an activity, so we booked seats for the Rose crew (Linda, Tim, Martha, Steve, and Lori) Friday evening. If you are ever in Chincoteague, it is well worth the money. They focus on pointing out wildlife and points of interest and provide a running narrative of the history of the area, especially of the ponies. We saw some actual wild ponies!
It was dark when we finished the cruise, so there was not much else to do besides go for more ice cream. Why are you surprised? The Creamery had a LOT of flavors we needed to try! We managed to time it so we did not have to wait in a long line:
I’m used to the huge crowds and general busy-ness of Rehoboth and Bethany in Delaware. Chincoteague is very different and a lot more laid back. It’s smaller and the pace is slower even though as you can see from the above photo there are plenty of people in the town! There is plenty to do–shopping, eating (not just ice cream!) and lots of activities. I took a picture of the official Misty statue:
There are too many good eateries to count, but we really liked the taco place Barb Wessel and her friend Grace found. It’s a permanent food cart and busybusybusy. We waited in the yard for our food and listened to the late 70s-era music. I felt like I was back in college, and the food was great.
One factor contributing to the relaxed atmosphere in Chincoteague is that the public beach is actually on Assateague Island and is operated by the National Park Service. I know I’ve raved about the NPS in some of my other posts because they do a great job of everything. We did not get to the beach, but on our last day there we drove out to Assateague (the Virginia end) to see it. I bought my lifetime senior citizen pass ($10!), which got everyone in the car into the park. They have two visitor centers with educational opportunities for kids of all ages. It’s a birders’ paradise, with forests, marshes, and dunes that are hospitable to numerous migratory species.
We made one last stop at the Island Creamery before we left for home. Their ice cream is pretty wonderful. My favorite flavor was coconut, but the Java Jolt and limoncello were excellent too. I indulged in a waffle cone on the last day because, well, it was there and they make them fresh. There are about 7 waffle irons lined up behind the counter. My granddaughter Edda approved of the ice cream too. She did not fall far from the G (her name for me) tree.
I feel like I’m racing to a finish line with the TABICS2015 project. Only 4 more to go! Stay tuned for my next (ice cream) scoop.
Lori
Ice "Scream" Tour Blog! 