Assateague Island National Seashore

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March 2, 2013

VaKayHave you been thinking about vacation time? I know I have and one of my favorite places to go has always been Assateague Island at the tip of the Maryland coast line.

My husband and I used to go there when we were young and poor because it was a national park and the fees were low or at least lower than some of the other places we could stay on vacation. We started out tent camping. He and I and our two young boys.

In the days before computers you had to call for reservations or just take your chances (we usually did) and show up because there was usually someplace to stay if you didn’t mind walking into the campsite. (For this reason we REALLY appreciated when the boys got older – they could carry the camping gear!) We made lots of wonderful memories at Assateague, watching the kids play in the surf  on what is basically a private beach because only the people camping can use it or being awakened by a wild pony in the  middle of the night who is just passing through. Ah the life of tent camping. On one of these occasions, my oldest son Rick decided since it was so warm, he would sleep on the picnic table under the screen house, yeah I know, I told him I didn’t think it was a good idea either. He bedded down for an uneventful night,Assateague Island but the sun rises early on the East Coast  in the middle of the summer therefore so does the wildlife. Rick was awakened to a little house sparrow sitting on his chest, looking him in the eye, chirp, chirp. Then he heard, crunch, crunch, crunch and looked to his left where he saw a gigantic horse head squeezing under the screen house. The nose of the head was firmly attached to a bag of potato chips, crunching away. He and the bird froze and watched the horse until the bag was empty and the horse moved on.Assateague Ponies

As the boys grew older they wanted to go to “more exciting places”, so we did. Then, about four years ago we decided that we were getting a little too old for tent camping,(no one to carry the camping equipment – lol)  so we bought a travel trailer. That first summer we went all over the place, with the dogs. Sometimes the kids came along and sometimes not, after all they are all grown up now.

One night while cruising the internet looking for our next destination, I discovered that Assateague has a number of RV sites. No water or electricity, (but no horse eating potato chips in the middle of the night either) so we booked our first trip. We didn’t take the kids, in fact, we didn’t even ask. We did take a generator that we could run until lights out at 10 p.m. but the sounds of the wildlife and surf made me only want to run it to make coffee in the morning.

The kids were annoyed that we went without them, so the next year we took them along. This should come as no surprise, Rick brought a tent.

My husband and I sat on the beach watching the sun come up one morning with our coffee and the horses grazing in the surf and realized we had been coming to this place for over 30 years. We could go anywhere now but we keep coming back to Assateague, year after year.  I guess sometimes you just find a place that you end up calling your home away from home. DSC_0002

Do you have a favorite vacation spot? Maybe you want to find one and you can in the new 2013 Good Sam RV Travel Guide and Camping Directory. You can pick one up at Camping World or by clicking the link.

 

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