We’re leaving for Chincoteague in two days, the island I’ve been visiting on and off all my life. My parents first brought my older sister and me there when I was two. The first time we went, I’m told we stayed in a little motel with a pool and a pony out front. The motel is still there, as well as the pool, but the pony has moved on to greener pastures. This is the pool where Lara, my sister, dove down to the bottom and got her hair stuck in the drain. Luckily, my dad was paying attention and swam down to free her hair in time.
We visited summer after summer, but instead of staying at the motel, we made Maddox Family Campground our tradition. It, too, is still there but under a different name. Just last year, a water park opened beside it, with a lazy river and several water slides – not very Chincoteague at all, – but the town has managed to retain its character and small-town charm (in all honesty, I’m totally fine with the brewery that opened up a couple years ago – the beer is delicious!).
I have ridden my bike around the wildlife loop countless times over the years and smashed hundreds of mosquitos up and down my legs and arms. We have fed probably close to a hundred dollars in quarters to the mechanical pony outside the candy and souvenir store “Pony Tails.” Maxine climbed on last summer as a joke, declaring it would be her last ride.
My lengthy Chincoteague hiatus occurred over my later high school years, through college, and all the way until Edwin and Maxine were born. We vacationed in Rehoboth and Bethany a few times when they were babies, and it finally occurred to me that I had left part of my heart in Chincoteague. Since 2009, we’ve been returning every summer. We rent the same house every year, and it’s gotten to feel like home.
We spend our days hanging out on the dock, riding our bikes around the island, and playing in the ocean. I can’t wait to put my paddle board in the estuary off the dock. If I’m feeling really ambitious, I’ll paddle all the way out to and across Tom’s Cove, which ends at the ocean.
Things will be a little strange this year without the farmers market, lifeguards (yikes – better be careful!), and who knows what else, but it’ll be good for the soul, as always.
My Corner of the Village 