Tag: Ponies

The Eastern Shore of Maryland includes a beautiful national seashore called Assateague, the popular beach at Ocean City and quaint little towns like Berlin and Salisbury. Check out our weekend getaway to these places.

Saturday, July 1 – Sunday, July 2, 2017

Eastern Shore, Maryland Highlights:

• Assateague National Seashore – ponies, trails and the beach
• Ocean City, Maryland
• Berlin, Maryland
• Salisbury, Maryland

It’s hard to believe that we have lived in the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia) area for well over 5 years and had never visited the Assateague National Seashore. It’s about a 3 hour drive east of Silver Spring, Maryland, assuming you don’t blindly follow the iPhone GPS and end up heading north to Baltimore first (yep, we really did that) making the trip closer to 4.5 hours. Make sure to pack bug spray and sunscreen! The horseflies are no joke here!

There is a beautiful new visitor’s center, called Barrier Island Visitor Center (with good bathrooms) and a huge parking lot on the right hand side of the road before you cross the Verrazano Bridge. Some people choose to rent or bring bikes to get onto Assateague Island for free. We chose to buy the Annual National Park Pass for $80 since the admission to Assateague is $25 alone and we anticipate going to many more parks this year. One benefit I learned is that by purchasing the pass on July 1, we actually get 13 months (through July 2018) to use the pass.

We were very lucky to cross the bridge and instantly see two ponies grazing before even passing the booth where you show your park pass! Best advice is to have your eyes open and your camera ready! There are three short trails (approximately ½ mile each) called: Life of the Forest, Life of the Dunes and Life of the Marsh. Life of the Marsh was by far our favorite. While driving around, we were fortunate to see a few horses at two different camp sites as well as a deer (one of the campsites is the one across from the Life of the Marsh parking lot).

Walking along the beach is a must! We found really beautiful stones and shells that washed up with the tide. Plus when the sun is shining, why not take advantage and get an even tan by walking the shoreline. After you’ve gotten your fix of Assateague, I recommend getting in the car to drive about 20 minutes north to Ocean City, Maryland. We found parking to be quite a challenge, so make sure to pack your patience. Ocean City has a Boardwalk that is 2.45 miles long and has signs at either end to tap and/or take your picture with.

The Boardwalk is a bit different from the one in Ocean City, New Jersey. The one in Maryland felt busier to us, but had similar type shops, restaurants, sweet treats and games. While strolling along the Boardwalk, keep an eye out for art displays in the sand and cool kites.

Before calling it a night, we drove about 20 minutes to Berlin, Maryland. This is dubbed America’s Coolest Small Town (they even have a huge sign to prove it)! While almost everything was closed, the “Island Creamery” ice cream shop had a huge line! It was fun to window shop the antique stores, look at the home sale flyers and notice the cute coffee shops like “On What Grounds?” on the main street. After we got our steps in (yep, we counted them on the Garmin and got over 36,000; Mike got 40,214 with his run) we were ready to call it a night.

Now, if you’re like us and really want to save money and don’t have any kids, we recommend carsleeping at the Wal-Mart in Berlin, Maryland. If it’s a nice night, find a good parking spot, crack your windows, turn off and lock the car. One huge benefit (besides the monetary one) is you will be woken up by the rising sun if you don’t set an alarm. We felt safe and this location was only a 15 minute drive back to Assateague to see the sunrise on the Atlantic Ocean. We arrived on Assateague Island, parked in the main beach parking lot (it’s on the left after you pass the toll booths, which aren’t checked at this time) and walked to the water to see the sunrise. You’ll likely find a small group gathered with the same idea, but luckily there’s plenty of room on the beach for everyone to enjoy.
After taking in the sunrise, make sure to jump back in your car and continue along the main street. We got to the roundabout and saw four ponies and then on our way out saw at least 10 more. Again, have your camera ready! Having taken it all in, we decided to drive to Salisbury, Maryland to check out this small town. If you decide to roll through this small town, I highly recommend a stop in (or drive thru) to Rise Up Coffee. Their seasonal lavender latte was delicious! We drove by and saw the beautiful campus of Salisbury University while we waited for the free Salisbury Zoo to open. The zoo is very small, but if you’re zoo people like us, that won’t deter you from at least checking it out. The macaws were funny to watch flip around on their rope. Hopefully if you go, more of the cool animals like the sloth and jaguar will be out and about.

That’s it for our weekend trip! Perhaps next time we will check out Easton, Cambridge or St. Michael’s. Have you visited any of these? We would love to get ideas for what other great stops are in our backyard.