Well, John knew. He is always trying to get me to take jaunts out of the city on weekends but I almost always say no. And of course I knew that the ocean was only about 3 1/2 hours away (in good traffic), but near DC, I had only ever been to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware which is way too busy and commercial to feel very special to me. Plus they have those awful little planes with banners advertising things flying over the beach. So it was quite a surprise yesterday to discover a beach so beautiful so close to DC. The March weather meant that the Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland was pretty quiet.
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| Assateague is famous for the wild horses that live there. They are often down by the beach, but this is the closest we got to them when they were on the bay side of the barrier island. |
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| The road from Berlin, Maryland, the nearest town. |
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| Berlin, MD |
hogglestock 
Isn't Assateague a wonderful find? A few years ago we took a family vacation to Bethany Beach, DE (we live a couple hours north, in PA). Bethany is quieter than Rehoboth, but still touristy. We went over to Assateague one day and fell in love with it. Even at the height of summer, if you arrived in the early morning it was quiet. And even if you go later in the day, it's still less crowded and you get so much more of a “back to nature” experience there.
I hope you also saw some ponies!
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Sorry, I just saw those ponies in the photo. So of course you saw them :)
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Three hours is a loooooooooong way to me! But I love the sea so would probably drive that far to see it…
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That does look absolutely beautiful, and is making me desperate to get out of the city!
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Oh, thank you so much for sharing these pics! My kids loved the book Misty of Chincoteague, so I must share them with them. It does look absolutely beautiful!
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I just love that area. Today would be the perfect day to be there too!
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I devoured all the Marguerite Henry books as a kid. Would love to visit one day!
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Wow. What a beautiful place. I haven't spent any time in the Northeast, with the exception of NYC, and I would love to visit some of these tucked-away spots. Thanks for sharing!
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Ok – You need to stop doing this – this is the second place you have posted about that I must get to.. when I travel America I am just going to come back to your blog for the places I must visit!
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what wonderful place to have so close to you ,all the best stu
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When I was younger, we used to spend a lot of time in Chincoteague. I miss it! Thanks for these pictures.
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I'm with Verity :) Most of England is within three hours of me…
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Three hours!! Wow! We have a different sense of distance in the UK I think. Amazing beach though. Makes me thing of the Marguerite Henry books.
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Laura: It really was wonderful. Remind me of our trip last summer to the Oregon coast.
Verity: Until this little day trip I didn't realize what a wonderful bit of sea was nearby.
Mother: I know the feeling.
Susan: I didn't realize there was a literary connection. I will have to look into that.
Stefan: It was bright but cool when we were there. Friday would have been really nice.
JoAnn: I didn't know anything about them until I started to see these comments.
Picky Girl: I suppose it all depends on your perspective, but technically this would be mid-Atlantic. I wish we lived further northeast.
Mary: Time to buy the plane ticket.
Stu: It was a great revelation.
Lu: Glad you liked them.
Simon: England is a little postage stamp–a cute postage stamp–but a postage stamp.
Donna: Definitely a different sense of distance. You must remember that 3 hours in Saskatchewan didn't get you very far.
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I went to Assateague a few years ago in April and it was a nice quiet place to go – more in keeping with my sensibilities than, say, Ocean City, MD. We were lucky in that the horses were grazing right by the wooden walkway. I was born on the coast of Maine, and I love the ocean, and should get out and see it more, or at the very least, get to the Chesapeake more.
– Christy
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