Chincoteague in October…A Horse Bite, A Big Decision, and Family Bonding

~ Family Vacation Recap | Personal | Wanderlust ~

Chincoteague & Assateague Islands | Chincoteague, Virginia | October 8-10, 2022

Last Christmas, Michael and I decided that we wanted to gift each other family experiences instead of a bunch of things to open on Christmas that we may only use or wear every now and then. Since having Arielle it seems like Time has the audacity to just ZOOM by. We had a few rules and we already attended my surprise trip earlier this year in July. If you want to see the Cleveland Recap you can do so HERE.

Michael took us to Chincoteague, Virginia. This is a place I grew up going. Michael and I had visited once before on our very first wedding anniversary, and he loved it too! Unlike last Christmas Getaway in July, everyone was in good health, which was obviously made for an easier and better adventure.

However, this trip still had a cloud over it. In the days leading up to this trip, Michael’s job offered him a HUGE opportunity to move to Virginia Beach. He was chomping at the bit to accept. But, I had my reservations for a lot of different reasons, and one of them being how soon the move would be. But, they needed someone there almost immediately, because there was no one in that area now. Michael gave me the weekend at Chincoteague to think about it. It was a HUGE decision that would come with sacrifices from all of us. I had a lot on my mind the whole trip, trying to wrack my brain of a new game plan, answers to try to calm my concerns and the “What If’s”. By the end of the trip I still didn’t know my answer, even after driving home the long way to see the apartment complex we would be moving too. I prayed the whole ride home for the answer to come to me…

The first morning we were there we slept in and enjoyed breakfast at the Beach Road Round-Up before heading to the beach to explore. Hurricane Ian had just blown through there the weekend before so we were intrigued to see how the beach was doing.

Big SHOUT OUT to Michael for making sure there’s photos of Arielle and I!! When you’re a mom AND a photographer, its hard to remember to make sure you get photos with your kids too, especially on the “Big Camera” and not a phone.

After running around the beach we decided we were going to try and find the Chincoteague Ponies, especially Luna, which is a pony that was born recently that my parents have a connection to, and to just drive around to explore the island! Sadly, we never saw Luna, but we saw plenty of gorgeous ponies. There was a spot to actually feed some of the horses. Of course, all three of us loving animals we fed them. And Arielle was doing a great job..until that last feed. She curled up her fingers and the horse bit down on her finger instead of the food in her hand. Luckily the horse let go quickly and Arielles finger was just a little red and swollen but nothing some French Fries couldn’t fix!

After we went exploring we took Arielle back to the hotel to take her nap. Once she woke up we went to the hotel pool and swam for a good hour or so before we went back to the room to get cleaned up. That night we went to Etta’s Channelside Restaurant to have a delicious dinner to celebrate our last Christmas Getaway for the year. They had a delicious steak and the employees are so sweet. The next morning we slept in. And good thing because the day before had wore us out and I still had so much on my mind it was emotionally and mentally draining. After checking out of the hotel we went to see more wild Chincoteague Ponies and hiked to the Chincoteague Lighthouse – and yes, we did this all before breakfast. We were now crunched on time and wanted to hit Sandy Pony Donuts before we left on our way out! They are like a mix of Fractured Prune Donuts & Duck Donuts – absolutely DELICIOUS!

The trip was wonderful and I am so thankful for all of our family time together. I hope this tradition continues for many years. Maybe the older we get the more adventurous these will become. But, for now, I am so happy with the tradition we started. This is probably the last vacation this year, and I am so excited for next years adventures. They might be pretty GRAND as Michael and I will be celebrating 10 years of being together.

And as for my decision on whether to move or not; I finally did make a decision the night we got home…

If you didn’t see the announcement 2 weeks ago, we moved to Virginia Beach November 1st and are hoping to plant our budding families roots here. 🙂

Happy Friday Friends!!