It is already in the middle of summer and this blog entry is quite late but I still have to put it up since it would be such a waste not showing the nice and interesting things that happened in Chincoteague.
Chincoteague Island is located on the eastern shore of Virginia. Approximately, a 3-hour drive from my place. The Island City is separated from the main land and connected only by a small bridge. It is a very laid back city and tourism is the main industry. Somehow they were able to preserve the island in spite of the sprawling hotels, bed and breakfast and restaurants budding all over the place. This is not the same as Ocean City or Rehoboth Beach but is more about communing with nature. Driving by the city streets you can see century old houses and churches dating back the civil war era. This is already the 4th time to be in Chincoteague but I never seem to get tired of it. The homemade ice cream is where we frequent most of the time and those seafood market and buffet. Crabbing on late September and walking on mile long sandy beach should be in everyone’s to do list. The most significant landmark of the island is the Light House especially at night. It will remind you of the mystery books you read during high school (Hardyboys, BobsyTwins, etc…).
The Chincoteague beachfront is located on a separate island. This is a protected by the Maryland National Park. It is also connected by another bridge hovering over a wide wet/marsh land. Unfortunately, you could not bring any pets (not even inside your car) on the island due to conservation law because it might disrupt the ecosystem of the island. Your pets might get loose on the National park and would become invasive specie. The island is also home to herd of wild horses. These wild horses roam freely on the Park. This is a nature lovers paradise because this is as close as you get when you live on a highly urbanize city like Rockville or Silver Spring.
Camping trips are usually done on late spring and early fall when the weather is just right enough for you to sleep outdoors. If it gets too humid and hot, mosquitoes as big as a bee will feast on you. If it gets too cold, you could not also do anything on the island. There usually are 5 families on each camp: the Renegado’s, Cale’s, Olo’s, Carmona’s and the Aguila’s. Around 50 people including children and it is quite a large and noisy group. As in every Pinoy gatherings we always feast even on camps and Ghost stories but this time we were able to experience one.
Once, on a bright sunny afternoon enjoying the beach then suddenly came a very dense fog from the Atlantic. It quickly engulfed the entire Island so eerily. The fog can be seen miles away quick engulfing anything on sight. You can’t help it but to feel scared. I have never seen anything like these; visibility is reducing to 100 ft only and it felt so cold. It is exactly like the one on the movie The Fog. This is what you get of watching to many movies.
Also, the funniest experience I have encountered on the Island is the Ghost Story. It happened on a late October camping trip to Chincoteague. When we arrived at the island the forecast will be a freezing negative –5 by dawn. So the groups have decided not to camp but stay on one of the inns. Since it was already off-season the hotel rates are quite reasonable. After our activities for the day, we all decided to have a b-b-q party outside the Inn. We took some pictures and continued the party indoors when it was dark. Suddenly one of the campers complained that most of the pictures taken on the digital cameras have small circles on it. It was just brush off as to poor lighting but when all of us complained of having the same result on the camera we suspected something else. Then idea was brought out on the open that these small circles could be ORBS. ORBS are said to be spirits captured in pictures. I saw a documentary in Discovery Channel about spirits and ghost and it exactly looks the same as what we have. We were all scared. We ended the party early that night. We did pray before we parted and all were a bit bothered by this. Days after the camping trip, we studied each of the pictures in our computers, lo and behold a picture was indeed taken: a teenage black girl dress on early 1900 outfit outside the Inn. Scary…. Is it ????….
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