Chincoteague; The rest of the story

After we saw the fiddler crabs and settled in for the night, we had a free day before the pony swim. We went to Assateague Island to swim at the beach. I got pummeled by a wave and full of sand. Now I remember why the beach is just not my thing. But the boys had fun up until Ben did a face plant in the sand and proceeded to meltdown until we arrived at the campground 30 minutes later. We all took naps and then proceeded out to get a treat.

We stopped at a  BYOC...Build your Own Cookie! Seriously, I thought I was in heaven. Eddie sometimes makes us "dessert" where you take a cookie and put a topping on it. So of course, we had to check this place out. Look how cute. Do you see the logo on the top of the trailer?

But oops, I forgot to take a picture of mine before I ate it all. Seriously, it was too much gluttony. You start with a big old warm cookie of your choice on the bottom, topped with ice cream of your choice, topped with a topping of your choice and then maybe some whipped cream because you aren't quite full enough.  As you can see, I poked away at it just fine.

After a game of miniature golf and pinball (my favorite!), we headed back to the campsite and hung out inside the trailer. By this time, it was super hot and we were drenched in sweat. It felt good to have the a/c inside!

The next morning we woke and got ready for the pony swim.  Luckily, the weather had cooled off a bit. From our campground, you can see the horses standing on Assateague Island getting ready to do their swim.

The pier was lined with people and we had a long wait ahead of us, so we decided to stay back behind the action knowing that people and boats would be blocking us from the actual swim.

The saltwater cowboys walk the ponies down the grassy area next to the water. Some of the horses prematurely tried to start swimming, but the cowboys did a good job of getting them back in line.

The ponies swim across a narrow channel and then rest for a bit.  

After their swim, we hoofed it up to the main road of the campground.

From there we waited and relaxed in the shade...

... until the horses were paraded through the town to the fairgrounds where they would be auctioned off the next day. Some people come from afar to take a horse home with them. Others merely "buy" a horse and donate it back to the island to live wild. 

All in all a great time and a great town.