The pony penning, in Chincoteague is definetly quite an event. From reading these entries, it looks like you all didn’t see many horses really doing the cross from Assateague to Chinco. Here’s the trick: You need to get on to Chincoteague Island and set up ypur chairs, the night before, at Payne’s JUNK shop. That is where the ponies come through the marshes, and up the corridor and onto the street. You will not be dissapointed and you will def see the horses. It is kinda nice after waiting all morning for a slack tide and have the horses finally come rushing by. No need for a canoe or boat. I don’t think the Saltwater Cowboys let you get that close, by water. Wear old stuff, because you are sure to get muddy! We go every year, because my parents have a place on the island. Chincoteague is good stuff! Have fun at the pony penning!
People doing this:
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Santa Cruz
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Madison
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Asheville
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Entries
I had wanted to go to this event for years and years and finally in 2003 I took my family on summer vacation to Chincoteague Island the week of the roundup. It was one of the best vacations we’ve taken. We rented a house in Chincoteague for a very reasonable rate and it was very homey and cozy. We went to the Assateauge National Seashore to swim and bike and play on the beach everyday. We bought a bushel of steamed crabs from a local and of course, we went to the pony penning and the carnvial/fair/auction. We didn’t watch the swim over from Assateague because the man we rented from told us the crowd was much smaller and you can see more if you wait and watch the swim back to Chincoteague. We still couldn’t see much and spent a couple of hours hanging around waiting for it to happen – but I can say I was there and accomplished a long awaited goal. Unless you are out in the water on one of the boats – you can’t really get close enough to see the ponies in the water – next time if I go back I’ll rent a canoe and watch from there!
The whole weekend is kind of fun because both Assateague and Chincoteague really gear up to celebrate the event. However, the actual event was a bit of a let down. At least from the vantage point of where I was, it looked like little dots bobbing up and down in the water.
I read Misty of Chincoteague too and adored it. I put this location under Chesapeake BAY (corrected from before) on my 43Places list.
