Around Williamsburg - Eastern Shores

Another day we drove through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and tunnel (20 miles long and $17 toll) and up the Eastern shore to Chincoteague. We drove through many small villages, too small to even warrant walking around, but we enjoyed the drive immensely. It was harvest season and we saw the combine harvesters making short work of the fields of soy. Nearby the cotton and tomatoes were being tediously picked by hand.

Every shop we passed sold fireworks – fireworks and bakery, fireworks and sausages, fireworks and rotisserie. Should they really be in the same building??!!!

Chincoteague Island is known for its annual pony round up from the nearby uninhabited Assateague Island. When fires destroyed the town of Chincoteague, a volunteer firefighting force was set-up but there were no funds for equipment. So the enterprising crew rounded up some ponies, which inhabited the nearby island, and drove them to swim through the straights to Chincoteague where they were auctioned. This practice still continues today every July at a low tide, and is a world-famous event. We passed the local fire station, and behind it was a huge field of mares and foals, obviously held back from this year’s sale.