Beauty Beauty Everywhere....Hello from Chincoteague VA

Some Chincoteague ponies who just happen to live at the Lovely Refuge Inn on Chincoteague Island, where we have been staying the past two days. Fortunately for us, these ponies live at our inn, because the main focus of our trip out here was to see ponies in the wild, but, their habitat, Assateague Island, was so devastated by "Ida" an extra-tropical storm which struck the mid-Atlantic states last week, that the refuge is closed. There has been a lot of damage here....flooding, and trees down, as well as beaches washed away. Nonetheless, we have enjoyed every minute of our two days here and had some wonderful meals of local seafood. Kristi and I had some fun time shopping today, and she found a few more gifts for family and friends. The trip out here to the island was fascinating. Crossing the Chespeake bay via the Bridge/Tunnel, as the aftereffects of the storm were kicking up huge waves and spume. There were many huge tankers and container ships in the bay and we saw fishermen braving the weather to fish off a separate bridge. This evening we were mesmerized and enchanted by this spectacular sunset. Just as beautiful as one I saw here more than 25 years ago in another life. As many of you know, the main focus of this long trip was to take Kristi to swim with the dolphins in Orlando, so when I got back to our inn this evening and downloaded the photos, I was totally amazed to see that the pier silhouetted by the sunset, was embellished with dolphins. A magic moment. I was so focued on photographing the sunset, that I never saw the leaping dolphins!

Tomorrow morning, very early, we are off to catch the car ferry (looking forward to the 80 minute ride across Delaware Bay) to Cape May, NJ, have a look round there at some world famous architecture, and then head to Woodbury, NJ to visit the Gloucester County Historical Society to discuss a painting which LM recently inherited. Should be interesting. After that, we head to Ramsey, NJ to stay with friends over night before the final leg of this magical journey.

There are so many other facets of the trip to tell you about and illustrate with photos, but that must wait until I am home. We've done so much and seen so much in two short weeks.

Thanks for all the nice comments wishing us well! Home to Ms G on Tuesday.