As August arrives, the pace of summer quickens, racing by faster than ever. I’m making an effort to grasp onto these moments before they slip into my rearview mirror, leaving behind only memories. As a mother to a rising high school senior and a college sophomore, the notion of having 18 summers with my kids, as I once heard, seems like a fallacy. The time to forge these cherished summer memories feels like it has already passed.
My children have outgrown the half days of camp followed by leisurely afternoons at the pool. Those once unstructured days have now given way to rigid schedules. Previous summers saw us squeezing moments in between internships, work commitments, volunteering, and exciting international escapades with newfound friends. Finding time when our schedules align for us to be together has become more challenging, but this rarity makes our summer getaways all the more special.
Embarking on a Summer Road Trip to Chincoteague:
This summer, we meticulously coordinated our calendars to spend a week in Chincoteague, Virginia, a charming beach town offering access to the Assateague Island National Seashore. Chincoteague has long been our preferred destination for a rejuvenating vacation not too far from home. In fact, we were so enamored with the place that we purchased and renovated a vacation home there during the pandemic.
Over the past few years, we’ve made numerous trips to Chincoteague. Yet, despite our familiarity with the route, this trip felt both familiar and different. Instead of packing up our beloved blue 2004 station wagon for a journey we had undertaken countless times, we settled into a 2023 Toyota Venza Limited AWD Hybrid, equipped with ventilated front seats.
With just a few taps, my daughter seamlessly connected to Apple CarPlay. She set our destination on the 12-inch Multi-Information Display Screen and scrolled through the vibrant icons to find Spotify, which she used to play Taylor Swift’s recently released album, “Speak Now.”
Although we had navigation guiding us to our destination, we relied on local landmarks as our trip’s milestones. As always, we tried to remember to count the many bridges along our route.
We made a pit stop at Rise Up, our beloved coffee shop, to refuel with caffeine and frequented several farm stands along the way, searching for ripe, locally grown melons for the week ahead—all while Taylor Swift serenaded us through the JBL speakers.
There’s something almost transformative about driving across the Bay Bridge and heading south. While some drivers whiz past us, the pace of life gradually slows the farther we get from Washington, D.C. As we depart from the mainland and cross the Causeway, I’ve always found the gentle swaying of the green marsh grass in the breeze to be incredibly soothing.
Taking a right turn from the Causeway onto Main Street signifies that we are almost home. We pass the quaint downtown shops, which have undergone slight changes over the years we’ve been visiting. Further down the road, we always glance to the left, hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous Chincoteague ponies grazing on the Carnival grounds. And then, we’ve arrived home.
Creating More Summer Memories:
The Venza’s tires crunched over smooth white rocks as I pulled into the driveway. I put the car in park, opened the door, and inhaled the distinctive scent of sea air and marsh mud—a scent that is unmistakably Chincoteague.
The rest of the family disembarked and stretched. Our two dogs eagerly explored the backyard, their noses to the ground, searching for fresh oyster shells to crunch or evidence of recent visits from ducks or geese.
Chincoteague memories have become the core of our summer experiences. Our family has established a checklist of must-dos while in town.
We wake up early to savor egg coffees and croissants from Amarin before the crowds descend. We eagerly queue up at Island Creamery multiple times to indulge in a rotating array of flavors—a single scoop with two flavors, please!
We peruse used books and the latest Erich Sahler prints at Sundial Books. We stock up on the newest shirts from Atlantic Shoals, with my son’s wardrobe now largely consisting of their apparel.
We stroll to the Carnival grounds to play 25-cent bingo and savor piping hot funnel cakes straight from the fryer.
We slip beneath neighboring boat docks in kayaks or the canoe during sunset boat escapades. We paddleboard when the water resembles a glassy mirror. And we take the canoe to Shell Island (our name for a mound of shells just beyond our bulkhead), accompanied by our dogs who adore swimming but detest the horseflies that pester them.
We pick crabs on the porch and shuck oysters right from the Tom’s Cove loading dock. We feast on generous platters of seafood from Ray’s Shanty or enjoy takeout from Captain Zack’s while gazing out at the water.
We alternate between lounging on the beach, basking in the sun like lizards until we grow too warm and must plunge into the water. Victory is ours when a day at the beach ends without any seagulls pilfering our carefully prepared sandwiches.
In the evenings, we sit on the back porch, savoring the sunsets. All of the sunsets!
While we maintain our cherished traditions in Chincoteague, we also embrace the possibility of forging new memories during each visit. It’s the opportunity to create fresh summer memories that I eagerly anticipate, especially as another August fades into the rearview mirror.
