Two Days After Chincoteague's Pony Penning '09

The ponies are gone. I missed the auction but what ponies that didn't sell were taken back to Assateague today to run free and wild as nature intended. I'm sure a few of them if not all were a bit shaken up from the experience and I'm hoping they are very adaptable.

Tourists are still here, but they'll weed out in another week and it will be almost like it was before summer tourist season started.

I talk about tourists like they're the most annoying things but I guess there must be some good points of having them here. I would say for the local businesses but if you look really closely, most businesses are owned by people who cater to the tourists because once the tourists leave, the shops close up which is confusing to me. It's like they don't care about the locals or maybe it's a money thing.

There are a few that stay open - the local grocery store, the post office of course, a few convenience stores. Dollar General stays open as do a few restaurants like Bill's (my favorite). Bill's Restaurant is located on Main Street and maybe my taste palates are different from yours but that food is the bomb. I can get a pound of large steamed shrimp for $11.00 which I often take home and eat out on the deck. There's a McDonald's of course and there's a pharmacy and maybe a few other businesses but the surf stores all close down.

AJ's stays open all year round but I honestly can say I've never been there. Oh yes, Don's is open all year round but it's been a long time since I've been in there, too. I stick mainly to Bill's. You can't go wrong.

When summer ends, the island reverts back to the locals. We have a few tourists that try to get in one last vacation trip before school starts and of course there are the bird watchers who descend upon the island in the fall.

But, it's great. No more sharing your dock. I can walk the dog in peace without kids yelling from the balconies, "Here doggie doggie!" Pfft.

It goes back to being paradise.

I'm sitting in my office right now. It's on the 3rd floor of our condo and a room all my own. I cut the air off for a little while and opened the window to hear the thunderstorm slowly making its way across the island. You can hear the thunder in the distance and the rain pellets dancing in the marsh weeds. The smell you wish you could bottle up forever.

It's peaceful.

I have a few more pony pictures to show you that my daughter and son took before they sent the unsold ponies packing, but I want you to see these beautiful creatures. This is after the ponies arrived at the carnival grounds and before the auction.

Enjoy!