Assaateague - where to stay?

Old Sep 9th, 2007, 10:37 AM
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Assaateague - where to stay?

Planning an October road trip from New York to Assateague. Recommendations for accommodations would be greatly appreciated. Depending on your suggestions we would stay in Maryland, Virginia, or divide our time between both.

My husband and I are looking for peace, quiet, biking, long beach walks, we usually stay in B&B's or smaller places with lots of atmosphere, we like to stay in places that don't cater to families with children, would love to stay by the water. Price range $200 or so.

Also, any suggestions and interesting helpful tips for experiencing Assateague? Is it too cold to swim in October?

Thanks to Fodors experts we have been able to piece together interesting trips that we never would have been able to do on our own.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Happy trails,
Aranda


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Old Sep 9th, 2007, 05:09 PM
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A few years back my husband and I took an early October trip from NJ to Annapolis and then Assateague. For accomodations we stayed in Chincoteaague and found it to be very low key and quiet. Maybe a little too quiet as many of the shops and restaurants were either closed for the season or had limited hours.

We ended up staying in the Comfort Suites Hotel. It was new, quiet and very clean and of course a generic hotel in every way except for one thing: every room had a view of the water and it was mezmerizing...really a very memorable site for me.
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Old Sep 9th, 2007, 05:21 PM
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Being from IN/MI I had never heard of Assateague until last week - and now I'm readying about it on Fodors. Amazing! I checked out a library book with my 7 yr old niece about the horses on Assateague Island. It is a National Geographic book about the wild horses on the island - and how no one really knows where they came from, but they "frolic on the island". It sounded so beautiful that I've made it a point to visit myself. I would love to hear more about it from others that have been there.
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Old Sep 9th, 2007, 06:45 PM
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Funny coincidence, as we only heard of it for the first time 2 weeks ago today...
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Old Sep 9th, 2007, 06:59 PM
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There is a series of books that young girls devour (well, mine did--but they are now in the 30s-40s)--"Misty", "Stormy" by Marguerite Henry. If you're going--check them out.
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Old Sep 10th, 2007, 04:05 AM
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Many, many years ago we stayed in Chincoteague at the B&B where Marguerite Henry wrote Misty, called Miss Molly's Inn. Rooms are in your price range. Friends of ours have stayed at the Watson House B&B and were happy with it. Chincoteague is right next to Assateague.
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Old Sep 10th, 2007, 04:38 AM
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As you mentioned in your original post, there are two possibilities for you: Maryland or Virginia. The two portions of the park are fairly distant from each other and cannot be traversed unless you are backpacking or boating.

In Maryland your lodging possibilities will be in Ocean City MD which is very commercial or Berlin or Snow Hill where you will find small inns or B&B's. The MD portion of the national park is smaller with less opportunities for hiking and biking in the park. The area around it, though, is gorgeous with beautiful country roads, interesting museums, and cute towns.

The Virginia portion of the park has some long biking and hiking trails. Chincoteague is the closest town. It is a cute town that is a little more commercial than Snow Hill or Berlin. I can't tell you any more about the area since I'm usually flying by it on Rt 13. Are you thinking of taking the ferry to Lewes? That would be my recommendation.
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Old Sep 10th, 2007, 05:28 PM
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Thanks everyone for all this valuable information. We will be checking all your suggestions for accommodations and activities. As usual the Fodor's experts know more about traveling than any other travel information source!

Birdie, I'm not sure about the ferry from Lewes, or any other ferry for that matter. I'm just starting to do the road mapping portion of this trip, so any suggestions on the drive (we'll be coming from New York) would be appreciated.

Take care and deep peace to all,
Aranda
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Old Sep 10th, 2007, 06:07 PM
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If you go down the Garden State Parkway you can take the ferry from Cape May to Lewes and then 24 to 113 to 13. It is a relaxing and pretty trip. Much better than going through DC.
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Old Sep 11th, 2007, 05:03 AM
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I usually visit Assateague to "see the ponies", as a day trip from Rehoboth, Delaware. Since the ocean side of the Assateague / Chincoteague barrier island is protected park land (Maryland and NPS), there's no place to stay right on the ocean. I'm not aware of any B&B's in the small towns on the bay near the Maryland side - agree that to be on the ocean in Maryland, you'd need to be in Ocean City - which is full of high rises - but not crowded in October. As mentioned above Berlin, and Snow Hill Maryland are much more quaint, but not on the ocean. Snow Hill is on the Pokemoke (sp) river, with some nice kayaking though a beautiful stand of Cypress trees -lots of osprey nesting here too.

Staying in Chincoteague takes a longer drive, but you can stay on the bayside of the island. We stayed at the Island Motor Inn a few years ago- not fancy, but clean with great sunsets over the bay. http://www.islandmotorinn.com/

You might want to take a look at Lewes, DE as a place to stay. Its a small historic beach town, you could do a day trip to Assateague from here. There are lots of bike trails in Cape Henlopen State Park, and a new 8 mile trail that connects Lewes to Rehoboth. The Inn at Canal Square is a very nice place to stay and rates usually go down in October.
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Old Sep 11th, 2007, 05:23 AM
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First of all, for this itinerary there is absolutely no reason to "go through DC" and depending upon where you are coming from AND what you want to do first (the beach or Annapolis) that may, more than anything else, help determine your route.

If you are going to Annapolis first then the fastest way would be to come down 95, head to Annapolis, and then take 50 over the Bay Bridge and south.

If the beach is first, then yes, the GSP to Cape May and the ferry over to Lewes seems more appropriate.
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Old Sep 11th, 2007, 08:54 AM
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We go to the Maryland side of Assateague all the time. In fact, we just got back from a long weekend camping trip with a bunch of family members.) We've been to Assateague several times in October. It's usually a beautiful time to go - mild weather, no crowds. Whether you can swim or not depends on your tolerance for cold and rough water. While the water temperature may not be freezing, the air will probably be chilly. I guess it's possible to swim, but I don't remember ever seeing anyone in the water. I don't recommend it. There won't be any lifeguards at either of the Maryland-side parks (probably not in Virginia either, but I don't know that for sure).

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Old Sep 12th, 2007, 03:46 PM
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Great info, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Aranda
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