Over the weekend my husband and I took a trip to my in-law who recently moved to the Virginian Eastern Shore. Basically untouched by much of the modern world, the Eastern Shore of Virginia still holds the simple charm of days long gone. A skinny peninsula off the atlantic coast, it’s scattered with beautiful farmlands, forests, and coastline ripe with wildlife. The drive down is peaceful with the occasional traffic signal and towns consisting of a couple of run down houses and farm stands. If you get the chance and need a quick caffeine stop, head to Rise- Up Coffee in Easton, VA. Organic, small batch coffee roasters Rise-Up coffee company is way better than your Starbucks and its local! My In-laws introduced us to this place, and its delicious.
We took some time to explore the coast on a misty Saturday morning at the Savage Neck Dunes located at the southwest end of the peninsula. A nature sanctuary, the dunes are home to many of the coastal birds and the tiger beetle, an endangered species nearly wiped out by the build up of the northern coastline. Its a beautiful coastline and unlike many of the beaches today, its relatively untouched. Inland, the nature preserve is quiet and home to Custis Pond, a three acre body of water filled with many kinds frogs and turtles. With lots of trails through the thick, relatively young forest make it the perfect place to hike.
Next Stop: Chincoteague Island
Another popular stop on the Eastern Shore is the ever famous Chincoteague Island. Chincoteague has captured the imagination of Americans for generations and few places like it still exist. Now a national park, you can explore this horse inhabited coastline for an affordable eight dollar day pass, hiking or biking trails and seeing ponies along the way. A life goal of my husband and I is to visit as many National parks as possible and to commemorate each visit we started collecting patches from each park. Collecting things from trips are a good way to remember where you’ve been and to encourage you to keep going. One thing I know for sure is that the Virginian Eastern shore is quickly becoming one of our favorite places. It’s beauty is un-parralled and every time a go there its always different. It has so much history that I didn’t even know about and tons of cool wildlife. If you have a weekend and you live close the Eastern Shore, take advantage of it and travel down to hike its natural wonders and explore its rich history.
Jonny B says
Hi Bethany and Will! Love you
Jackie says
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing. It’s great to hear of your adventures too. Hugs