Beachin' it... again

We sure have had our fill of the beach this summer... I guess it makes up for us moving away from it, a little. My whole family was able to make it for a short week stay at my parents friends' cottage in Chincoteague, VA. The beach itself is on Assateague Island National Seashore, connected to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. I grew up vacationing with my family at this beautiful, remote (more so back then) place and my parents are entering their 36th year or so of visiting. I recall one summer we went there seven times so I guess my beach-filled summers started young.
All the cousins...Danielle, Grant, Braden, Olivia, Robert...Uncle Kevin was a champ at braving the cold water (hey, compared to FL water it was COLD) to hang with the kids. Too bad he didn't realize Olivia loves the ocean and isn't an easy one to manage in the water. I'm pretty sure he wasn't having as much fun as they were.For a place with almost nothing there, there is much to do... if you enjoy hanging out with nature. And nature comes in a variety of forms. When I was about 10 yrs old, on one of our extended hikes to remote areas of the beach, my friend and I happened upon a topless woman. We were mildly humored by this but thought no more of it. A bit later we were passed by two jogging topless women (ouch!). We started to think about this a bit more when were exposed to a man coming over the dunes in nothing but hat and sunglasses. At this point we realized we had entered a place we probably weren't meant to be. Hmmm, exactly where did Assateague get its name from anyway?? Since that time, public nudity was made illegal but people still do it all the time. In fact, this past week there was an article about a couple who was charged. And as it turns out, this couple owns a resort on the border of Mexico and Belize that Don and I have been to - Playa Sonrisa - a clothing optional resort. HOWEVER, during our visit it was El Caracol, not Playa Sonrisa, and it was not clothing optional.
So, if you are a nature lover of all kinds, Assateague is for you.

Now for some nature photos of the non-human kind.

Coquina clams were a big hit. Note the muscular foot extended out of the middle one...Thousands of them lie just below the surface and just as the pounding surf exposes them, they immediately burrow back in.Check out the footage...unfortunately the quality didn't transfer when uploaded, but you get the idea.


A crab...Don and Kevin went clamming across the dunes, bayside. They got all of one...Hey, how'd this nudist get in here! It appears Danielle wanted to keep with the island tradition...