Assateague

We just got back from 5 days in Ocean City, MD. Of course I can't go to the beach without a visit to Assateague Island. When I hopped out of the car to photograph a pony, this doe jumped out of nowhere, right into the shot! You can't believe how excited I was! 

An adorable little foal and his mom hanging out by the road.

Ponies, ponies everywhere. Evening seems to be the best time to go.

The wildflowers and dragon flies were also pretty.

Unfortunately my camera broke right after this last shots.

Assateague Adventure

While in Ocean City, MD this week, we went on the Assateague Adventure tour. I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting the area, especially with kids. Here's a little sampling of what we saw...

Great views of the waterways around OC.

Multi-million dollar vacation homes. I could easily retire here!

We learned about all the different types of seafood each boat catches.

Two huge boats catch most of the clams for Campbell's clam chowder.

We were able to get off the boat on Assateague to look for animals.

Given nets to catch small fish and crabs.

On board the children were handed sea creatures to take around to show the adults.

Zoe loved this starfish.

We were lucky enough to spot some beautiful wild ponies.

Love the reflection!

I may have to break out the oils and make a painting.

Looks like the life, doesn't it?

 

Farewell to the setting sun.

“The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”

--Jacques Cousteau

Silent Sunday: Assateague Island Ponies

Photos taken 3/21/2010.

Click on image for a larger view.

Back from the Beach

Just returned from 6 lovely days at the beach! We had a ton of fun, well, except for the biting flies on Assateague, sunburn and over priced mediocre food (I know, I'm cheap and picky). Hey, I can't complain - it was vacation!
And it rained a bunch at home so all my flowers and veggies were happy.



My daughter Zoe, singing to the ocean. This was too cute not to share!


Why do I look so grumpy on the ferris wheel? Maybe because I hate paying so much for such a short ride.
The townhouse we stayed at is in the background on the bay side of Ocean City, MD.


This is the closest I got to a pony on the beach! I love this carousel though.


See how far away the wild ponies were. Guess they knew where to get away from the biting flies.


Here's how close I got last year!

I'm way behind on everything. Please be patient with me if you recently sent me an email.

Back from the beach...

When I'm on vacation my two favorite things to see are native animals and art.
The artwork that was my absolute favorite was a 1902 fully restored Herschell-Spillman carousel with 45 hand carved wooden animals of all shapes and sizes. The horses even had real horse hair tails! It is one of the oldest in the United States.
My 2 1/2 year old daughter was fascinated with the sea dragon and had to ride it twice despite my urging to try one of the animals that went up and down.

This gorgeous piece of history is housed in the Trimper
Amusement Park at the begining of the Ocean City, MD boardwalk.










The two other fun things at the beach are wild ponies on Assateague and sea gulls. I think I must be the only person that loves seagulls but I get a big kick out of feeding them and listening to their calls. I didn't have much time to spend with the ponies but I caught a glimpse of these two young stallions by the water.








Okay, now that the fun is over I am back to painting on Monday!
Jen