Jim worked on the blog this morning and then we
left camp. We had breakfast at
McDonald’s. We drove about an hour away
to Assateague National Seashore. The
island has a herd of wild horses. They are feral descendants of domestic
animals. They have shorter legs and
have bloated bodies. They eat poor
quality food full of salt and then drink more fresh water than normal
horses. Folklore describes them as
survivors of a shipwreck off the coast of Virginia. The most likely story is they are descendants of horses brought
to the island to avoid fencing laws and taxation of livestock. They are split into two main herds. One in Maryland managed by the National Park
Service and one in Virginia is managed by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire
Department. The Maryland herd is left
to fend for themselves except for a yearly dart of contraception. The Virginia herd has their food
supplemented and normal care. The foals
are rounded up every year and sold.
There are few places in the U.S. where you can observe horses in the
wild, mostly in Nevada.
We took our chairs to the beach and watched
people play in the surf and took a stroll down the beach in the water. After leaving Assateague we drove to Ocean
City and went to three breweries -- Backshore Brewing, Ocean City Brewing and
Assawoman Bay Brewing. We visited one
in Berlin, Burley Oaks Brewing, and one in Parsonburg, Tall Tales Brewing. Then we stopped at 3rd Wave Brewing in
Delmar again before returning back to the Casita. I cooked penne with pumpkin and Italian sausage tonight for
supper.
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