rivka

Saturday night we fell into conversation with another family in line at the ice cream shop. The woman told me she'd seen us at the beach in the afternoon: "Your daughter was running and playing. Your husband came up and gave you a hug, and the baby was resting his head on your shoulder... it was such a beautiful family moment."

Yeah. It was.

Saturday afternoon we had near-perfect beach weather. It was around 80 degrees, with a steady wind to keep us cool. The Atlantic was, of course, freezing, but we got wet up to the knees - or, unintentionally, higher - enjoying the surge and pull of the waves and looking for shells at the water's edge. Sunday was much colder. We tried the beach in the morning but were driven back by the fiercely cold wind. Sunday afternoon was still a bit chilly but we enjoyed the beach anyway. Wearing sweaters.

I wasn't sure what Colin would make of the beach. He loved it. He wandered across the sand, bending down at random points to pick up handfuls or scratch holes with his fingers. He toddled at the water's edge and got his feet and ankles wet, but the pull of the receding waves seemed to bother him. At one point I held him nestled against my shoulder as the waves came in over my ankles, and he laughed at the sight of each wave.

We ate breakfasts and lunches in our townhouse, and had two excellent dinners out. Saturday night I had a giant steamed platter: crabs, shrimp, oysters, clams, red potatoes, and corn on the cob. And a mango daquiri. We ordered Alex a basket of crab claws because she really, really wanted them, but she discovered that it was too much work. She loved our clams, though, and the sweet potato biscuits. Sunday night we had a fantastic Vietnamese dinner. Somewhere on this trip we gave up on the idea of waiting until Colin is two to introduce shellfish.

Chincoteague is a lovely little town. There aren't any big high-rise hotels; it's not built to pack and process vast quantities of vacationers the way Ocean City is. Visiting before the high season meant that everywhere we went was peaceful and uncrowded.

When we go back I'd like to take greater advantage of the naturalist programs on Assateague. We saw more herons, egrets, and ibises than I could count, as well as sandpipers and laughing gulls on the beach itself and of course the wild horses.

We forgot to give Alex her travel sickness medicine before we left for home. When she reminded us, she neglected to say that the reason she thought of it was that she was already nauseated, so we were taken completely by surprise when, a few minutes after taking it, she threw up. She had some harrowing sick moments and threw up again before the second dose we gave her finally kicked in. Poor thing. She was a real trouper about it all. Mercifully Colin slept for the whole first half of the trip when Alex needed intensive help, and then she perked up and felt better during the second half of the trip, when he was awake and needed to be entertained.

Even with the difficult drive back, it was still an awesome weekend.