Living porpoise-fully

I ran away for a long weekend, which I have to admit was certainly a wonderful respite from daily life and routines. Last week was a stressful one, as I submitted the first stats homework assignment and took a quiz for that class. As well, work is picking up as we get closer to a Scholars' signature event, called Service Day (we send our 900 freshmen into the community - to about 22 different work sites - for a day of cleaning parks, harvesting crops, painting, etc.). I've been missing quiet time, and I was ready for a break from routine.

Back in February, my cousin Adam bid on a beach house (see above pic) for a week on Chincoteague Island in Virginia. He got the house in an auction benefiting his nonprofit agency, and for the past several months he's been inviting friends and family to come out for vacation. Well, long story short, I was able to join the group on Friday through Sunday. During our time there, we stayed right on the marsh lands (that means there were tons of mosquitos), in a three-bedroom, three-bathroom vacation home. It was merely a brief trip down the Chincoteague strip - complete with mini-golf courses, ice cream shops, and veritable cornucopia of t-shirt shops - and then we were at the Chicoteague National Wildlife Refuge. There we found bike trails, ranger programs, and a fantastic beach. Mostly, we just did the beach thing :)

Some interesting information about Chincoteague... It's an island off the Virginia/Maryland coasts. Actually, the states literally split it in half. As well, Chincoteague is the populated island, and it's sister island, Assateague, houses the wildlife refuge. The refuge itself is predominantly notable for one thing: wild ponies. No one is quite sure how wild ponies (slightly smaller than average horses) wound up on the islands, but they are jointly cared for by the fire department on Chincoteague and the park service. Clearly, I was ecstatic to see ponies! In fact, the famous, annual pony swim (where the herd of 200 ponies is driven across the Assateague Channel to Chincoteague; some ponies are then auctioned off to benefit the fire dept.) occurred the the two days before I arrived. Anyway, each time we drove onto the refuge, we saw the wild ponies - sometimes close up, but mostly from a distance.

Another awesome experience also occurred at the beach. My aunt, cousin's girlfriend, and I went out in the early evening on day to sit on the beach, and we saw a girl catch a ray (a flat fish, closely related to sharks; most people have heard of stingrays or manta rays) while fishing. She eventually let it go, but it was very neat to see up close while it was on the hook.

And, finally, the most fantastic part of the trip (barring, of course, spending time with family and some of Adam's friends) happened on Sunday. My aunt and I ventured out on large inner tubes beyond the breaking waves in the Atlantic Ocean. We would just float until the waves swept us back to shore, usually flipping the tubes over when waves broke on us. I'd been out there several times during the few days at the beach, and I'd seen some pelicans up close and my cousin's girlfriend (who fortunately is a doctor working as a resident at Hopkins) was stung by a jellyfish. So, when little bubbles and splashes started occuring around us, I nearly freaked out. I thought maybe there were fish jumping or something. But, then we saw them - the dorsal fins protruding from the water. And, then, about 15 porpoises surfaced around us. I mean, these creatures were within 2 yards of me in my tube. I'm pretty sure they swam right under me, since from where they came up I was directly in their path. But, it was one of the most incredible things. They were so majestic and playful as they popped up from beneath the water's surface around us. Now, I am not a marine biologist, so when I say "porpoise" I mean these creatures could have been one of two things - bottle-nosed porpoises or normal dolphins. But, they were very dark colored (nearly black) with white stripes or splotches along their bodies. Simply amazing.

That unparalleled experience was a great end to the weekend. Sun, fun, relaxing, and memorable.