JULY/AUGUST 2005

More Than a One-Horse Town

Chincoteague's famous ponies bring the tourists every summer, but its small-town heart beats all year long.

Written By Donna Bozza
Photography By Scott Suchman

I’ve been to Chincoteague countless times, but this is my first true stay. Usually I leapfrog over this town, famed for its annual pony swim, to get to its au naturel cousin, Assateague Island, where the ponies actually live. But this time I’m taking time to smell the saltwater —and the saltwater taffy, homemade at a little shop called (what else?) Pony Tails.

Located off the northern end of Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Chincoteague (pronounced Shink’ a-tig) is American Indian for “beautiful land across the water.” The two-lane, four-plus-mile causeway leading to the island (itself only seven miles long by one-and-a-half miles wide) careens over serene creeks and emerald marshes. A line of billboards rise up from the shallow mudflats, touting Mr. Whippy’s Ice Cream Parlor, Fox and Holston Funeral Home, Inlet View Go Carts. Admittedly, the kitschy, wooden signs are a blemish on the island’s natural beauty, yet I enjoy their small-town quirkiness as I cruise toward the village.

Crossing the drawbridge, I’m immediately deposited into a small downtown amidst a slow stream of cars.

A handful of rented motor scooters revved by impatient youths await the shorts-clad traffic cop’s wave. The hustle and bustle is a bit jarring for those of us used to the Shore’s sleepy hamlets. Chincoteague, with its 4,500 residents, is also this rural peninsula’s most touristy town.

Many folks who visit the island make a beeline to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (on Assateague, actually), the fourth most heavily visited refuge in the country. But this time, I stick to Main Street, dotted with quaint storefronts, tourist-trap T-shirt shops, family-owned hotels, and seafood restaurants. Finally, the line of storefronts opens up to views of Chincoteague Bay.

The small, rustic Capt. Bob’s Marina evokes the old town. Here, a pair of lanky teenage boys sell squid bait and rent out boats to tourists; most of the island kids work the tourist trade, they tell me. “It’s a great place to be raised, but you gotta make your own fun,” says Traise Rawlings, seventeen, who moved here with his Coast Guard family in the third grade.

Chincoteague His cohort, Clayton Tye, also seventeen, instructs a British family on how to sail their rented pontoon boat, then waits until they are out of earshot to speak. “A couple of times we have had to go out and get them [tourists],” he says with polite bemusement. “Things have really built up in the last few years,” adds Tye. “We live across from two hotels, and in the summer we can’t get out of the driveway.”

The popularity is due in large part to the annual Chincoteague Pony Penning. The modern version of the eighteenth-century harnessing ritual, in which ponies swim across the channel to be auctioned off, began in 1925. It was immortalized in Marguerite Henry’s 1947 children’s book, Misty of Chincoteague, a tale about an actual island pony. In 1960, the movie version was filmed right here.

The island’s first settlers arrived in 1671, and Chincoteague and Assateague islands served as free-roaming ranges for their livestock. Many believe that the present day ponies originated from this domestic stock. But the legends are much more colorful, such as the claim that the ponies are descendants of horses that swam ashore from the wreck of a Spanish galleon.

By 1831, the population had grown to five hundred from the original sixty. Land for farming and livestock became scarce, so islanders turned to the tides for their livelihoods. By the 1850s, Chincoteague had a school, two churches, a post office, and a doctor.

During the Civil War, the island rebelled against the rest of the state and voted to stay in the Union. As the story goes, the government rewarded the act: Chincoteague watermen were issued passes to supply oysters to Northern ports —fish markets of New York City advertised them as “Patriotic Chincoteague Oysters.”

As the century turned, Chincoteague prospered, especially with the coming of the railroad on the mainland opposite the island, at Franklin City, opening up more markets; the island was incorporated in 1908. Fourteen years later, Chincoteague’s isolation ended when the causeway was completed. When devastating fires burned much of the downtown, the town realized it needed to establish a modern fire company. A couple of years later, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, along with the annual Pony Penning auction and fundraiser, was born.

Chincoteague Despite the tourist appeal, this is a place to settle down. Houses on the island are a hodgepodge of traditional island homes, with screened Southern porches, plain-Jane bungalows, pricey marsh-view townhouses, and sprawling waterfront homes.

The spinning red, white, and blue pole of Bob’s Barbershop signals a real hometown feel. The stocky, silver-haired barber, Bob Potter, wearing jeans and Reebok sneakers, keeps the hair and conversation flying as he works beneath a mounted deer head, black velvet painting of Jesus, and several dusty obligatory pictures of the ponies.

The fifty-two-year-old Georgia native has had his shop for twenty-two years. He’s the barber of choice not just for islanders but tourists, many who stop by each summer. “When I came here thirty years ago, it was like stepping back in time,” he says. “Sure we’ve had changes, but what doesn’t change on the island are the people. These are real down-home folks who stick with you when times get hard.”

Chincoteague He knows. In 1990, neighbors sustained him and his business —even pitched in with yard work —when a neck problem put him out for three months.

His shop is bordered by an assortment of unique stores —hawking everything from kites to crafts to beach attire. The aptly named Decoys, Decoys, Decoys contains an amazing flock of primitive as well as highly decorative carvings, some 2,500 from a hundred different artisans; they range in price from $25 to $30,000. Owner Yvonne Bowden, whose father was first cousin to master carvers Lem and Steve Ward, says, “People tell me I ought to charge admission —it’s like a museum.”

The shelves also spill over at Hot Stuff, a quirky little store tucked behind Main Street’s Muller’s Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Parlour, where you can spice up your life with more than 500 gourmet hot sauces, salsas, barbecue sauces, and dips. There is no escaping the island’s mascots here; this is the home of “Wild Pony Hot Sauce, the sauce that bites and kicks.” Don’t miss Muller’s wall of vintage ice cream scoops and 1875 gingerbread porch, the perfect spot for diving into their wonderful fresh peach sundaes.

Things take an imaginative turn at Egret Moon Artworks, where giant sunflowers lord it over a picket fence bedecked with real baby-shoe planters. Owner Megan Willer is the kind of artist who sees the creative possibilities of nature shining down on modern supermarket-chic in her “Moon over Meatland.” Dozens of fellow artists contribute to the mix, with dragonfly-adorned painted tables and mermaid floor cloths, whimsically illustrated island “maps,” and pony pottery. “I love the island, its honesty and safe feeling,” says Willer, a Florida transplant. “The stress level is so low.”

Be sure to catch Nancy Richards West, chosen in 2004 to be the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge’s Resident Artist, in her element —canvas-deep in marsh mud. The tousle-haired silver blonde owns Island Arts, a gallery filled with her original pastels, oil paintings, and prints of local landscapes and ethereal shore birds.

Antique shops to poke through include Duck, Duck, Goose, with an interesting mix of collectibles and carvings, and Reflections On the Creek, where oldies but goodies run the gamut from vintage chandeliers to cuckoo clock weights.

On the quieter end of Main Street, I find Miss Molly’s Inn, chock- full of the ornate furnishings of the era. I wish I had discovered this 1886 Victorian charmer in time to spend the night. Its claim to local fame is its long-ago guest, author Marguerite Henry, who constructed the plot of Misty of Chincoteague while rocking on the porch with Miss Molly herself.

Accommodations are plentiful on this vacationer-friendly isle, and family-owned motels offer some of the best places to rest up. Notable is the Island Motor Inn Resort, sitting pretty on Chincoteague Channel with plenty of upscale amenities. You might do a double take on the adjoining corners of Poplar and Main streets, where twin 1874 bed and breakfast inns with matching genteel gingerbread offer guests Victorian opulence and modern day comforts: The Watson House B&B and the Inn at Poplar Corner.

Lunch beckons, so I head straight to what has to be a surprise for a small Southern town, Saigon Village, a simple eight-table Vietnamese restaurant that also serves Thai dishes. Owner Cari Nguyen, who hails from Vietnam, steers me to her popular appetizer, Vietnamese tofu rice paper roll. Nguyen insists I return again for her signature stir-fried eggplant shrimp. Since this shrimp/pork/vegetable confection is so tasty, especially with its special peanut dipping sauce, I’m tempted to make dinner plans…

But I’m anxious to try something else. Dinnertime finds me at the Village Restaurant, another none-too-fancy eatery perched aside a small creek, a locals’ favorite for its fresh seafood in a comfortable laid-back atmosphere. Can’t go wrong with scallops or crabs right off the island’s docks, and I take my waitress’s tip that their crab imperial has passed the stringent test of many an islander. (They even offer a generous dollop as a side dish for $5.)

The quaint 1945 Island Roxy Theatre is the ideal ending for dinner and a movie. No multiplex madness, its pink and green façade and art deco marquee signals a good old-fashioned time.

As I leave the smell of popcorn behind me, I notice in front of the box office a pair of famous hoof marks embedded in concrete (a la Grauman’s Chinese Theatre). I have to chuckle at this “one-horse town,” for here, too, Misty has left her mark.

Donna Bozza writes from her home in Cape Charles, Va.

Locals’ Guide to Chincoteague

Big Splash
Witness what started it all at the 80th annual Pony Swim & Auction July 27 and 28, along with the old-fashioned fun of the Firemen’s Carnival, which runs every weekend in July. For information, contact the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce, 757- 336-6161 or http://www.chincoteaguechamber.com.

The Right Stuffed
Misty and her foal Stormy “live” on, preserved (yes, they’re stuffed) at the old Beebe Ranch right down the road, along-side old photos and memorabilia. Open for tours, July-September. 3062 Ridge Rd. 757-336-6520.

Love Shack
The funky shack known as Sea Star Cafe Gourmet Carryout whips up a long list of vegetarian fare: specialty sandwiches, salads, soups, pasta, as well as French baguettes and sweets, perfect for a healthy beach picnic. (Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.) 4121 Main St. 757-336-5442.

Light Hike
At the wildlife refuge, view Chincoteague from the clouds atop the 142-foot tall Assateague Lighthouse. Open Friday through Sunday until Thanksgiving, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge History Association. 757-336-3696 or http://www.assateague.org/plover.