Day 3, November 23, 2014:
After a restful night sleep at the Waterside Inn, Chincoteague Island, VA (highly recommend staying here), I pack and head back to Assateague Island, VA once more to see the wild ponies. Stopping by the Refuge Visitor’s Center the day before I picked up a brochure on the hiking trails: Assateague VA, trail map
I decide on the Woodland Trail since it’s fairly short about a mile or so and has a good viewing site of the ponies. I can see them in the distance grazing on the salty marshland grasses. It’s amazing they can survive out here without falling into the water or mud and drowning.
Wild ponies grazing on saltwater marsh grasses
I watch them for about half hour then head back to the car for the second leg of my journey: Nags Head is an afterthought. I was originally going to go from Virginia to Stanford, NC but at the last-minute decided to detour to the North Carolina Coast. Once again relying on Trip Advisor & Yelp I find another place to stay, First Colony Inn, Inn on Nags Head. So I book it. Since it’s off-season, rooms are available on short notice.
According to MapQuest, the drive is about 3.5 hours and I will need to cross the Chesapeake Bay bridge/tunnel. I’ve never had an issue with bridges until today. Everything is fine until I am on the bridge and I start to have a massive panic attack. I keep envisioning my car careening through the guard rail into the ocean. You can see the water through the guard rails and my peripheral vision saw the water whipping through the rails which freaks me out. All I want to do is STOP, but I can’t. My heart is racing and I feel as though I’m having a hypo glucose attack.
“Calm down” I tell myself as my hands grip the wheel. I see a tunnel ahead. As I enter, a tractor-trailer is barreling towards me from the other direction. A double yellow line is the only thing that separates us. I hold my breath. He passes me. It’s a convoy. Another one is coming and another, My hands are clammy and my heart is racing.
“Come on you can do this. Breathe.” For miles this goes on and the panic attack lingers. Finally I can see land. The coast is clear. Relief.
This is the worse panic attack I’ve ever had. I know I wasn’t going to die but tell that to my panic attack. According to Wikipedia, Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel it’s 23 miles long. A friend told me it was only 7 miles long. Good thing I didn’t know the actual length. I have no desire to drive over it again.
I give myself a good pat on the back and continue driving until I arrive in Nags Head, NC. It reminds me of Cape Cod. It’s close to 4pm when I arrive at the First Colony Inn.
First Colony Inn
It exudes southern charm and hospitality. I love the Architecture with the Arts & Craftsman style feel. Large wrap around porches are to be enjoyed; sit back and relax attitude. The beach is a block away and is walking distance through trodden sandy paths.
The ocean is calling me, it’s in the low 50’s much warmer than Virginia but still blustery. I walk along the shore under Jennette’s Pier, Nag Head, NC
The Pier at Nags Head
past an ugly concrete building aka hotel. All I can think is how the town of Nags Head allowed such an ugly building to be built on such a lovely seashore?
What were they thinking? First place for most Ugly building award
I ponder this question as I walk back along the beach to the hotel looking for a place to have a nice quiet dinner. I choose South Beach Grill because it has good reviews and is walking distance to my hotel. I had a light grilled chicken salad and for dessert I splurge; on their chocolate mousse pie. What a wonderful way to end the day.
Chocolate mouse pie: heavenly
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