Assateague was great!

September 8th, 2010 Posted by Jessica. Published under DIY Sustainable Living, Gear + Product Review, Mini-Adventure. 2 Comments.

As Rachel mentioned in our last post, whether or not our vacation was a success is largely up for debate.  I’m also a realist– but I do like to think I try really hard to make the best out of any situation.  That said, I think Rachel and I are very nearly anemic due to the blood loss from the millions of mosquitoes we were assaulted by last week.  If I weren’t a vegetarian for the last five years, I’d definitely be eating a big bloody steak right about now.  However, I sternly maintain that the trip wasn’t a total bust.  It was my first vacation in almost two years!  Even if I have to completely reconstruct my memory to block out the mosquitoes and burrs (Sharp burrs!  Everywhere!  On my shoes!  Stuck to my fingers!  In my bike tires!!), I’m going to enjoy the (possibly false) memory of my trip, damnit!

So here’s what’s going to be in the history book:

• Yes, there were an ungodly number of mosquitoes.  BUT, Rachel’s catnip/vinegar bug spray concoction worked really well.  I saw people spraying themselves all over with Off bug repellent to absolutely no avail.  Rachel and I had to reapply often, but once the spray soaked into our skin we were virtually invisible to mosquitoes for about 20 minutes.  We just didn’t bring enough of the spray and our spray bottle got clogged with catnip leaves.  In the future we will make sure to strain out the catnip leaves before we pour it in a spray bottle.
• Rachel and I both survived practicing riding our bikes with clipless pedals.
• We ate some really great camp food!  Recipes coming soon!
• The beach was awesome!  We spent a few hours on the beach our second day and the water was warm, but way too rough to get in past your ankles without getting knocked over by a hurricane Earl tidal wave.  BUT, Rachel finally got her pirate kite to fly after a few adjustments to the original design– what an engineer!
• I didn’t get sunburned at all.
• We paid a mere $14 to go to a cheesy water park to escape the blazing heat, but it turned out to be a lot of fun and raised our spirits considerably.
• We went sea kayaking and saw a lot of fish jumping out of the water.  Also, Rachel has big paddling guns and totally outrowed me the entire time.
• Horses!  I have to be honest here: I never went through a “horse phase” when I was a kid.  In fourth grade when all of my other friends were begging their parents for riding lessons and eagerly collecting Grand Champions, I was downright appalled at the idea of riding a giant animal that could go to the bathroom and walk at the same time.  Instead I imagined living in a house surrounded by wall-to-wall tropical fish tanks and begged my parents to get a swimming pool for the back yard so we could get a killer whale I could ride like in Free Willy.  Anyway!  The wild horses were awesome!  I liked how messy their manes were and I loved how they were pretty much just hanging out everywhere.  On our second night camping I excitedly woke up to see a big brown horse eating grass within a few feet of our tent at about 3am.
• Rachel bought a book detailing all 391 of America’s national parks– time to start checking them off.
• When we were “evacuated” to Baltimore and DC, we visited Fort McHenry– the battle site where the Star Spangled Banner was written.  The park ranger who led the tour around the fort was amazing.
• Our parents are fantastic people and donated their hotel points to us so we stayed in a Marriott Courtyard and a Hayatt Place and didn’t have to pay for anything.
• We also visited the American Smithsonian museum and saw, among many other interesting historical artifacts: Abe Lincoln’s life mask, Kermit the Frog, Dorothy’s ruby slippers, Julia Child’s kitchen, and the Greensboro Woolworth’s lunch counter.
• Rachel took some really awesome photos.  I purposefully didn’t bring my camera so I could just email Rachel’s photos to my parents.
• I saw a high school friend I hadn’t seen in five years and a college friend I hadn’t seen in four– it was fantastic to catch up!
• And we got a personal tour of Capitol Hill by said high school friend who now works for Representative Lincoln Davis.
• Rachel’s gas stove might be out, but now she has the opportunity to further explore the best settings for my Trangia alcohol stove!

See?  Tons of awesome stuff happened.  End of story.