Assateague Island, Maryland

First stop on our great American South road trip - Assateague Island, which is in both Maryland and Virginia. From DC, you get to the island by driving past Annapolis, across the long, winding Chesapeake Bay Bridge and further along, still, until you get to the bridge to Assateague. On the other side is a state park, where feral ponies graze along the highway and shrubby trees grow bent away from the ocean breeze. We camped for one night only, setting up our tent late (after swimming until dusk), cooking in the dark and then lying wide awake through the wildest thunderstorm either of us had ever witnessed. The cracks and booms over our heads had me shaking, but Adam was tough, even opening up the tent to re-stake the fly during the worst of it. It went on long enough that both of us had to pee...the only place to go was under the little vestibule between the fly and the tent. It was, um, an 'experience.'

Gorgeous island with warm, clean ocean water, a quiet beach and hot showers at the campground. We'll definitely be back, next time with our bikes.