It's more than just the weather that's hot in the Big Apple in August. From free film screenings to colourful street parades, the city's culture comes to life during the beautiful summer season. In addition to the summer-long schedule of free concerts and productions such as Central Park's Summerstage and Shakespeare in the Park, here are some other activities to consider checking out during an August trip to New York City.New...more
Hong Kong - one of the chief commercial centers in the world. Have you planned to travel to recently? Then you have to make it a point that before you book a cheap flight to Hong Kong, you have to collect a lot of information about this city. You will have to be well informed about the weather, restaurants, hotels, culture and other activities of the place. You can enjoy your Hong Kong trip if you do some research in the internet. You can find...more
Mother Nature made horses, and Mother Nature made ponies. But Mother Nature also made a remarkably tough, intelligent, and beautiful breed of horses whose small stature has meant that they are universally referred to as ponies, and turned them loose to roam the shores and wilds of Assateague Island, Virginia. Today, however, they known as the Chincoteague Island ponies, for the Virginia coastal island directly to the west of Assateague. The ponies are a major reason why Chincoteague and Assateague Islands have become magnets for families vacationing on Eastern Shore. These two small stretches of land are overflowing with family-friendly attractions, including a National Wildlife Refuge, a National Seashore, and a Maryland State Park. Chincoteague Island has gained international fame thanks to the annual Pony Penning and Auction, which occurs at the height of summer when the weather, fishing, water sports, and other opportunities for outdoor fun are at their peak. An entire week at the end of each July is set aside on Chincoteague for Pony Penning.The week begins with the annual three-day Chincoteague Island Blueberry Festival bringing artists and crafters from ten states. They are...more
Native American tribes were thriving on what is now Virginia's Eastern Shore for more than twenty centuries when Captain John Smith arrived in 1607. One of these tribes, led by Chief Barabokees and Emperor Waskawampe, had claimed as their own an island five miles off the Virginia coast, calling it Chincoteague, or "The Beautiful Land across...more
Although the Chincoteague ponies may roam barefoot and free on the wilds of Assateague Island for most of their lives, horseshoes are still readily found on both Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. They're horseshoe crabs, and they have an enormous role to play in making Chincoteague Island an ecotourism Paradise. Why?Because the horseshoe...more
If you didn't succumb to the affliction of horse-craziness as a youngster, then the odds are high that you know neither where Chincoteague Island is, nor why it is important. So we're here to fill you in on the secrets that make the seven-mile length of Chincoteague Island irresistible to over a million visitor each year.Yes, one of those secrets has to do with horses, which have inhabited Chincoteague and its neighbor Assateague Island for longer than anyone can remember. The secret lies in how the horses, which are actually pony-sized, came to run free on two rather inhospitable (for horses, anyway) strips of sand and marsh where fresh water is at a premium and the grass comes already salted. If, on the other hand, you had succumbed to horse-craziness in your youth, you'd know all about the classic children's book Misty of Chincoteague, published in 1947 and largely responsible for putting Chincoteague Island on the fast track to tourism super-stardom. In her book, Marguerite Henry attributed the existence of the Chincoteague ponies to the shipwreck of a Spanish galleon in the 1600s. While the more likely story is that today's ponies are descendants of...more
Few places on planet Earth capture the idea of a romantic honeymoon getaway as the magical wilds and waterways of Chincoteague Island on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Once you and your spouse have successfully navigated the anxieties, anticipation,...more
Just a short drive off Virginia's Eastern Shore lies an island so stunning that its seven mile length is the vacation destination for more than one million annual visitors, each one of whom arrives to enjoy a taste of Paradise....more
The waters and winds of Chesapeake Bay never rest, and over the eons they have built up and carved away countless land masses. The Island of Chincoteague, about five miles off Virginia's Eastern Shore, rose from the Chesapeake's waters...more
If you go to Chincoteague Island during the last week of July, you're probably there for the Pony Penning and Auction, like approximately 50,000 other visitors. You'll be in for an exciting time, but what you won't see is the sort of...more
The mountains loom and the bluest sky reaches beyond the heavens, soaring endlessly, dotted with fluffy clouds that make insignificant shadows over the rolling prairies. You have the sense that those who have laid claim to this grand land have done...more
The tourism industry in Thailand truly took off when US soldiers started to arrive in the 1960s for Rest and Recuperation (R&R) during the Vietnam War period. Coinciding, international mass tourism sharply increased during the same period due to the...more