The Assateague Island Visitor Center

For #sublimesunday I want to share some photos of my trip to Assateague Island and the Assateague Island Visitor Center. Assateague Island is a 37 mile long barrier island. Two-thirds of the island is in Maryland and the southern third is in Virgina.

We were only able to drive around an area of the island that we spotted a few ponies at because there was no place to park so most of my photos were taken at the Assateague Island Visitor Center which is located at 11800 Marsh View Lane in Berlin, Maryland.

I'm kinda glad though that there wasn't parking because we may not have stopped at the visitor center which was a wonderful place to stop at and check out!

The visitor center is well maintained, has lots of interesting exhibits and is air conditioned. They also have outside decks and seating if you don't mind the heat.

The inside of the center has subdued lighting and it really looked nice with the exhibits.

I don't think it was an especially large building but the way they had the exhibits laid out, it gave the impression of being larger than it was. We also got there early enough that it wasn't crowded.

Inside they have a Touch and Learn Station. I've never seen a live Horseshoe Crab and I got to see that and a Conch which is a marine mollusk with a spiral shell.

They also had a couple of aquariums with some of the fish that can be found in the area as well as shrimp. I think that the aquariums were one of my favorite parts of the visit.

There were large screens to watch short films about the island, habitat, and wildlife including the wild pones that live on the island. The ponies here are wild and will kick and bite if you get too close. I also learned that wild ponies and horses can carry rabies. I haven't heard of anyone getting rabies here but, hey, I never even knew you could get rabies from a wild pony.

Some people may be tempted to feed the wildlife here but it is very much frowned upon. They are wild animals and it isn't safe for you or the animal. It can also make the wildlife aggressively seek out food from people and in some instances can seriously harm the animal.

Replica only!

I really loved this quote by Rachel Carson that is on an exhibit here. Rachel Carson was a marine biologist, conservationist, environmentalist and author.

They have a small bookstore inside of the visitor center but it was very crowded inside that area (sorry no pic). There was no charge to visit the center but they do have donation boxes. We had to keep an eye on the time to meet up with a couple of cousins for lunch and it started to get more crowded so we made our way out.

Before I go, I want to share the few photos that I got of the wild ponies which were taken from the vehicle and a few photos of the area.

Thank you @c0ff33a for #sublimesunday!!