Thanksgiving weekend is our favorite time on Chincoteague. The summer crowds have gone home, the marsh has turned gold, the snow geese are on the refuge by the thousands, and for four days the refuge opens roads it keeps closed the rest of the year. We built a special around it.
Book any stay that includes the Friday and Saturday nights of Thanksgiving weekend, and we take 50% off every Sunday through Thursday night on the same reservation, Thanksgiving night included. Check in Wednesday and check out Monday, and three of your five nights are half price. Come as early as the Sunday before and the savings keep adding up. The special applies to our king and queen rooms. Here is how we would spend the week.
Wednesday
Check in, pick up your key, and walk the quarter mile to the refuge entrance gate before dark. Walking and biking into the refuge are free. The Wildlife Loop opens to cars in the afternoon on ordinary days, so if you arrive early enough you can drive it with a refuge vehicle pass. Dinner can come to you: Famous Pizza delivers to the inn.
Thursday: Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Thursday opens Waterfowl Week, the four days when the refuge keeps the Wildlife Loop open to cars from morning until dusk. Go early, while the light is low. The ponies are often grazing along Beach Road, and the ducks and geese will be settled on the pools. Bring a thermos and a blanket, and roll the windows down.
Two island favorites serve Thanksgiving dinner. Maria's Family Restaurant puts on a buffet every year, and Bill's Prime Seafood & Steaks downtown serves a Thanksgiving meal. Reserve ahead at both.
Friday
Start with breakfast delivered to your door, then head to the Museum of Chincoteague Island on Maddox Boulevard, a short walk from the inn. Misty and Stormy are there, along with the Beebe family's story and the island's decoy carvers. Downtown, look for the Misty statue on Main Street and her hoofprints in the sidewalk in front of the Island Theatre.
If the water is calm, spend the afternoon on a boat. Cowboy Cruise Company, run by Hunter and Ayden Leonard, takes small groups out to see the wild herd and the winter birds from the water. Book your trip before you arrive.
For dinner, Better. on Maddox is chef-driven and casual. Try the Potato Rocket.
Saturday
Saturday is Shop Small Saturday, the busiest day downtown. Start at the Holly Day Market at the Chincoteague Cultural Alliance on Church Street for crab-pot Christmas trees, shell art, baked goods and local seafood. It is a morning market, so go early. The Rookery, our gift shop in the lobby, always has a sale that day.
Saturday is also the first of two days the refuge lets visitors drive the 7.5-mile service road toward the north end of Assateague, and the only time all year the public can drive it. Cars are admitted during a short midday window and must be out by late afternoon, so check the refuge's hours and be at the gate when it opens.
In the evening, the Holiday Tree Lighting at Robert Reed Waterfront Park on Main Street brings out Santa and the Chincoteague Pony Drill Team, and the Island Theatre shows It's a Wonderful Life for free. Downtown fills up fast that night, so for dinner head back up Maddox to The Village on Eel Creek, where the Conner family has been frying oysters for forty years. Order the fried oysters, and reserve a table.
Sunday
Sunday is the last day of the service road drive, so if you missed Saturday's window, go today. Sunday night is also half price on the special. Drive the Wildlife Loop one more time at dusk before the refuge goes back to afternoon hours.
Pack a jacket and your walking shoes and come see the island the way we do. Call us at (757) 336-5511 or book online.