On the second day of our long weekend away, the girls woke up and asked if we were going to the beach again. Our answer? “Most definitely!” We didn’t head immediately there, though, as it was a Saturday and the line to enter would be insanely long. Instead, we decided to play the day away and around at the beach house and local area, and visit the island closer to when we could see sunset. Not far from Assateague is the Sinepuxent Brewing Company, and we headed here first late in the afternoon…
The Sinepuxent Brewing Company is located at 8816 Stephen Decatur Hwy in Berlin. It has a small taproom with limited seating and games you can play, like Jenga and Connect Four. There is also merchandise for sale, and a long counter where you place your orders for food and drink. FYI, the only food here is hot dogs and popcorn so if you’d like something else, eat before you visit. Our kiddos were in heaven with this selection! The majority of the seating is outside at a variety of tables. There was excellent live music on this sunny evening, too. It was a chill atmosphere, and the kids all ran off to see the goats and ducks while the adults saw to provisions.
The brewery had Capri Suns for the kids, smoothies, water, and an assortment of beers for adults to choose from. Hubby tried two of their brews, Hefeweizen and the American Porter, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
After dinner was eaten and the beer drunk, we headed for the beach. Hubby was seeing this area of the island for the first time, and he was able to see the same family of ponies, still grazing by the bridge, that we’d seen the previous day. Stormy was keeping an eye out for plants and animals for her ranger booklet, and quickly added deer and prickly pear cactus to her list. Rainbow was also on the lookout for ponies and happily pointed out the numerous piles of pony poop that were everywhere! Def watch your step around here!
Once we passed the entrance booths, we made a right turn, and drove over to the bay side of the island. My friend said this was the best location to watch the sun set. On this night, there was a strong wind blowing, and the water was choppy. That didn’t stop the girls from jumping into the water to play. Pebble was the only one of the five kiddos to hold back. The waves plus piles of seaweed plus sharp seashells gave her pause. My bestie’s hubby waded right in, and he helped Pebble get over her initial fear. The water on the bay side is much warmer than the ocean side and shallower. The beach is also smaller, there is less parking, and there is one small bathroom, no outdoor showers.
The sky was gorgeous, although we could see a line of storms moving in, and the clouds began blocking much of the sunset. Nevertheless, the girls had fun swimming, trying the bogey boards, and hunting for shells. We even spotted two horseshoe crabs “hugging.”
As the light faded, we started to see lightning flickering in the clouds as the storms moved closer. We called the kids in out of the water, cleaned them up the best we could, and packed it in. It was a great evening, and I would come back here for another sunset in a heartbeat! Another bonus of this late day visit is that the crowds had died down. Something to consider if you come to this area of the island for a visit! Happy trails!
Assateague Island National Seashore
