FWIW, Mine are planted at the base of oak trees. They grow and multiply, but slowly. I'm not sure I would call them "flourishing", but having never planted them elsewhere, or, for that matter, having never even seen them in anyone else's garden, I don't know how to compare mine to others planted in different situations. Just this year I noticed about half a dozen new plants, a bit farther away from the originals, and they too have seeded - and are growing - under other oak trees. I do believe oaks are easier to plant under than other trees, so I don't know if that should be taken into account. Dee

I've never camped at First Landing but have spent some time in VA Beach. I would not camp there because from what I can see the sites are close together and the campground is right next to a major highway. I'm sure there is a lot of road noise. Personally, I prefer something a lot less developed and quiet! The times when I was in the area were for weddings and visiting a friend in the Navy. We did take the kids to an aquarium that was really very good! I can't think of what it was called but I'm sure running a search would turn it up rather quickly!

Just an update: We got there and every single person out there had atleast one dog. The entire area was all people that were with our group, no strangers or anything at all. It was quite a large area. Everyone there had their dogs off leash. So after a bit of prodding and convincing, they got me to drop coda's leash, just to see what she would do. She didn't leave my side, all weekend. The only time she was tied out or in her X pen is when we went for a quick quad ride, but most of the other people were around when we'd leave. She only left my line of sight twice, and she was following the kids. She loved running with the kids and they all adored her. She came every single time I called and followed me everywhere if I started to walk away. I'm really impressed with her, especially since we kind of thought she'd be the type to bolt as soon as she didn't have a leash on her. She did better than big guy, and he's very reliable off leash, but he made an enemy and had to be chained because the owners were jerks and wouldn't keep an eye on their dog so we had to keep big guy tied out for the better part of the weekend. Thanks for all the replies!

I have camped on Assateague many times - tent camping when my kids were young. It’s beautiful but the sun can be brutal and the biting bugs relentless. There are lots of “ponies” but they can be a bit frightening. I have watched them rip tents to shreds and break through barriers to get to the beach (I think to get into the wind to escape the bugs.) They are prettier from afar! As Cyn wrote, tourists are not supposed to go near them but they DO. Many people who visit the park just do a drive through. Some pull over (or just stop in the middle of the road) and try to lure the ponies to their car with food. The ponies have become more aggressive, hanging out near the roads where they have been hit by cars. Sorry for the rant but this makes me so mad! Chincoteaque is very nice, but there’s not much around there (of interest to me, at least). You could decide if you wanted to combine your visit with a beach vacation (Ocean City or Virginia Beach) or head inland to Williamsburg area or to Washington DC or Baltimore. Annapolis is beautiful. I like Ocean City; I went there almost every summer as a kid. I still go occasionally in the off-season for old times’ sake. It is crowded in June and traffic could be bad so you may want to stay on the southern end of the island, closer to Asssateague. I loved the books too and was tickled that the kids had the same names as my younger brother and I.