Tom and I just returned from our 2nd honeymoon...our wedding anniversary trip back to Chincoteague Island, Virginia, celebrating where we spent our honeymoon 40 years ago! How in the world can it have been that many years?
We started our anniversary weekend off with a Zoom call with the four kids, spouses, and the grandchildren for a long-distance 40th anniversary celebration party...that was a total surprise and so delightful!
What a special time of visiting together, opening unexpected gifts and cards, and viewing the "Look Over Your Shoulder" video Hannah put together with photos from our wedding day, the kids growing up, marrying, babies arriving, all through the years...what a tear-jerker, looking back over the last 40 years!
Looking back....
August 23, 1980 (Who's reading this who was at our wedding??)
Four kids came along pretty quickly...busy years, fun years...
And they grew up, and we started homeschooling them....dad teaching math and science and mom teaching the rest of the subjects: We went on dozens of field trips and enjoyed those 17 years of homeschooling immensely...and then all four graduated and ended that season of our lives... And two of them married and started us on the journey of being grandparents...
So that's where the years went! Looking over our shoulders this past week has shown us the Lord's wonderful blessings to us through the years!
Summer, 2020 (Recognize us?? Are we really those same young kids in the first photo?)
Hannah did a super job on our anniversary video using, with permission, "Look Over Your Shoulder," words and music by Heather Schopf © Forever Be Sure Music.
If you'd like to hear Mrs. Schopf and the Forever Be Sure team sing the song Hannah used, you can watch their official Youtube music video posted here. The words to the song are so appropriate...very poignant. (This is the music team's public video, not the private family video.)
We started our anniversary off with a car selfie on the road to Chincoteague! I'm so very thankful that Hannah could stay with Granny so I could take a few days away. Thank you, Hannah!
I would say this trip brought back lots of memories...but to be honest, after 40 years I didn't remember anything about the area, except the name of the hotel we stayed in both times...The Refuge Inn.
We crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and started seeing some beautiful scenery: Lots of water and beautiful inlets everywhere! Below we are crossing Mosquito Creek...I kid you not! There was a sign! I wasn't very excited about that...mosquitoes love me way too much! We arrived at The Refuge Inn, donned our masks made by Hannah, climbed lots of steps with all our luggage, and started settling in for a few days: Our room was nice, complete with a Smallwood Home wall sign which told us to Make Yourself At Home. I loved that!
Our number #1 planned activity was a boat ride the first morning to see dolphins and hopefully see the famous Chincoteague ponies, which we found out was not guaranteed...it all depended on where the horses were when the boats came around.
Tom's all ready for the excursion and looking forward to this adventure, as we had not seen the ponies 40 years ago when we were honeymooning. Yes, we did see dolphins, but they never jumped up...but it was exciting to see several swimming around the boat!
There were only four other people on our Daisey Island Cruise, plus the tour guide, and we were all socially distanced. The day was quite breezy at 10 - 15 miles per hour. Very fun two-hour tour!
We motored on to where the ponies could be found on the island...and success! They were there! The annual end-of-July pony penning and swimming across the island (which started in the 1800's) was cancelled this year. The event usually draws a crowd of 4,000 people to this small island. Instead, they ended up having an online auction which netted the local fire department $390,000, the highest amount ever raised any other year! And just when it was time for us to boat to a different part of the island, the ponies started their wandering trek back into the forest. We were there at just the right time! Our guide told us he's had tours that never saw the ponies. So very thankful! There they go... We hung around the ponies for quite a long time, and, Hunter, our born-on-the-island tour guide with a degree in marine biology, regaled us with much knowledge and many stories. He knew all the pony's names...Pappy's Pony, Starry Night, Cinnamon Blaze, Summer, Susy Sweetheart, Unforgettable, Bay Girl...and most famous was Riptide. We finished up our tour with boating by the Assateague Lighthouse:
It was an excellent tour and perfect day for being out on the water! Hunter is docking the boat in this next photo...neat island scene: That evening we borrowed the 1961 Misty of Chincoteague video from our hotel and watched the story of the horses on the island, which I had never seen or read about before this trip! Watch a 1-minute clip here. Have you seen the movie? Read the books? I enjoyed our movie evening! The next day we planned a bike ride (aka adult trike ride for an old lady! LOL!) over to Assateague Island and the beach there.
Okaaayyy....am I ready for this?? Citronella arm bracelets and anklets? Check. Tons of spray? Check. I love that trikes come with baskets! Tom's all set for his biking jaunt over to the beach:
We made it to the beach where we sat and watched the waves and lots of surfers for awhile...pretty beach, pretty day! I wish now that we'd planned a real stay-all-day beach day...but this was biking day and catching a quick glimpse of the beach before lunch type of day: Tom wrote on the beach like he did on our honeymoon....Tom (heart) Deb...40 Years! Awww...
Here's our selfie before we head back (smiling, even though dealing with literally dozens of mosquito bites from biking on the bike path through the woods instead of staying on the main busier road). Tip: Mosquitoes don't know what citronella bracelets mean....and...always take the main road. I'm sure there are lots of other photos from mini-golfing, Chincoteague Museum, Mariners' Point, visiting Island Creamery and Famous Pizza I could share...
But I'll close with a photo of one of the gifts from all the kids...a canvas from Smallwood Home with the wedding song Tom wrote and sang on wedding day. You can see the photo of him singing to me imprinted behind the words. I absolutely love this!!! So perfect! Thank you to all the kids for such a special gift!
Today precious friend, God makes us one
My dear love for you will never be done.
Let's seek Jesus' face and know Him anew
So that His love may be our love, too.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me
And let us exalt His name together
May our union bring more glory to Him.
My dearest lover to you do I cleave.
This marriage will last because God we've believed.
With service and truth our lives we now gird
To spread His good news in deed and in word.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me
And let us exalt His name together
May our union bring more glory to Him.
~~Tom Girotti, 1980
Then Samuel took a stone...and called its name Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us." ~ I Samuel 7:12
Happy 40th Anniversary to us!
~Deb
I was at your wedding along with Dianne Guerry.We drove together in her orange vega.Gorgeous anniversary gift.
Nice pictures.I hope the place wasn't too commercialized after 40 years.
Sorry for mosquito bites.We have used those bracelets when walking with little problems.I will say that sometimes I use 2 at a time.
Posted by: Tammy C | Monday, August 31, 2020 at 05:56 AM
What a lovely post, Mrs. Girotti...congratulations on your 40th anniversary! The pretty pictures of Assateague made me want to go back. We took a friend from Montana there years ago and so enjoyed the cute town and peaceful beaches. What a blessing you got to see the ponies! (The old movie Misty of Chincoteauge shows them swimming the channel...It's one of our favorites) What a creative gift from your children too. The sign they had made is just beautiful!
Thanks for sharing about your special day :)
Ashleigh
Posted by: Ashleigh | Monday, August 31, 2020 at 02:54 PM
QUE BENDICION TOM Y DEB, 40 AÑOS, TODA UNA VIDA JUNTOS, QUE EL SEÑOR SIGA AÑADIENDO MAS Y MAS AÑOS EN SU MATRIMONIO, ME GUSTAN ESAS FOTOS, SUS NIÑOS DE PEQUEÑOS Y USTEDES TAN JOVENES, NO PARECEN QUE FUERAN USTEDES, TODOS CAMBIAMOS CON EL TIEMPO JAJAJA. COMPARTO 2 VERSICULOS: JEREMIOAS CAPITULO 31, VERSICULO 3 Y EFESIOS CAPITULO 5, VERSICULOS 25 AL 33. BENDICIONES Y ABRAZOS FRATERNAL A LA DISTANCIA.
Posted by: Ana Cuneo | Monday, August 31, 2020 at 05:10 PM
Happy anniversary! My husband and I just celebrated our 40th as well!Four kids, three of them married and three wonderful grandchildren!Loved reading your post, I have always wanted to visit Assateague. We spent five days on the Oregon coast instead.
Posted by: NANCY W | Monday, August 31, 2020 at 05:12 PM
I was there, Deb! In fact, I opened your wedding presents. My parents drove up from Greenville with me. It was a beautiful wedding! So glad I could play a small part. It's so hard to believe it was 40 years ago. Jess and I just celebrated 35. Time flies! Congratulations!
Posted by: Rhonda | Monday, August 31, 2020 at 08:26 PM
Happy Anniversary,
We were at your wedding also ;)
Seems like just yesterday, yet so many blessings during the years. Loved reading about your zoom party and 2nd honeymoon. So happy you got to see the ponies this time! Your anniversary gift is so perfect - what a thoughtful gift.
Congratulations again and maybe when you go for your 3rd honeymoon the ponies and dolphins will be jumping. Peace and love to you all.
Posted by: Donna | Tuesday, September 01, 2020 at 04:22 PM
Happy 40th Anniversary! We will celebrate our 50th on December 31. We've been wondering how to have a party and a Zoom party sounds like a great idea. Your pictures were wonderful!
Posted by: Barbara J. | Wednesday, September 02, 2020 at 08:49 AM
Rhonda- when my friend and I saw that people were opening their wedding gifts we were shocked.Guess that was tradition somewhere for others to open the gifts.
My husband and I just celebrated our 35th on June 29.Tom and Deb were there.She was pregnant with Jonathan .There were 3 people expecting at our wedding and all had boys.I always thought my first would be a boy but no we had the girl first then our second was a boy.
Posted by: Tammy C | Wednesday, September 02, 2020 at 09:03 AM
Happy 40th! What a special celebration you two had. Hope you have recovered from all those mosquito bites.
I ready the Misty book to my children when they were little. We also saw the video. Always thought it was a neat place. So glad you got to go back and enjoy a second honeymoon there.
Posted by: victoria | Wednesday, September 02, 2020 at 10:31 PM