Refuge Inn

We have an exciting schedule next week at the Visitor Center! There will be several public programs plus an "Astro After Hours" event coming up next Saturday night on August 10. Stay tuned for more details to come! 🌟

The Visitor Center programs and events are free of charge. Please take a look at the events section listed on Facebook and visit our website for more information: https://go.nasa.gov/4d2jdue

It's Pony Penning week, which means...
RESERVATIONS ARE OPEN FOR PONY PENNING 2025-- reserve early as it's the 100th Annual Pony Swim!

We've had a couple last minute cancellations for Pony Week:

-7/19 & 7/20- Pair of connecting rooms, upstairs pine side
-7/21 & 7/22- Two rooms with one King bed each
-7/24 - 7/28- Two rooms with one King bed each

Please call 757-336-5511 to book.

There is also scattered availability during the week with one night here and there. We are full on Tuesday as the Fire Co needed some one-nighters for work crews for the swim/auction, and we always try to accommodate those when we can.

📸 Cowboy Cruise Co.

It's not every day a brand new foal is born outside your hotel room, but it happened today! Let's all congratulate new mom Martha on this brand spanking new cutie!! They'll go up to the Chincoteague Pony Farm shortly, but for now, mama and baby are here at the Refuge.

PS: it's a filly with two blue eyes!!

PPS: You may want to check rates for Sunday & call to book with the Gotta Get Away 20% off special 👀👀

Happy Birthday, U.S.A.! We are excited to celebrate freedom this summer with iced tea, beach time, and fireworks at the CHINCOTEAGUE VOLUNTEER FIRE CO. Carnival tonight.

📸 Veranda Suite (Current weekly availability, August 3 for a week & August 10 for 3 nights. Or take all 10 nights and save 10%)

Last minute *Suite* availability next week! Our suites are popular and usually 100% booked for the summer way in advance. This opening is for check-in Saturday 7/13 for a week.

Room #300, the Pine Suite, is a quiet getaway spot with plenty of space for a family. The 700 sq. ft. suite features a living/dining area with cathedral ceilings, a wetbar kitchen with small refrigerator, coffeemaker, and microwave, dining for four, TV, a pullout Queen sofa bed, and and a sleeping alcove in the hall with a twin mattress–perfect for kids.

The separate King bedroom features high thread count sheets and an armoire containing a Smart TV. The bathroom has a tiled shower and whirlpool bath Whirlpool tub. The sink area is separate from the toilet and shower area for ease of use with multiple people getting ready at once.

The large private balcony gives a view of the Loblolly Pine trees, and is a great spot for reading, birdwatching, and relaxing.

This suite is perfect for a family of 5, and with a rollaway can sleep up to 6.

Please contact us directly to check rates or to book. 800-544-8469

Hi all,

Thank you for your concern regarding the horses in the corral here at the Refuge Inn. I have reached out to the owners of the horses today, who have sent me the attached information to share with concerned individuals. They also confirmed that their veterinarian has been on-site today and confirmed that Luna is in good health for a nursing Arab/Chincoteague cross mare, and should fill back out as soon as her foal has weaned.

Should you need any further information, please contact the pony farm directly as specified in their letter. Should you have any questions or concerns about other aspects of the Inn, I would be happy to assist.

Thanks again for your love and care for the ponies!
Cynthia

Thank you for your concern about the ponies in the Refuge Inn pasture.

The ponies are owned and cared for by Arthur, Hunter, and Ayden Leonard. We have raised and saved Chincoteague Ponies for our entire lives. We know the breed better than almost anyone. It is our honor and responsibility to take care of the ponies.

We set the regimen for the ponies’ care, which includes:
• Twice per day alfalfa hay
• Twice per day grain (different specialty feed as appropriate, including omelene and senior feed as needed)
• Mineral block
• 3-4 deworming treatments annually (according to f***l runs)
• Semi-annual hoof trimming (Pocahontas typically does not tolerate)
• Annual vaccinations including Eastern and Western Equine Encephalomyelitis, Tetanus, Influenza, Rhinopheumonitis, West Nile, and Rabies
• Annual Coggins, plus bloodwork as needed when issues arise
• Regular care by a veterinarian who is familiar with Chincoteague Ponies

As experts on this breed, we would like to share responses to some frequently expressed concerns:
• Chincoteague Ponies lay down to sleep occasionally, especially foals, and especially on warm days. In our experience, this only becomes concerning when they are trying to get up and cannot. If you see that behavior, including drooling or other colic-indicative behavior, please alert the Front Desk at the Refuge Inn ASAP and they will assess the situation and alert us.
• Many of our ponies are Arab-Chincoteague crosses. These are not your typical ponies or horses. They typically have wider hips and swollen rib cages. They do not fit into a “standard” body scale developed for other breeds.
• Just like with humans, nursing a foal is an exhausting, intensive labor of love. The few months they nurse a foal can really take a toll on them physically. We only breed the ponies we think can handle it—and being that we have a stallion leading the free-roaming herd on the farm, the Refuge Pasture is where we keep the mares who are not being bred.

If you have further concerns for the ponies’ overall welfare, please provide a detailed written explanation of your concerns and the remedies you suggest we consider, with a return address so we can reply. Please deliver to:

Chincoteague Pony Farm c/o Refuge Inn
7058 Maddox Blvd
Chincoteague Island VA 23336

We welcome your input, but want to assure you that we owe everything to these ponies, and treat them as such. They are part of our blood and our legacy, which we are honored to share with visitors who love them too. But we cannot let the love and concern our thousands of visitors have for the ponies, interfere with the operations of the hotel or with our abilities to carry out our day job responsibilities, except in the cases of extreme life-or-death emergencies.

Thank you,
Arthur, Hunter, and Ayden Leonard

Pocahontas welcomed a new baby on Sunday morning! He looks just like EJ's c**t, Edgar. They'll be heading up the farm in the next few days, but stay tuned for updates about the mares & foals who are joining the Refuge Inn pasture. We will even have some babies for sale. More details to come over on the Chincoteague Pony Farm page!

Martha wishing everyone the best weekend 🐴🏝️🥳

Mama Terrapin has very diligently claimed a flowerbed! We'll mark the spot so it's not disturbed for the next 2-3 months.

The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and the Chincoteague Refuge Friends Group is excited to announce the reopening of the Assateague Lighthouse for climbing!

The lighthouse will begin summer climbing hours on Monday, May 27, 2024 (Memorial Day). The hours will be 10:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.

Beginning Friday, May 31, 2024 the lighthouse will be open for climbing every Friday and Saturday 10:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. through Labor Day, weather permitting. After Labor Day the lighthouse will only be open on Saturdays until Thanksgiving weekend. We are so pleased that we have enough volunteers to cover two days a week during the summer this year!

Please wear comfortable shoes and bring your patience as the line can get quite long at times. Also, bring your bug spray. Yes, our Refuge nibblers are back! Our volunteers will greet you at the bottom and top of the lighthouse so bring your smiles too! You might even see the Lighthouse Keeper at the top.

Remember the lighthouse is free but donations are welcome. You can either donate in cash at the lighthouse or you can donate by credit card at the Bateman Visitor Center. As always, the book/gift shop located in the Bateman will be open. Come in and see all the new items that are being stocked daily, including the new lighthouse shirts.

Looking forward to seeing our visitors once again enjoying the beautiful view from the top of our lighthouse!

Photo Credit: Debbie Ehst

We hope you enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, friends! We are so excited to see you! ☀️🏝️🐴🇺🇸

taking it all the way back to 1972!

Excuse the typo, but check out this wonderful video from our friends at VISIT Eastern Shore, Virginia!

Relax in ultimate comfort st the Refuge Inn. Meet their ponies and rent bikes next door!

Honeymoon is so excited for the weekend! What are you looking forward to this weekend? 🐴☀️

Happy 4th birthday week, Miss Corona!

Spring is finally here and we could not be more excited! Happy Earth Day!

Gumby got lost at The Refuge Inn. We found the owner Pat who had reached out to notify us of the missing "person." Sharon sent these pictures of Gumby's adventures to her saying: Gumby was 2 timing Pokey, relaxing by the fountain, and got stuck in a corny situation.

Esther Jane (we call her EJ) and her little guy are in the little barn in our pasture for now while the rest of the Refuge Inn ladies get used to them. They'll be out to greet guests in a few days.

Sun: “It's me, hi, I'm the brightest, it's me.”

You: “I’ll stare directly at the sun but never without solar filters.”

Good plan! At time, everybody agrees, the only safe way to look directly at the sun during an eclipse is through special-purpose solar filters, like eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers. Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the sun.

Solar filters should have:

🌞An ISO 12312-2:2015 certification
🌞The manufacturer's name and address printed somewhere on the product

Do not use solar filters that are:

🌞Missing ISO certification information
🌞Torn, scratched, or have wrinkled lenses
🌞Coming loose from their frames
🌞Made before 2015

Learn more at: https://www.nps.gov/articles/eclipsesafety.htm

Images: A ranger wearing protective solar glasses at Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park

The girls were ready to lose their winter coats! Everyone should be feeling much lighter and fresher after their brushing today! (Except Honeymoon. She was feeling uncooperative.)

Type in our zip code (23336) and see what the eclipse will look like here in Chincoteague. Peak is at 3:22pm! There will also be three sounding rocket launches during the eclipse.

PSST... we are running a $99 special for the night before and after the eclipse :)

Enter your zip code and discover how the 2024 total solar eclipse will look in your city On April 8th, the Moon will completely cover the Sun, marking the last total solar eclipse visible in the contiguous United States until 2044. Consult the interactive to know what you will see and the time of the phenomenon.