Wild horses couldn't drag you away from Assateague

Neither car nor camper can deter the horses of Assateague Island from their daily dining. (Story and photo by Richard P. Carpenter)

They're not very wild and they're not really ponies. Nonetheless, the legendary Wild Ponies of Assateague Island are well worth seeing, as is the rest of this 37-mile-long barrier island.

Depending upon where you are standing, Assateague, located in both Maryland an Virginia, is a national seashore, a state park and a wildlife refuge. Again, depending where you are, the attractions are off-roading, camping, birding and wildlife watching. During a recent visit, I was treated to the relatively rare sight of a hummingbird in its nest.

The big attraction, though are those equines, who have inhabited the island for some 300 years. There are some 130 of them on the Maryland side, but they don't make appointments for you to view them, so on a given day, you may see a few or a lot. I saw about 10 during my visit, and while it's true they have not been domesticated and ridden, most seem tame and will hardly gallop away at the sight of you. In facts, signs put up by the national park service, which owns and manages the animals, tell you not to feed them. And while some may look like ponies, many experts will tell you they are actually small horses. On Chincoteague Island on the Virginia side, meanwhile, horses are owned by the Volunteer Fire Department, and every July there is a roundup, during which the horses may splash through the sea, and an auction. The Maryland and Virginia horses are separated by fences at the border between the states. 

How did the horses get to Assateague in the first place? There are all kinds of mythical or magical explanations, and some believe they were survivors of a Spanish ship that sank in a storm.  But research turns up a more mundane explanation: At least some were put there by colonial planters to dodge livestock taxes and fencing rules.

For more information on this unusual island and its sights, click here and here and here.

Philly loves you so much that it will give you a gift

As part of the new With Love, Philadelphia XOXO campaign, visitors who book one of the nearly 100 packages on www.gophila.com/withlove will get a gift at check-in. The giveaway includes a Philadelphia Privileges coupon book, a five-pack of With Love postcards and a With Love pin, along with other brochures, coupons and maps. Starting rates range from $77 -$415 per night, and packages have perks that are based on a variety of interests. Examples: Star Trek: the Exhibition. Franklin Institute Science Museum, Spa and Romance, and Family Fun.

After checking the Web site, visitors can book their selected packages online or by calling their chosen hotel directly.

What's in a pronunciation?

Britain pronounces the Thames River as "Tems," but in Newport, R.I., the river of the same name is pronounced "Thaymes."

What's in a location?

Most of the 3.8-mile Las Vegas Strip is not in Las Vegas but in Paradise and Winchester, Nev.

Park Plaza celebrates summer in Boston

The Boston Park Plaza Hotel has four new summer packages. The Copley Place Shopping Package features a one-night stay, two $50 American Express Copley Place Gift Cards, and two Copley Place gift bags. Rates start at $259, and persons booking should use rate code CPSHOP. The Take Me Out to the Ball Game Father's Day Package includes a night's stay and two right field box tickets for the Sox vs. Braves game on June 20 or 21. The package is available Saturday, June 20, and Sunday, June 21, with rates starting at $369.The rate code is FENWAY1. The Dinner & the Movies Package includes a two-night stay, breakfast buffet for two, an n-room dinner for two, and two tickets for Boston Movie Mile Walking Tour. Rates start at $499 and the code is DANDM. And then there's Fireworks on the Fourth, which features an overnight stay, two amenities that include supplies to view the city's famed fireworks from the Esplanade. The rate is $239 and the code is 4th2009.

Visit www.bostonparkplaza.com or call 617-426-2000.

Trivial question

Which country has the world's longest coastline? (It is not necessarily the world's largest country.) Answer Friday.

Golf for free at New Hampshire resort

The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel in Dixville Notch, N.H., has a Golf Free Package available Sunday-Thursday through June 30 and from Sept. 1 to the end of golf season for $119 per person, per night. The package includes lodging, breakfast, and unlimited rounds of golf on the resort's Donald Ross-designed golf course. The package is available now through June 30th and from September 1st through the end of golf season.

For details, click here. For resort information, visit www.thebalsams.com.