The last few days, no volunteering got done but I did get to share a very special experience with Evan.

This weekend I had the opportunity to visit Chincoteague with him and his family. It was a vacation they’d often taken in the summers when he was a kid so going with him now was very special.

The main focus of the visit was following along with his mom and her photography group as they photographed the twice yearly roundup of the island’s wild ponies. We stood with alongside the trail where cowboys run the ponies into the corral, watching as they splashed through the mud into the waiting pens. Between this and the nature walk the next day, Evan got several stunning photos.

Beyond the photographic adventures, Evan showed me around the small town into a little coffeehouse and a few small stores. We spent time wandering the beach and playing Scrabble. We even got to hear stories of the island’s pirate and ghost history from the director of the local museum.

We compared the two ice cream parlors, his favorite vs his mom’s favorite, and I finally got to try a Hot Apple Pie sundae after years of Evan telling me how delicious it was. He was definitely right. We also got to try some of the best cornbread I’ve ever had, another staple of their trips that Evan had hyped up so far I was shocked it managed to meet my hopes.

The trip was beautiful and a whole lot of fun. Though I struggled at points, as I have regularly throughout the year, with not feeling like I was “doing” enough, it was nice to get to just “be” with my favorite person in one of his favorite places.