It was a beautiful day Saturday, December 28, 2019 and there is nothing better than taking a hike on a beautiful day. If we had known it was going to be as warm as it was, maybe we could have went kayaking instead! Next time. We have a lot of favorite hikes that we do, but sometimes we look for new places. Although we have been to the Assateague area many times, we saw a spot on the map we never have been to – Rackliffe House and trail:

This historic site is behind the visitor center. There are 2 trails that lead there. We chose the wooded one instead of the asphalt.

Across from where Kathy is sitting is a path to Sinepuxent Bay with the Verrazano Bridge in the distance.

A very short beach hike.

Leaving the beach we head towards the house, passing the golf course.

This Geo-cache was hanging in plain site. At first I thought it was a wildlife camera.

Always nice to have a choice in the paths we take in life.

Historic house – from their website:

Rackliffe House, a 1740s merchant-planter’s home overlooking Assateague Island and scenic Sinepuxent Bay. Rackliffe House was constructed in the 1740s by Captain Charles Rackliffe, the merchant-planter grandson of one of the earliest English immigrants to Maryland’s seaside. The large two-story, three-bay Manor House features Flemish bond brickwork with random glazed headers, a steeply pitched gabled roof with kicked eaves, and large windows. Captain Rackliffe intended the house to be seen across the water. He built it on a prominent ridge atop a man-made terrace with expansive views of the water and island.

In its time, Rackliffe House has witnessed marauding Spanish galleons, Barbary pirate ships, and English men-of-war. The house has stood through the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. Today, thanks to the restoration efforts of the Rackliffe House Trust and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, historic Rackliffe House now serves as a coastal museum that interprets 18th-century life along Maryland’s seaside.

The second part of the loop includes a pond and a stream

I thought all the bugs died off during the last freeze. Termites.

We leave the visitors center and the Rackliffe Loop and head over to the ocean. Always a favorite. And again we sought out an area we have never hiked. North of the Youth Group Areas. We hiked behind the sand dune and saw this. Who they keeping out or in?

Rounding the corner to the beach.

The beach with not a lot of shells, just this small group;

Getting ready for the new year.

Not that we run around nude on the beach a lot, but this sign makes you wonder! Kathy says this use to be an unauthorized nude beach many years ago.

Beautiful day, beautiful hike and beautiful beach! Thanks God for another beauty!