Chincoteague Island to Exmore Day Trip
Directions:
Allow about 2/12 hours (round trip) time for your day trip to Exmore from Chincoteague Island Leaving Chincoteague Island, head west on VA 175 follow VA-175 south to Atlantic Avenue, then go west 2.7 miles to VA-695. Continue west 2.1 miles to US-13. Go south 30 miles, and turn left on Lincoln Avenue. Your trip should take about 65 minutes.
Exmore History and Attractions:
The town of Exmore began when the New York Pennsylvania and Norfolk Railroad's constructed a railway line splitting the center of Virginia's Eastern Shore. Local legend has it that the town was originally called Xmore for its location as the 10th rail stop south of the Delaware State Line. A more likely story is that it was named for Exmoor, England, a village in the Cheriton Forest. Exmore, Virginia, is twenty-five miles north of another railroad stop at Cheriton, Virginia.
The Exmore Post Office opened on December 12, 1884, followed in October of 1885 by the opening or the Smith & Willis Storehouse. By the turn of the century Exmore was a prominent Eastern Shore shipping center for area farmers, with streets congested with wagons hauling loads of fresh produce to be sent all over the Eastern seaboard.
Travelers also flooded to the area, and Shield's Hotel was built the corner of Front and Bank Streets to accommodate Exmore's visitors. Enlarged in the 1920s and renamed the Exmore Hotel, it was joined by the Central Hotel. Both hotels are gone now, as are the passenger trains. Exmore, however, has entered the 21st century with a determination to reinvent itself with the Exmore Downtown Revitalization Project.
One showpiece of the town's transformation you'll see on your day trip to Exmore from Chincoteague Island is the Queen Anne-style Chandler House, a private home on Main Street. Supposedly the first home built in Exmore, it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. You're also certain to notice the 1938 Gladstone House, a marvelous three-story Georgian bed and breakfast complete with a player piano and Grand Staircase!
On Exmore's Main Street is County Way Mercantile. Experience the charms of a long-ago general store before heading next door to the Antique & Craft Emporium where local artisans offer their work.
Antiquers will love Antique Addicts further south on Main Street. If your day trip occurs during the growing season, don’t miss the Exmore Farm Market for some of the best fresh produce in Virginia.
From the fresh hand-picked crab in their crab cakes to the homemade sweet potato pie, the family-run Exmore Diner offers the best in down-home Southern cooking at reasonable prices which have made it a local favorite for nearly thirty years!
Finally, just ten minutes south of Exmore on Route 13 is the Eastern Shore Barrier Island Center, founded by Exmore's Captain Rick Kellam. A descendant of barrier island settlers, Captain Kellam is a treasure trove of Eastern shore and barrier island history and an expert on the area's biodiversity. Kellam operates Broadwater Bay Eco Tours, and is prepared to ferry you to and from whichever of the Eastern Shore's twenty-three barrier islands meets captures your imagination. But that's another Chincoteague Island to Exmore daytrip!