Chincoteague, Virginia was named America's Best Beach Town by the AOL Travel website. The article describes Chincoteague as a picturesque small town known for its beaches, inns, ice cream parlors, and clam shacks. Local business owners are pleased with the recognition, hoping it will bring more visitors and customers to experience the town and boost their businesses during the peak summer season.

1. Digital Collections: Daily Times Text 07/06/2010 03:42 PM
Archives Desks Collections Journals Currently logged in as tshockley .
Filter: Menu
Search
Section Letter Byline Page Publication Section New search
B (2) Malissa Watterson (23) 1 (1) The Daily Times (4) ESN (12) Refresh
GREG MERRITT (1) 2 (1) Eastern Shore News (3) NEWS (7)
ENTERTAINMENT (3) Actions
Add to Collection
LIFESTYLE (2)
All results into Collection
BIRTHS & OBITUARIES (1) Create Collection
LOCAL NEWS - INSIDE (1) Find similar documents
Text Print Preview
Page 1 of 26 Archive: Daily Times Text - 26 documents found.
Full text: "Malissa Watterson"
- Saturday, July 3, 2010
City:
State:
Section: NEWS
Page:
From:
Source:
Edition:
Publication:
Chincoteague named No. 1 beach town
CHINCOTEAGUE -- It's a small town with a charming business district and a popular Atlantic beach. Now
Chincoteague has been recognized as America's Best Beach Town by the AOL Travel website.
Jordan Simon, travel writer for the popular website, recently highlighted the 10 best beach towns in the
country. Chincoteague Island came out on top, beating famous beach towns like Cape May, N.J., and
Huntington Beach, Calif.
Simon described the island as a picturesque getaway for travelers, writing that its "Victorian inns and ice cream
parlors, clam shacks serving Chincoteague oysters and beachfront BBQs complete the Norman Rockwell
picture."
The designation comes at the height of the season for Chincoteague businesses. The world-famous Pony
Penning is later this month, and the federal government restored in time for summer more than 900 beach
parking places at Assateague Island National Seashore that were swept away by winter storms.
"As one of the Top 10 travel websites with 5.3 million unique visitors, we could never pay for the kind of timely
exposure AOL Travel has just given Chincoteague Island and the entire Eastern Shore of Virginia," said Donna
Bozza, director of the Eastern Shore of Virginia Tourism Commission.
Suzanne Taylor, Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce Executive Director of Marketing and Tourism, was also
pleased with the recent exposure from the website.
"It's wonderful that they were promoting Chincoteague," Taylor said. "It's nice to be in the Top 10."
Taylor said having writers like Simon travel to the island and describe their visit is better than typical
advertising methods.
"A story written from a travel writer is much more beneficial than placing an advertisement because it's
believable," she said. "It's somebody's experience of what they did and saw."
Chincoteague's Chamber of Commerce will host more travel writers in the upcoming weeks including ones from
national publications like the Los Angeles Times and Parade Magazine, she said.
Cathy Mikel, co-owner of Wine, Cheese & More on Main Street, in the heart of Chincoteague's popular
downtown business district, said the AOL Travel article will help bring more customers to her shop and other
businesses.
"In the long run, it's going to help businesses here," said Mikel, former president of Chincoteague's Historic
http://10.7.216.32/archives/archive/search/_1278444794/?search[view]=detail&search[focus]=1 Page 1 of 2

2. Digital Collections: Daily Times Text 07/06/2010 03:42 PM
Main Street Merchants Association. "People who don't know about Chincoteague will see (the article) and think,
'Oh, let's go check that out.' "
Mikel said that there's always the publicity of the Pony Swim, which helps bring more people and business.
Aside from the positive exposure, Mikel is pleased AOL's review of Chincoteague concurred with the thoughts of
many locals.
"We do have the most beautiful beach," Mikel said. "It's nice that we finally got that recognition because we've
thought that all along."
See the full list at http://news.travel.aol. com.
Caption:The town of Chincoteague was named America's Best Beach Town by the AOL Travel website.
Jay Diem illustration
Element:
Graphic:
Image:
Resale: Yes
Keywords: frontpagecarousel
Subkeys: NEWS01
Subject:
Day:
Book:
Byline: Malissa Watterson
Freekey:
Country:
DC3 Id:
This document has been viewed 1 times.
http://10.7.216.32/archives/archive/search/_1278444794/?search[view]=detail&search[focus]=1 Page 2 of 2