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Live from Long Island!
Thu, Aug. 29th, 2013 08:31 amI departed Seattle for Long Island on a red-eye flight on Tuesday night. The last two mornings, I've awakened in my niece's bedroom. (She's sleeping on a futon in her playroom.) It's been a laid-back kind of busy. With no particular schedule, we're doing things we discussed or that I asked to do before I came, but in a as-we-get-to-it kind of way. What have we been doing?
I arrived Wednesday morning at LaGuardia to a niece all excied about my arrival. Because my brother had to work and because I was kind of beat from the flight, we spent most of the day hanging around the house. I napped in the afternoon. When Bro got home, we grabbed some take-out sushi and had dinner on the beach at sunset. That was a great way to start the trip. The sunset over the water was gorgeous.
Yesterday we went hiking in Avalon Park, of which I'd never heard before. It's deceptive; when you arrive it looks like a suburban park with a boardwalk trail, but about ten minutes in, you find yourself on well-groomed packed-dirt paths meandering through the woods, gaining a little elevation here and there. I forget, sometimes, how hilly the north shore of the island is. We didn't see much in the way of wildlife, though my niece did spot a tiny woodpecker that we watched hammering at a tree for a bit.
We had lunch at Stony Brook Village at little sandwich and ice cream place and poked around there for a while. The was a place called The Writer's Store that I got all excited about, only to discover that it was a stationery and gift store with a side business of printing invitations--almost no pens at all, no journals, no books. Ah well.
For dinner last night, we drove out to Freeport to the Nautical Mile to have dinner at Rachel's Waterside Grill, a restaurant owned by a friend of my brother's whom he's known since high school. He looked good--healthy and together--and the restaurant, which had been destroyed during Hurricane Sandy, looked terrific. The friend treated us to drinks and an appetizer of deep-fried crab rolls with an aoli sauce. We also split a crab cake. I had the seafood paella (with shrimp, lobster, clams and more), which was delicious. And then I was treated to a sip of Frangelico in a tiny dark chocolate cup--a lovely way to top off the meal.
We walked along the street a bit. I saw remnants of Sandy destruction, some of which I photographed. We didn't stick around too long, mainly because it was just very buggy--we were all snacks for the local fauna--and still pretty muggy, but I did stop for postcards at a little souvenir shop, and bought a beautiful map of Long Island as well.
Today, weather permitting, the plan is to head east. Beyond that I know not what the day will bring.
I arrived Wednesday morning at LaGuardia to a niece all excied about my arrival. Because my brother had to work and because I was kind of beat from the flight, we spent most of the day hanging around the house. I napped in the afternoon. When Bro got home, we grabbed some take-out sushi and had dinner on the beach at sunset. That was a great way to start the trip. The sunset over the water was gorgeous.
Yesterday we went hiking in Avalon Park, of which I'd never heard before. It's deceptive; when you arrive it looks like a suburban park with a boardwalk trail, but about ten minutes in, you find yourself on well-groomed packed-dirt paths meandering through the woods, gaining a little elevation here and there. I forget, sometimes, how hilly the north shore of the island is. We didn't see much in the way of wildlife, though my niece did spot a tiny woodpecker that we watched hammering at a tree for a bit.
We had lunch at Stony Brook Village at little sandwich and ice cream place and poked around there for a while. The was a place called The Writer's Store that I got all excited about, only to discover that it was a stationery and gift store with a side business of printing invitations--almost no pens at all, no journals, no books. Ah well.
For dinner last night, we drove out to Freeport to the Nautical Mile to have dinner at Rachel's Waterside Grill, a restaurant owned by a friend of my brother's whom he's known since high school. He looked good--healthy and together--and the restaurant, which had been destroyed during Hurricane Sandy, looked terrific. The friend treated us to drinks and an appetizer of deep-fried crab rolls with an aoli sauce. We also split a crab cake. I had the seafood paella (with shrimp, lobster, clams and more), which was delicious. And then I was treated to a sip of Frangelico in a tiny dark chocolate cup--a lovely way to top off the meal.
We walked along the street a bit. I saw remnants of Sandy destruction, some of which I photographed. We didn't stick around too long, mainly because it was just very buggy--we were all snacks for the local fauna--and still pretty muggy, but I did stop for postcards at a little souvenir shop, and bought a beautiful map of Long Island as well.
Today, weather permitting, the plan is to head east. Beyond that I know not what the day will bring.