Sometimes you just need to get away. Sometimes the act of getting away is more important than the destination.
I had been feeling that way. I needed to move, I needed to get away from my life, my situation, my world. I needed water, but I needed new water, different water.
I loaded ReggieFace up in the truck and, after a fairly unpleasant stop at work, got on I-95 and headed north. I would be lying if I told you that I had NO idea where I was headed but I would also be lying if I told you that I knew exactly where I was headed.
I am a Nelson DeMille fan. While that may seem like a bit of a non-sequitur at this point, it will become clear shortly. More than being just a Nelson DeMille fan, I am a John Corey fan. John Corey is one of Mr. DeMille’s characters and the first book where we meet John Corey is called Plumb Island and takes place on the North Fork of Long Island.
I am a bit of a nerd in many ways and one of those ways is I love to go and see the places that are featured in my favorite books.
I will pause to adjust my thick, held together with a Band-Aid glasses and stuff another pen in my pocket protector while you, my loyal readers, groan and roll your eyes.
Are you done? Ok, good.
Where was I? Oh yes.
With that in mind it really didn’t surprise me all that much when I found myself passing through NYC and headed out to Long Island.
I didn’t really know what to expect. I am not a New York guy. Sure, I have been there. Both to NYC and upstate, but I had never been on Long Island, I don’t really consider NYC to be anywhere in my vacation plans… ever. In fact, besides passing through the airport I think the last time I was in NYC was after a Thanksgiving that I spent with my sister and her family in New Jersey many years ago.
I digress.
I didn’t really know what to expect and, for most of the drive, I got just that. Nothing.
I was on the Long Island expressway headed east towards the Long Island that I “knew” from Mr. DeMille’s books and from USA Network shows. The western part of the island was pretty much… well… it was late at night and I was on an express way so… I’m not really sure what to say.
I stopped at a hotel right at the mouth of the Great Peconic Bay, had a drink, got some sleep, and started out the next day.
My first exploration was the North Fork, so heavily featured in Plumb Island. I didn’t have a tour guide or any real idea of what I was going to see, but I had just re-read that book so I had some places that I wanted to see.
I went out to Orient Point and saw the Plumb Island ferry terminal. It looked closed. Not just not open but CLOSED. Turns out, Plumb Island is FOR SALE by the government…
(Mr. DeMille, if you are reading… hint hint)
I went to the Horton Point Lighthouse and a few other locales.
However, the day was miserable and cloudy foggy, wet and nasty so my exploration of the North Fork was abbreviated. It is, mostly, as Mr. DeMille described it. Sleepy, rural, quaint, charming, and overrun with wineries… which may bring in a lot of money but as he says in the book, “…put up a winery and you get ten thousand wine sipping yuppie slime from the nearest urban center; never fails.” All in all, the North Fork is, I believe, someplace that I would like to visit again. Maybe take some more time there at a time when a little more is going on.
I stopped at a modern bar and grille that served decent food and was trying VERY hard to be ye olde. I had been on the prowl for John Corey’s hangouts but, as it turns out, those places are either made up or have gone out of business. The book was written in 1997… for those of you that don’t know… that was a while ago.
The next day, I headed to the Hampton’s. It wasn’t much of a trip. Really just a decent drive out to Montauk Point. I wanted to see the Hamptons… to this day I don’t really know why… maybe fascination with a part of society that I don’t expect to have much to do with.
I stopped and got coffee at a neat little coffee shop, Hampton Coffee, and then headed through the Hamptons to Montauk Point.
WOW… Just Wow.
I didn’t get into the lighthouse, I had ReggieFace with me, but the rock beach and the beautiful blue sky and the quaintness of the town… just… wow. I walked down to the water and, probably contrary to city ordinance, park rules, New York law, etc, I let Reggie run. Straight down to the water, which was where I was heading. I felt… well… exactly what I was hoping to feel. Water. The ocean. New water. A place I hadn’t been before. Sure, it is a well established state park in an extremely touristy part of the country but it was new to me.
On the way back to the Hamptons I found some un paved side roads that I thought may lead me to the beach but, alas, they didn’t.
I explored them for a while, trying to give Freyja the workout that she needed, then headed to a restaurant that did a much better job of being ye olde. The burger was delicious and the bill was outrageous…
You gotta love New York.
I headed home the next day… a short trip to be sure but mission accomplished nonetheless. It isn’t always how long or how demanding or how far off the beaten path you are.
Sometimes it is just that you aren’t at home.
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