City Portraits - Shelter Island

Photo by myself on Shelter Island, an island off of Long Island, New York.

Lawns, water views and pretty houses typify this popular summer spot a couple hours outside New York City.

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Just a few photos from our weekend in Shelter Island, where Mark and I were this weekend for a friend's wedding. The weather turned out to be perfect after an initial overcast spell.

There isn't much of a beach on this island. Instead, the water's edge is irregular and often appears at the back or front yards of peoples' homes. You'll find boats pulled up next to houses large and small, and private docks.





The wedding took place at an large, old hotel near the water. The view was very pretty, and dinner was served against a sunset backdrop. The decoration was casual yet elegant, perfect for an outdoor summer wedding.

When the sun finally went down, the whole sky was filled with bright stars. New Yorkers don't see stars often, so this was an unsettling treat!


Shelter Island is comparable to The Hamptons, a well-known summer spot for New Yorkers. For whatever reason, Shelter Island is much less of a social scene, and it's much less congested. There are not nearly as many stores, though the ones there are tasteful.


Above: The interiors of Coastal Cottage, a home furnishings store on Grand Avenue.

City Portraits is an ongoing, once-in-a-while installment featuring parts of New York.

Related posts: City Portraits - The High Line, Chelsea, City Portraits - Washington Square Park and City Portraits - BBQ Block Party, Madison Square Park.

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On South Ferry and Shelter Island

Photo by myself at the southern tip of Manhattan.

Fishermen had cast their lines into the ocean and were waiting for the first nibble. Beyond, the Statue of Liberty.

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Mark and I are off for a long weekend in Shelter Island, for a friend's wedding. I'm looking forward to the trip. Shelter Island is one of my favorite places and we're bound to have a nice, relaxing time.

On the eastern end of Long Island, Shelter Island is not directly accessible by car. We'll have to drive, then board a ferry. The island is covered with pretty lawns and quiet country roads and old houses.

Shelter Island a popular summer spot for New Yorkers, but not nearly as crowded a scene as the Hamptons. I'll take some photos while I'm there.

Meanwhile, I'll be bringing my computer and I'll continue posting here. Happy Friday, everyone!

Related posts: The View of Liberty, Gone Fishin and Greetings from New York.

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Unleashed in Long Island

Photo by myself on the Long Island Expressway.

This view is a little deceptive. The brick church is in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. To the left of it, you can see the Empire State Building. Between the two is the East River.

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It was a beautiful Fall day today, so Mark, Rupert and I took a trip out to Long Island to visit Mark's mom, out in Long Island.

The trees are showing their gorgeous foliage, and there were many leaves on the ground. Rupert had a blast running around on the grass.

City pup no more!

Here's a video Mark threw together this afternoon, the whiz that he is. Enjoy!



Related posts: On Fish, Cats and Dogs, On Bowling and Critters and Boston (Terrier) in New York.

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Is it Hot Enough For You?

Photo by myself this weekend of a shingled summer house by the shore, in Greenport, Long Island.

Greenport is a small town on the northern fork of Long Island. Montauk is located at the very end of the southern fork.

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New York is currently experiencing an early heat wave. It's been hot and humid in the 90's. From first thing in the morning to late at night, it's been uncomfortably hot. All you hear outside is the hum of air conditioning.

I feel bad for the guys who wear suits to work. Mark is lucky to wear long shorts, short sleeved shirts and sneakers. 'Dressed up' for him means and untucked, button down shirt.

There aren't tons of suits in my neighborhood, but I see them on the subway and on the platform, standing uncomfortably still.

They look like short-haired pointers in the field - unwavering and anxious, trying to catch the breeze generated by passing trains and pedestrians. The platforms are oppressively hot nowadays, though not nearly as bad as they will be a month from now.

Yes, and the stations have begun to reek. Portions of stairways and streets smell of human urine or garbage, depending on the breeze and time of day. It's just all too close, too hot, too humid. And it's not even officially summer yet.

Tonight was very, very hot and humid, as Mark and I sauntered home from dinner. It felt like we were trailing behind a bus, or any other large piece of machinery. Once again, I had eaten too much, and I was being led by my distended tummy as we walked leisurely down the slope that Park Slope is known for.

It was all we could do to keep our thoughts cool and pleasant. Only yesterday, we were walking along farm stands, two city slickers picking out pints of freshly picked strawberries. And now here we were, stumbling along the hot asphalt, home.


Related posts: Montauk, The End

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Summering with Gatsby

Photo by myself at the Ram's End Inn, on Shelter Island.

A long table with place settings was prepared for a civilized luncheon.

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Over the weekend, Mark and I went to a party thrown by one of his work associates, in celebration of her tenth wedding anniversary.

The theme was 'The Great Gatsby', and the setting was gorgeous. If you remember the book, Gatsby was set in West Egg, a fictional wealthy summer playground for New Yorkers. Guests were encouraged to come in 1920's garb.

The party was held at The Ram's Head Inn which looks like a large, old cottage, nestled among lawns, gardens and tennis courts. The Inn is located on Shelter Island, a small island off the northern part of Long Island. To get there by car, we had to board a car ferry.

Mark and I were overwhelmed by the drive up - there are wineries, farms and pretty shingle style summer houses. Long winding roads were shaded by trees, and at times you could see the glimmer of the ocean through the greenery.



With the heat and humidity, Mark and I motored along with the windows down most of the time, until it became absolutely unbearable. What struck us the most was that there was no 'scene'. There was no swarm of fashionable people, just peaceful quiet and the unmistakable smell of flowers. We were in the country, and it was beautiful.

I must have gotten carried away with the sangria and chit chat - almost none of my photos show people, and many were blurry. I was woefully underdressed, not having given much thought to the occasion. Some of the women wore nice dresses, a couple sporting hats. One fella wore a seersucker suit (!).

In the end, I had a good time. After lunch, many of us drove to a nearby beach to wade and lie about. Both Mark and I were so naturally tired at the end of the day, we stumbled back to our motel and slept deeply.

Sunday morning, we got up to motor around and admire all the beautiful houses. Then we bought some delicious fresh produce and a homemade blueberry pie at a farmhouse stand, and made the long, hot, drive back to the city.



Day trips are easily accessible destinations just outside the five boroughs of New York City.

Related posts: Life's a Beach, Mission Suspended and Giving Thanks.

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Vacating the City

Photo by myself at the beach in Long Island.

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Mark and I are off to nearby Shelter Island this weekend to attend a friend's anniversary party. Shelter Island is a small island off of Long Island, where many New Yorkers own summer houses. Mark and I will have to drive Clive, his Mini Cooper, onto a car ferry to get to it.

The theme is Great Gatsby garden party. I hope to get some great photos of people all dressed up in preppy outfits and some beautiful summer houses.

This weekend is rumored to get very hot, in the 90's. The nice weather in New York tends to come and go very quickly. In the summer, the city is known for being hot and humid.

People dread the hot days, especially the subway stations, which become intolerable at times. As an antidote, I'm posting this photo, which evokes cool sea breezes.

I hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend!

Day trips are easily accessible destinations just outside the five boroughs of New York City.

Related posts: Life's a Beach and Montauk, The End .

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Life's A Beach

Photo by myself in Sunken Meadow, a state park in Long Island.

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New York beaches kick off the summer season with Memorial Day weekend. It was the first working day for life guards, though the waters won't be bearable for a couple months. The water temperatures for Long Island are typically in the mid-50's at this time.

Sunken Meadow is one of many beaches relatively close to the city. It's a state park with huge grass fields, areas for picnics and barbecues, and even a 27-hole golf course.

Wooden life guard posts are set up along a pristine beach, and a tidy boardwalk runs for nearly a mile along the shore. No one was in the water today, but there were a couple volleyball games in progress and many folks walking along the boardwalk.

The New York State Parks website lists 72 state parks that have beaches. The more well-known of these include Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Park.

Day trips are easily accessible destinations just outside the five boroughs of New York City.

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Mission Suspended

Photo by myself in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. There are a number of metal and industrial yards in this neighborhood.

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Happy President's Day, everyone. It feels great to have a day off.

Yesterday, Mark and I were overly ambitious with our trip to Long Island.

The original plan was to drive up to the 'North Fork' of the island and possibly take the ferry to the 'South Fork'. The island tapers off to the east into a couple jagged fingers. Montauk Point, also known as 'The End' is on located on the South Fork.

I was sold on the concept. Mark said there are a number of sod farms along the North that are visually striking - acres of flat land are covered in sod, with a farmhouse in the background. I was looking forward to taking photos of stunning summer homes and the water on the boat ride.

Alas, just as we got some distance from the city, the sky became completely overcast. The roads were lined with brown grass, brown bushes and brown trees. There was the occasional evergreen, but the overall feeling was 'ick'. So we turned around and drove home.

Mark says that Clive, his Mini Cooper, is the perfect 'touring car', meaning he motors well along scenic, twisty turny roads. Mark is also convinced that since Clive was assembled in England, that he does especially well on twisty turny roads in the rain. Hm.

All I know is that the ride was so comfy, I fell asleep on the way home.


For more on Clive, click here and here.

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Giving Thanks

Part One
We had Thanksgiving in Long GUYland. For fun, we took a long, scenic drive down twisty turny roads. Mark's poor mom was crammed in the backseat of Clive, despite my pleading with her to trade places.

We are both Virgos, the sign of whiny self-sacrifice.

'No, really, I'd rather sit back there', I said.

'That's okay, you're taking pictures. It's my turn.' This conversation took place no less than four times.

To those who haven't had the joy of sitting in the back seat of a Mini Cooper, it is not terrible. It is a snug, reassuring fit that says 'you're not going anywhere'. The only trouble is getting out. The front seat slides forward a smidge, just enough space to dangle one leg out. How to then extract the rest of the body is sheer acrobatics.

The three of us had a simple dinner - stuffed cabbage, mashed potatoes and a purchased Napoleon cake that looked tastier than it was. It was only the three of us and without a turkey, it didn't feel like Thanksgiving. But there was more nostalgia than usual.

It was the 44th anniversary of Kennedy's assasination. Mark's mom had been outside the New York Public Library on 42nd Street, when she'd heard the news. We drank red wine. I saw wedding photos from 1965. There were real bouffant hairdos and gossip about those pictured - how their lives turned out, which ones might have been gay.

Mark and I drove home stuffed, without any traffic. In all, it was a nice night.

Part Two
This morning, NY1 reported there were less than 500 murders in New York this year, the lowest in 40 years (woohoo). Pat Kiernan said that only 35 of those killed didn't know their killers. Hm. Somehow that does not make me feel safer.

While we're at the statistics, The New York Sun reported the average Manhattan weekly salary is the highest in the country, at $2,800, which is $1,000 more than second place, Fairfield County, Connecticuit. That's per week, folks, and it's the billionaires and Wall Street-ers that skew the average. $2,800 per week works out to just under $150,000 per year.

Hullo, this is an average!! Too bad that it wasn't clear if the population included non-working Manahattanites, like students, elderly folks squirreled in rent-controlled apartments, babies, and stay-at-homers.

But still. $2,800 per week means $560 per day, which is a lot. Not enough for one night in a 300 sf room at The Mercer ($630 a night), but enough for a lesser grade, $300 per night hotel and some fancy meals. Maybe just enough for a spacious apartment, a gym membership, nice meals out, a closet full of Jimmy Choos, cab rides home, a kid in a private school, a nanny. I'd have to do the math.

I guess I fall somewhere in-between - I stand an equal, distant chance between being murdered, as I do living the high life. Despite what people think, the architect's life is not a cushy one.

I am thankful that I don't have to worry about paying the rent, or my electric bill. I can feed a homeless cat as well as the one at home. I might not have a tremendous wardrobe, but I can live in the city of my dreams. At least for now.

Photos by myself, around Long Island.

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The Mawl

Photo by myself of the George Washington Bridge.

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I should have had my camera with me today. Mark and I drove out to Long Island to visit his mother and do a little shopping. Yes, we went to 'Long Island' (Lawng G-eye-land) to 'the mawl'.

Everyone makes fun of Long Island. It's hard to resist mocking the accent. Not everyone there has one (Mark grew up there and doesn't have a trace of it), but those who do are worthy targets. The stereotypical women bleach their hair and wear it BIG, sport lots of big jewelry, and drive big fancy cars.

We didn't run into any of those Long Island ladies. Oh well. Fortunately, we arrived at the mawl early enough to get a parking space and got out before encountering the crowd. It was a guerilla shopping mission that could've gone much better if my phone were working.

Anyhow, the drive there was beautiful - twisty-turny roads, charming houses and lots of trees turning orange. We drove through Cold Spring Harbor, for lunch, which was gorgeous. A whole bunch of non-big haired people were standing on the sidewalks of an adorable old town. Almost everyone had a dog on a leash, and most of the dogs were dressed in Halloween costumes. It was a missed photo-op. Drat!

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Montauk, The End

The other day, Mark drove and I sat beside him, in a Dramamine-induced haze. It was only the first week of January, but because the world is coming to an end, the weatherpeople were predicting a record high of 70 degrees. And so we decided it was time to revisit nature, traveling through the Hamptons on to Montauk, the eastern tip of Long Island, where we’d hit water and have to turn back.

But because the air was so warm, and the water a bit less so, there was nothing but fog for us to see. As we wound along the generous roads, I could make out the twisting trunks of old trees alongside and the tidy lawns of well-to-do lives in the background. Everything was quiet and misted over, and I felt like I was looking at the insides of my brain.

We sped through Southampton, then Bridgehampton, then East Hampton, with all the fancy stores in between. Gradually, the trees shriveled and crept away from the road, to tussle with the brush and tall grasses. The road bucked and struggled a little, as if in protest, and suddenly it gave way, to finish in a long swooping curve. We’d reached ‘The Point’, or ‘The End’, as they call it, the end of the road.

We circled, hopeful to catch a glimmer of the water meeting the horizon. But the road kept going and we kept following it and eventually, we were home.

Day trips are easily accessible destinations just outside the five boroughs of New York City.
Photo by Evilcabeza.

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