Monday, March 16, 2020

Long Island graves

We said farewell to Clare and Ric and headed off to see some graves. Some of Marianne's ancestors lived in Southold and are buried in the local cemetery.


The most interesting way to get to Southold was via Shelter Island where you take two ferries.


Sag Harbor did not appear to be too interesting and we continued on to the first ferry. We had a wait a few minutes for the next ferry to arrive. There are two ferries in operation so it's not a long wait.


For such a short ferry ride they charge like a wounded bull. $17!


We loaded onto the ferry and it set off.


Shelter Island looked like a nice place.



After a few minutes, we arrived at the other side.



It was a smooth ride but I wondered what it would be like when the weather was bad.


We drove across the island and though we didn't stop, I thought it looked quite attractive. No doubt it would be a good place to spend the summer. We arrived at the north ferry just as it was leaving.


Fortunately, there are two ferries operating and the other was already on its way.



I got out of the car and took a few photos. 


We were the first vehicle onto the ferry so got the prime position.


Oddly, this ferry was $3 cheaper than the south ferry and the ride was longer.


The north shore.





The other ferry heading south to Shelter Island.


We entered the dock and we were the first off.


Marianne has an ancestor on her mother's side, Thomas Reeves, who lived in Southold back in the 17th century. He died in 1682 and is buried somewhere in this cemetery.




More about the cemetery here.


Thomas was not wealthy enough to afford a stone.






Marianne enjoys visiting cemeteries. I don't mind them either.


We then drove to Eastport on the southern side of Long Island.


Yes, another grave, this one at the church in Remsenburg, near Eastport.


We had come to see this grave. I still love reading Wodehouse's books, particularly those featuring Jeeves and Bertie Wooster since they are so gentle and amusing.



His grave is towards the back of the cemetery and is one of the largest.


He loved living in the USA and for various reasons, never set foot in England after 1939. He lived on Basket Neck Lane which runs in front of the church.

For your amusement, you might like to watch the video where Jeeves meets Wooster. Although I never watched Dr House, the Jeeves series really showed off Hugh Laurie's talent.


We did not want to drive all the way home so we headed over to the north shore of Long Island and trundled along route 25A to East Norwich. I would not want to do that drive again since there was a lot of suburban traffic. The area is a bedroom community for New York.

Parts of the drive were quite nice.



The next day it rained so it was a dreadful stop-start drive through New York to New Jersey. However, we really enjoyed our trip to Long Island. It was the break we needed from all the packing and getting the house ready to sell. We stopped at the Aldi to stock up for the isolation period for the Coronavirus. All the checkout lines were in action, but we managed to get everything we needed except for bananas.

Friday, March 13, 2020

Montauk Lighthouse

After dinner on our first evening, we drove the few miles out to the lighthouse at the end of the island.


The lighthouse is at the most easterly point.



At dusk on our first day.


We returned the next afternoon to explore further.


A track down to the water.



A very rocky beach and a bit windy.




We could have walked around the tip on the rocks but discretion overcame valour. I may be 90% recovered but I am wary of that last 10%.






We then drove to the entrance to Lake Montauk.


Entrance to the lake.


Later we drove to the other side.


Harbour entrance.




Clare holds an interesting stone. Look at the elegant way she points her fingers.


A boat comes into the harbour.


At the other side of the harbour entrance.


I suspect it can get quite windy.






We wondered if these were shells.


And yes they are.




We went to a restaurant and had a wonderful calamari salad but the pizzas we ordered were much too bland for us. We found that it is best to arrive about 5:30 pm to get a good table. By the time we left, the joint was jammed.


The train station at dusk. Later that night a train arrived and the light from the engine was so bright it lit up our room. We really enjoyed our time in Montauk. I can imagine it would have been a very popular destination for New Yorkers wanting to escape the heat of summer.