Abundant in raw natural beauty, ocean front views, beautiful and clean beaches the "Fire Island" located in the state of New York, gives a totally city-secluded experience or as I would like to call it " The Perfect Getaway". The island is situated adjacent to the south shore of Long Island(New York). Its around 50 miles in length and just half a mile in width, so its like a strip of land in the middle of the vast stretch of The Atlantic Ocean. The place is crowded most of the summers till the labor day, with people engaging in water sports, biking around the island and baking themselves under the sun !!
Since the beginning of the trip planning, I was curious about the typical nomenclature of this Island. Read about a few reasons , few assumptions about its peculiar christening.. because there is no conclusive detail about it. By the end of the tour I was able to pick the correct reason.. which I would gladly illuminate after I finish describing the beauty and peace of this place.
Any sort of automobile cannot reach the island, nor are they allowed for the people living on it. The only automobiles on the island are for maintenance and security purposes. It can be reached by boats, seaplanes or ferries. A ferry service runs 3 ferries a day(to and fro) to bring and escort back the tourists visiting the island. There are numerous hotels and lodges for staying purposes, and that too, ranging from a three starer to a regular. But don't elevate your expectations about the luxury of stay. The three starers are pretty basic on average standards and the regulars are just decent. The prices of almost everything will be well above normal because of the fact that its an Island and nothing is being cultivated commercially there. All necessary supplies like food, water medicines etc. are brought to the island by ferries. So that explains the high price factor.
The places of stay offer complimentary riding bikes to all their guests. They are the most used means of transportation/commute by tourists as well as residents.. so, just as I imagined, there were bike parking rails outside every house, diner and hotel.. instead of garages or car parking :) There is a main street running in the center of the island and it has most of the diners, shops, hotels , even the police station, school and hospital. All of these are somehow sufficient for 300 residents and thousands of visitors every year. A wooden docking yard is constructed on one side of the island for about half a mile on a long stretch of land form and a sleek but beautiful 50 mile beach runs on the other side. The sand is almost white and very fine.The waters although are rough in the high tide season.
Our stay was at Cleggs hotel which is located right in front of the ferry docking yard. Decent rooms, decent breakfast and the Manager was a very cheerful and helping fellow. He was managing everything along with his family. Most tourists spend the evenings watching sunset at the docking yard or walking riding bikes along the main street. There are play-yards for children with sand boxes and few rides.Some benches line across the docking yard, one can sit and gaze at the full moon and its reflection in the ocean. It is a perfect picture for love-birds :) Since I am more of an early morning person, my ventures into capturing the sunrise are worth reciting. Half a mile ride to the beach, send my pulses racing and increased my anxiety to see something absolutely gorgeous, probably because it was my first sunrise at a beach. When you can see till the horizon, knowing that there is nothing beyond this beach but a vast stretch of ocean, when you can hear the rushing waves as if everything else was absolutely silent and when you can see the sun waking up.. yawning ..coming through the clouds, all that comes to memory are the best times of your life. No wonder I am being poetic in describing what I have seen, If I wasn't I would not have done justice to the beauty of that morning. Not that I have done complete justice even now, the beauty is worth more than my words.
I walked along the empty beach, crossed paths with a bird who probably was on her way finding food. The only other person on the beach that early in the morning was a photographer with his tripod almost half a mile away, waiting for the sun to shine completely. He probably was also looking for a capture of sun's reflection on the beach just as I was, gazing at the horizon. I hope he got lucky as well.
After spending some quality time at the beach at the sunrise, I set out to reach a lighthouse, which is also a historic attraction. Its an eight mile hike and not all on bike, so a little treacherous. The lighthouse gives a panoramic view of the island. I probably spent the whole day riding a bike, was totally exhausted but had the most beautiful views in mind from the morning.. permanently registered in my memory.
I went again for the sunrise , the next day and sat on the beach for couple of hours, enjoying the serenity of the place. Its ironical though.. with such a rough beach(it was high tide) the place still seemed serene :)
Later in the afternoon, we boarded the ferry back to Long Island.
I am sure the pictures are speaking more than my words. I seriously recommend this place to all of those who love such kind of "Getaways" and places of natural beauty.The best time to go would be around the labor day weekend. May be a day after that weekend, so that you can have the beach all for yourself :)
Lastly, about the peculiar nomenclature : Some reasons are :
1. Misinterpretation of a Dutch word "vijf" meaning "five" misheard as "fire"
2. The island derived its name from fires built on the sea's edge by Native Americans or by pirates to lure unsuspecting ships into the sandbars.
3. Sometimes portions of the island look to be on fire from sea in autumn.
4. It comes from the rash caused by poison ivy on the island.
The last one holds true for me, I got a serious poison ivy rash while parking my bike at different locations. So be extremely careful. Carry some calamine lotion with you if you plan a trip here.
I am going there again for "The Perfect Getaway" !!!
