Long Island has lost a bit of it's luster for me in the most recent years. I'm reminded of two people gone from this earth every time I even think of that island. I see places they took me and memories come flooding back to me. The shops that would always be a destination. The restaurant where they let me order my very first cappuccino. The house I have been visiting for over thirty years that is now on the market... I can hear their voices so clearly. So much more so than I can in my own home state. I did a lot of driving on Saturday and spent a lot of time with those voices... Replaying conversations in my head so as to cement them there. But those two people are no longer on Long Island and so the place feels a bit like a ghost town. Empty some how even though it's the furthest thing from it. The excitement I've felt my entire life when heading there is no more.
And yet, go there I do. So much of my family is there and they have many reasons to celebrate and so we come and we celebrate with them. A high school graduation of a cousin being this particular one. Due to the nature of this past weekend and a certain holiday we made sure to allot many hours for traffic and so naturally we hit no traffic and there was significant time to kill. We had a good lunch (subs are heros are hoagies) and then headed north to explore some coastal areas. Cold Spring Harbor was where we spent the majority of the day. Walking around the antique shops and exploring the small beach. Oh and a spirits tasting and the firetruck museum. Can't forget the firefrucks.
After enough time was killed we headed back towards the party. We saw the graduate and the kids played basketball and just generally ran around outside which I've recently discovered might be the answer to my prayers. They were amazingly well behaved. David chased around a very expensive looking remote controlled truck and we ate a lot of good food and had a nice visit with our New Yorkers. Until it was time to turn around and this time meet the traffic on the way home again.
Side note: David can stay up till 11:30 p.m. as long as he has YouTube.
Till we see you again Long Island!