From the Seashore to Saint Paul's

Yesterday's festivities didn't end with the reception. The father of the bride convinced R and two other buddies to join him for late night Korean fried chicken at Pelicana Chicken in Bayside (open 'til 2AM!). Guess R and RH thought they could still eat like they did when they were college roommates, which was more than *30* years ago?! 🤣

160 miles

As much as I would have liked to join them, I stayed behind to finish packing and get some sleep because I knew that we had a lot of driving ahead of us. Even though it's nowhere near the mileage we usually cover on a typical road trip, today would be our longest day in the car on this vacation. 

After a quick breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and started the one-hour drive east on I-495 to the William Floyd Estate in Mastic Beach, arriving around 10:00AM. From the parking lot, we hiked in along a short trail through the woods to take a quick peek at Old Mastic House, but only from the outside since it is currently closed for renovations. Always the goofball, R was waving his hands around, pretending to fight off ticks and mosquitos, when his wedding ring flew off his finger and landed somewhere beside the trail. Thankfully, he found it pretty quickly. And he's especially fortunate that it didn't end up in any poison ivy! 

Old Mastic House

In 1718, Richard Floyd acquired 4400 acres of land for the family plantation in Mastic, building a 6-room colonial house on the property. His grandson William inherited the property in 1755. Most notably, William served as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses and was one of four New Yorkers to sign the Declaration of Independence. The Old Mastic House remained in the Floyd family for nine generations, undergoing several architectural changes in the intervening years. The family donated the remaining acreage of the estate, as well as the house and all of its contents, to the National Park Service in 1976.

After finishing up here, we drove back to the William Floyd Parkway and continued to its southern terminus on Fire Island and the easternmost portion of Fire Island National Seashore. First established in 1964 and expanded in 1980, the park protects 26 miles of the 32-mile long barrier island. 

Rather than pay for beach parking ($18) at Smith Point County Park, we pulled into a short-term parking spot (free!) right next to the Wilderness Visitor Center. We went inside to get my passport stamp and take in the views from the observation platform.

Looking west into the Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness
Atlantic Ocean (left) and Great South Bay (right)

Lifeguard training

Because the ranger said that the park headquarters in Patchogue was closed for the Juneteenth holiday, we didn't bother to detour for the stamps there and instead headed straight west on the Sunrise Highway (NY 27) towards the other end of Fire Island NS. After checking out some restaurant reviews online while driving in the car, we decided to stop at Chiddy's Cheesesteaks in West Islip for lunch. Good choice!

Top: Build Your Own - crispy chicken, mozzarella, and marinara (me)
Bottom: Squealin' Philly minus the sauteed onions (R) and apple pie empanada

After lunch, we continued south on the causeway to Robert Moses State Park and parked in the Field 5 lot for a much more reasonable fee ($10). We slathered on sunscreen, donned our hats, and then started walking east on the boardwalk to the Fire Island Lighthouse (~0.75 miles).

This is what 28+ years together looks like.

Atlanic Ocean, dunes, and shrubs in the interdunal swale

Completed in 1858, the Fire Island Lighthouse stands at 168 feet, the tallest of the more than 20 lighthouses on Long Island. But we weren't able to take advantage of our stair training for the Statue of Liberty and climb the 182 steps to the top since the tower was closed for repairs. 

After it was decommissioned in 1973, the lighthouse fell into disrepair. Through the efforts of the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society, it was restored to its 1939 condition, relit, and reinstated as an official aid to navigation in 1986. Two 1000-watt bulbs appear to flash every 7.5 seconds, which is visible for more than 20 miles.

Look familiar? This is the post office where Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones)
worked post-neuralyzation in Men In Black II 

After getting the stamp from the gift shop, we went through the exhibits in the Keeper's Quarters. I was really fascinated to learn about how Fire Island was formed by ocean currents constantly moving sand towards the southwest. When the lighthouse was originally built in 1825, it was located on the western tip of the island, but littoral drift has added more than 5 miles to its length since then. However, since the inlet is now dredged regularly, Fire Island has stopped growing. 

Then we went over to the Lens Building next door for a quick look at the first-order Fresnel lens that was used in the tower from 1858 to 1933. I couldn't help but hear Helen Reddy singing "Candle on the Water" in my head when I saw it.

Seeing an inverted image of R through the lens

By now it was almost 2:00PM, so we walked back to the car and started the ~50-mile drive to Eastchester, just northeast of the Bronx. We headed west on the Southern State Parkway, north on the Cross Island Parkway, and then across Throgs Neck Bridge ($10.17 toll with I-PASS) to I-95 North. We arrived at Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site just after 3:30PM.

In honor of Juneteenth, the park had special activities scheduled for today. We joined a very enthusiastic volunteer on a tour of the church and the cemetery. 

We learned that construction of the church began in 1763, replacing the wooden meeting house which had been in use since the 1690s. Although the founders of the parish were Puritans (dissenters against the Church of England), the British established the Anglican Church here in the early 1700s in order to better manage the Royal Colony of New York. 

When the American Revolution broke out, the church had only been partially completed, with most of the exterior in place. Because of its location just north of the British headquarters in New York City and just south of the Continental Army's encampments in Westchester County, both sides would sporadically use the unfinished church building as a field hospital, barracks, and supply depot during the war. 

After the war, the parishioners resumed construction and completed the building in 1787. It was officially named St. Paul's Episcopal Church in 1795 and remained a house of worship until 1977. The National Park Service assumed ownership in 1980.

In 1942, the church was restored to its 18th century appearance

The bench seating was removed and pew boxes were reinstalled.
The sanctuary was reoriented 90° towards the pulpit instead of the altar.

Pipe organ in the balcony

By the time we finished the tour, it was almost 5:00PM. So we started our drive into Manhattan via I-95 and I-278, ending up on Park Avenue south to Mount Sinai Medical Center. R's childhood friend MH kindly offered to host us for the night, so we parked the rental car in the hospital garage and schlepped our stuff a couple blocks to his place on the Upper East Side.

Oh, did I mention that it was a 5th floor walkup? 😰

Lugging our suitcases up the stairs was almost harder than climbing up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty! MH must keep himself in good shape, but it's hard to imagine how he ever got his apartment furnished... "PIVOT! PIVOT!"

After freshening up, we headed back down the stairs to walk over to meet R's cousin D for dinner. Many thanks to my high school classmate for recommending the Barking Dog - what a lovely evening to dine al fresco!

ʻOhana in NYC!

We finally got to see MH when he got home from the airport. Before we left for our trip, R met up with MH while he was in SoCal visiting his dad to pick up his house keys so that we could let ourselves in since we would beat him back to New York. So fun to spend time with one of R's oldest friends!