My husband and I have recently began working a new job that entails traveling around parts of the East Coast for a promotional company. We work events for 5 days a week, but we have time to rest every Monday and Tuesday. Because of our insanely difficult workday, we choose to live-it-up on our two days off; and, we are constantly seeking out unique places that allow us the opportunity to really relax.
Our one workweek ended on Long Island, New York, so we did a little research and discovered a place called “Fire Island”. The fact that you cannot drive on the island was the first major attraction to us. Since we are driving from parking lot to parking lot to set up our promotions during the week, this seemed like a great way to get a change of pace.
You arrive to Fire Island by ferry from Long Island. There are a few different towns to choose to vacation on, and we opted for Ocean Beach since it seemed to have the most restaurants and shops. (According to several of the online reviews, we were led to believe that a lot of the other small towns on the islands are more geared towards gay and lesbian couples. I believe that this is true, although we never visited the other parts of the island on this trip.) Once you are on the island, you can walk through town, ride bikes to other adjacent small towns or take a water taxi to really see the entire island.
We took a ferry from Bay Shore, NY. It was a short, scenic ride and it’s pretty affordable at only $17 per person round trip. There’s a relaxing open-air top you can sit on to enjoy the view. We took a minimal amount of luggage, since we knew we would have to walk to our hotel room. (I believe that they charge extra on the ferry if you take more than you can carry on.) When we arrived to the dock, it was just a short walk to our hotel through the main street of town. We had booked a room at the Palms Hotel, which I believe is probably one of the nicest on the island. Normally, we would not have had the budget to be able to afford this place; but they were fortunately running a mid-week special during our visit. We were able to book a two-night stay with a king-bed plus received a $100 gift certificate for a local restaurant – all for around $400. The hotel was adorable, and had a bit of funky décor to boot. We stayed in the Bungalows, a newly built building with about 10 or so rooms. Our “King Room” was basically just that – a tiny room with a king-sized bed. Luckily, we didn’t bring much with us! We did have a private bathroom, which apparently isn’t so typical on the island. The room was very bright, clean and very stylish. The bathroom was oh-so-modern with a nice shower and sink – and the toiletries were seriously the absolute best that I have ever seen in a hotel. Not kidding!! The products were all L’occitaine brand, and if I could afford this in my normal life, I would only use these products solely based on the samples provided by the hotel. There were little details that made an impression on me, such as strawberry-infused water in the outdoor lounge area and chocolates left on our bed when we returned from dinner one night.
The hotel was in a great location – but then again, everything in town really would be, because it is that small of a town. When we settled into our rooms, we were instantly ready to just relax and not worry about work for a couple days. You don’t really have a choice in a town this small. It SCREAMS relaxation (in a very peaceful, quiet voice, of course.) We walked the sidewalks, checking out menus for dinner at the half-dozen or so restaurants. We grabbed a few beers at Maguires, enjoying the cool breeze on their patio and soaking up the sun that started to peek out from behind the cloudy skies. We borrowed the hotel’s bikes and took a short ride to the neighbor town. It was a beautiful day with no traffic, no parking lots and no work.
We chose to go to Island Mermaid our first night for dinner, because they offered half-priced entrees on Monday nights. We sat on their waterfront patio, and the atmosphere was really relaxing. The restaurant wasn’t as awe-inspiring, however. The food was a bit underwhelming, even at the half-off prices. I had a feeling that maybe they were emptying out the food leftover from the weekend since there isn’t much of a crowd on the island on a Monday night. The service was a little cranky, if not just plain rude. We did spoil ourselves to appetizers, entrees, desserts, wine and even after-dinner coffee drinks – but if I had to rate this place, I would probably say to save your money and just grab lunch there to enjoy the patio.
We hung with the locals that evening, and slung back a few drinks at a favorite bar called Castaways. The next morning, we were slow rising. When we finally did stir, we could hear our neighbors also “stirring” – if you know what I mean. Let’s just say they could have probably invested a few more bucks on better insulation between the rooms.
We headed down to the Island Mermaid again, but this time just to visit the little grocery store next door. It houses a small deli that made highly recommended breakfast sandwiches. This was the perfect breakfast to aid in recovery from a long night of drinking, and I savored every bite of it while sitting on a bench with a fantastic view of the water. Next, we took the free bikes from the hotel on a ride around. We were planning on visiting the Lighthouse, but it turns out that bikes can’t go all the way there because the pathways turn into sandy beaches. So, we turned to go the other direction and pretty much immediately got hit with raindrops. Good effort was made, but more rest must be what the good lord was calling for. We returned the bikes at our hotel, and retired back to the room for a little more R&R.
The rain poured for the rest of the evening, and unfortunately, we were unable to have dinner at Maguires since they shut due to weather. We chose to go back to Castaways, because everything that we saw being served the night before looked tasty. It was the right choice for sure. We used our $100 gift certificate from the hotel, and it was just the right amount. Their oysters and clams were on happy hour until 6, so we savored a few for our appetizer. The pear salad was one of the best I have tasted, and we both couldn’t resist ordering the Fra Diablo for our main entrees. The perfect red sauce combined with an abundance of deliciously fresh shellfish made this something to write home about (hence, why I am writing about it right now).
Our stomachs full (and mine somewhat uncomfortable from the indulgence), we returned to our hotel room to pack up for the next morning’s exit. It rained and rained and was still raining in the morning, but we trudged through the rivers in the street to get a warm cup of coffee from the deli again. We caught the 11:00am ferry back to the mainland. I was sad to leave without having the opportunity to see more of the towns on the island, but there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll be sure to visit Fire Island again on one of our East Coast adventures.