The Long Island Blog

This Memorial Day weekend was s busy one for me, but I did manage to spend a little time in Southold and Greenport on Long Island’s north fork. Of course I had my camera with me…

Whenever I visit Greenport I park on 3rd St. by the Shelter Island ferry dock and East End Seaport Museum. This saves me the headache of dealing with the impossible parking situation on Rt. 25/Main St..

By chance this time I ended up parked directly in front of the Chowder Pot Pub. I’ve never been there before and the temptation was irresistible. I sat on the deck outside overlooking Greenport Harbor, had a pint and some wings, and enjoyed some live music too. Not bad at all…

Then I took a walk around town and stopped by Crabby Jerry’s. This is right next door to Claudio’s Clam Bar (so close that I could hear their band) and much less crowded. There I enjoyed a pint of Greenport Harbor Brewing Summer Ale while watching the boats come and go and the crazy crowds at Claudio’s.

It was back to Chowder Pot for a quick snack and then back to mom’s house in Southold.

The Chowder Pot Pub.

The band caught me taking their picture.

A creative billboard near the ferry terminal.

My view of Claudio's from Crabby Jerry's.

A man and his miniature horse near a vineyard in Southold. (Very, very cool.)

Just when you thought the town of Greenport couldn’t get any cooler someone goes and starts a brewery.

I had heard about Greenport Harbor Brewing Company but didn’t think it was open yet. I drove by last weekend to see how things were coming and, well, see for yourself:

Right next to the jail behind Sweet Indulgences

The tasting room

In the tasting room you can taste beer, and buy pint glasses, tee shirts, bumper stickers…

First impressions: The beer (3 ales the day I was there) is excellent, and co-founder Richard Vandenburgh (in the doorway above) is an enthusiastic and gracious host. I expect good things to come.

Greenport Harbor Brewing Company
234 Carpenter Street
631-477-6681

More about Greenport

You have no idea how bad I want to buy this tractor. If you’ve driven on Rt. 25 on the north fork lately you may have seen it. Never mind that I have no idea what I would actually do with it (other than ride in circles in my backyard). I just want it. Only $2500! It’s killing me to just let it sit there.

I’ve had this infection ever since I was a kid. I think it started after my first trip to City of Glass on Melville road. Do you remember those giant green houses? There’s nothing but condos there now. It was either that or the TV show “Modern Farmer.” At 6am every Saturday I was glued to the television.

If you’re into this farm stuff like I am you might want to check out The Barns of the North Fork. The book documents all 734 of Long Island’s north fork barns and includes beautiful photographs of 150 of them. It’s much cheaper that a tractor and takes up a lot less room too.

Remember that vineyard I showed you last week? Well, bud break is in full swing there now. The leaves are small, but they’ll grow like mad until the vines flower and produce fruit.

The warm weather not only stirs activity in the vines, but in the vineyards as well. There’s work to be done from now until harvest and beyond.

This is also the time of year when people end their winter hibernation and start exploring Long Island wine country. If you’ve never been to a tasting room before and feel a little intimidated, no bother, just read this bit about Long Island wine tasting and relax. If you already know the drill, then consider taking a chauffer driven Long Island wine tour.

On a trip to Southold to visit my mom on this very warm weekend past, I saw this small, recently pruned Long Island vineyard waiting to bloom.

This is the same vineyard I saw in January covered with snow. The difference between then and now is amazing.

This is how it looked in January. Cold and gnarly.

And now in April at least the grass is green and the vines are pruned.

Buds, but no leaves yet

Give it a week or so and I’ll bet there’ll be leaves on these vines.

Here’s to the warm weather!

I was tooling around in wine country yesterday afternoon and got to enjoy a little snowy scenery in Southold.

This little vineyard is right around the block from my mom’s house. Passing it on my way home in the snowstorm, I snapped this picture in the blue light of dusk.

On Sunday afternoon I drove to my parent’s house in Southold on Long Island’s north fork for our traditional Father’s Day BBQ. Dad passed a few years ago, but I still look forward to spending Father’s Day with my mom and relaxing with my kids. My mom’s house is just a block from the beach and is the perfect place…

I’ve been making this short trip routinely since my folks moved from Massapequa ten years ago and you know how it is with things like this, the car knows the way and you really don’t pay much attention to landmarks anymore. You pull out of one driveway and next thing you know your pulling in to another.

Lately however, I’ve been noticing something strange. Something I’ve been looking at for years but never really saw: The Custer Institute and the Indian Museum are directly across the street from one another.

Heading west from Greenport on 25 you’ll see this sign. Looks like something from a Far Side cartoon doesn’t it?

Seems odd doesn’t it? Custer killed a lot of Indians and in the end was killed by them. But there you have it, the two of them side by side on Main Bayview Road in Southold.

Established in 1927, The Custer Institute is Long Island’s oldest public observatory and was founded by General George Custer’s grandniece, hence the name. The institute is still very active, perhaps more than ever, offering lectures, programs and workshops in astronomy, physics, geology, paleontology and archeology.

The Southold Indian Museum is small but important as it houses the largest collection of Algonquin ceramic pottery anywhere. The museum also owns a 63 acre flint mine in Coxsackie, NY that has been in use for over 7000 years. That’s pretty cool.

I’ll post more info when I actually stop in and visit instead of just driving by. The irony still gets me though…

Did a little pumpkin picking on Long Island’s north fork this past weekend. We fought traffic, crowds, and heat, but had a wonderful time. (It’s all part of the experience.)

I associate pumpkins with flannel shirts and hot soup, not short sleeves and sweat.

The brutally hot weather we had is not all that unusual for this time of year, but this is October and I was hoping for a brisk autumn day.

Left: Every year the pumpkins get uglier and uglier. (Can’t say much about the picker either.) This alien green one came home with us.

Mother Nature gave us blue skies and a lot of sunshine instead, so who am I to argue?

Our first stop was Harbes Family Farm where we picked our pumpkins, walked the corn maze, and had a lunch of roasted corn and fresh pressed apple cider.

Next, we stopped at a few of Long Island’s outstanding wineries. If money were not an issue I’d have a wine cellar stocked with all of my favs…

We also made a stop at Sang Lee Farms for some fresh Long Island Apples, and the Little Cigar Factory for some hand made cigars. I’m not a cigar smoker, but once in a while I’ll have one just to remind myself how much I hate those darn things. (Don’t ask, I don’t understand it either.)

Then we ended the day with a nice dinner at the Modern Snack Bar — not fine dining, but I’ve never felt more at home.

We filled two of these carts for a total of 150lbs of pumpkins.

If you haven’t picked your pumpkins yet, finding a place couldn’t be easier. There are signs everywhere for U-Pick style pumpkin farms, and if you want to combine pumpkin picking with wine tasting then just head out to the north fork. Drive east on 25 or 48, and you can’t miss.