1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die (35 page)

Deep-Sea Fishing and Thalassotherapy

Long Island, New York

At the very farthest reach of Long Island, the narrow spear of land that separates the Atlantic Ocean from Long Island Sound, lies Montauk, nominally part of the Hamptons (see p. 160) but in flavor light-years apart
. The landscape changes from well-tended towns and farmland to windswept, barren terrain where the beach is wider, the surf is stronger, and you’re never more than a mile from water.

Montauk is a prime destination for sport fishermen after deep-sea trophies like giant bluefin tuna and marlin. Its remote location at the tip of the island is what gives Montauk some of the best deep-sea fishing in the Northeast—25 miles out and you will be where the big fish lurk.

Just as long as vacationers have been coming here, the place to stay has been Gurney’s Inn, a rambling (slightly old-fashioned) resort with wondrous views of the ocean. Its newly renovated International Health and Beauty Sea Water Spa offers European-style thalassotherapy—the use of seawater and seaweed to bathe, shower, rub, and scrub the body into a more purified state. Even its indoor Olympic-size pool is filled with heated salt water.

The picturesque (and much photographed) red and white Montauk Point Lighthouse, commissioned by Congress in 1792, still warns boats away from its shores. The 1860 Keepers
House details the lonely life of the lighthouse keeper, and you can climb the 110-foot tower to get the area’s grandest view.

Montauk’s Ditch Plains Beach is revered as one of the best surfing beaches in America, second only to the more fabled venues of Hawaii and California. Offshore rocks are the secret here, causing the waves to wrap around and result in pipelines that promise long, fast rides.

No surprise that seafood is the fare of choice in town, and no seafood house has a better pedigree than Gosman’s Dock, a true Montauk institution that has evolved from a simple chowder stand into a complex of waterside restaurants (from the outdoor Clam Bar to the still-casual but more expensive Gosman’s Dock Restaurant). Its always-busy seafood shop sells everything fresh off the boat, and the best potato salad and coleslaw in the Hamptons. Gosman’s Dock doesn’t take reservations, but the wait for the famous fisherman’s platter is worth it.

Ten miles west of Montauk is Amagansett, staunchly un-Hamptons-like in character. Its Lobster Roll (affectionately known as “Lunch” because of the 1950s-era sign perched on the roof) is the essential seafood shack with long lines for its clam chowder, steamers, and plump lobster rolls, which are eaten at wood-benched tables. Scrumptuous pies remind you of Long Island’s farmland heritage, with thick lumpy fillings of seasonal fruit.

The Montauk Point Lighthouse was first lit in 1797.

W
HERE:
110 miles east of New York City.
Visitor info:
Tel 631-668-2428;
www.montaukchamber.com
.
M
ONTAUK
F
ISHING
C
HARTERS
: Tel 631-668-1635;
www.montaukfishingcharters.com
.
Cost:
half-day inshore for up to 6 people, $550 with crew.
When:
late-Apr–Nov.
G
URNEY’S
I
NN
: Tel 800-8-GURNEY or 631-668-2345;
www.gurneys-inn.com
.
Cost:
from $375 (off-peak), from $485 (peak).
M
ONTAUK
P
OINT
L
IGHTHOUSE
M
USEUM:
Tel 888-668-2544 or 631-668-2544;
www.montauklighthouse.com
.
When:
daily, May–Oct; Sat–Sun, Nov and mid-Mar–Apr.
G
OSMAN’S
D
OCK
R
ESTAURANT:
Tel 631-668-5330;
www.gosmans.com
.
Cost:
dinner $25.
L
OBSTER
R
OLL:
Amagansett. Tel 631-267-3740.
Cost:
lobster roll $17.
B
EST TIMES
: May–Oct for fishing; last weekend of Sept for the Montauk Surf Classic Tournament; spring and fall for crowd-free moments.

The Deliciously Sleepy Sister to the Hamptons

Long Island, New York

With quiet bays, half-empty beaches, and small villages of white clapboard houses and steepled churches, the North Fork is the last bastion of old Long Island, a finger of land that sits just across
the Peconic Bay from the South Fork’s glamorous Hamptons (see p. 160). While there are a few signs of looming trendiness (most notably the Frisky Oyster with its sophisticated menu in downtown Greenport), night life on the North Fork tends to mean camping under the stars. And though the farms that made Long Island duckling famous are mostly gone, the North Fork retains its agricultural heritage, with 3,000 acres of neatly tended vineyards—producing cabernet sauvignons and merlots that some in the wine world consider worthy competitors to California and France.

The quiet village of Cutchogue (one house dating back to 1650 stands testimony to its history) is the wine center of Long Island, with the more notable of the area’s 30-some vineyards located here: Bedell Cellars, Pellegrini Vineyards, Pugliese Vineyards, and Castello di Borghese/Hargrave Vineyards, among others.

Cutchogue also lays claim to a great beach—as do Greenport, Jamesport, Mattituck, and Southold. Head out to Orient Beach State Park at the eastern end of the island, where footprint-free sand meets open water alongside a bird sanctuary. Nine miles of undeveloped waterfront is flanked by a thick maritime forest of blackjack oak and red cedar, making this a delight for hiking, biking, swimming, and picnicking.

The two-lane Route 25 connects most of the North Fork’s dots, lined with farm stands that offer plump heirloom tomatoes and organic corn, or famous homemade pies at the always popular Briermere Farms in Riverhead. And if you really want to get the feel of the countryside, stop by Wickham’s Fruit Farm outside Cutchogue, roll up your sleeves and pick your own fruit—blackberries, peaches, apples—from whatever’s in season.

Floating in the bay between the North Fork and the South Fork and reached only by ferry is Shelter Island, with quiet beaches and wooded hills. In addition to impressive homes and peaceful villages, Shelter Island boasts the 2,100-acre Mashomack Preserve, with miles of coastline, tidal creeks, fields, pine swamps, and pathways leading through cool oak and beech forest and the East Coast’s largest concentration of nesting osprey.

For years, the Ram’s Head Inn with its weathered shingle exterior and white trim offering views of Coecles Inlet was the only place to hang your hat. Enter hotelier par excellence Andre Balazs, who opened the quietly chic Sunset Beach with a casual style of flip-flops and mojitos that is more Miami than Long Island. The 20 guest rooms all have private sun decks and views of the bay, while the restaurant offers alfresco dining on simple delicacies. The sunsets are so perfect you’d be inclined to take them for special effects and Manhattan seems somewhere very far away.

The tasting patio at Macari Vineyard, one of many on the North Fork.

W
HERE
: 90 miles east of New York City.
Visitor info:
Tel 631-477-1383;
www.northfork.org
.
T
HE
F
RISKY
O
YSTER:
Greenport. Tel 631-477-4265;
www.thefriskyoyster.com
.
Cost:
dinner $50.
L
ONG
I
SLAND
W
INE
C
OUNCIL:
Tel 631-369-5887;
www.liwines.com
.
B
EDELL
C
ELLARS:
Cutchogue. Tel 631-734-7537.
P
ELLEGRINI
V
INEYARDS:
Cutchogue. Tel 631-734-4111.
P
UGLIESE
V
INEYARDS:
Cutchogue. Tel 631-734-4057.
C
ASTELLO DI
B
ORGHESE
/H
ARGRAVE
V
INEYARDS:
Cutchogue. Tel 631-734-5158.
When:
Apr–Dec.
O
RIENT
B
EACH
S
TATE
P
ARK:
Orient. Tel 631-323-2440.
B
RIERMERE
F
ARMS:
Riverhead. Tel 631-722-3931.
W
ICKHAM’S
F
RUIT
F
ARM:
Cutchogue. Tel 631-734-6441;
www.wickhamsfruitfarm.com
.
When:
closed Sun, May–Dec.
M
ASHOMACK
P
RESERVE:
Shelter Island. Tel 631-749-1001;
www.shelterisland.org/mashomack
.
When:
closed Tues.
R
AM’S
H
EAD
I
NN
: Shelter Island. Tel 631-749-0811;
www.shelterislandinns.com/ramshead
.
Cost:
from $105 with shared bath.
When:
Apr–Oct.
S
UNSET
B
EACH:
Shelter Island. Tel 631-749-2001;
www.sunsetbeachli.com
.
Cost:
from $215 (off-peak), from $250 (peak); dinner $60.
When:
open late May–Sept.
B
EST TIMES
: June for Strawberry Festival in Mattituck; Aug for Celebrate Long Island! Food and Wine Festival; Sept for the Greenport Maritime Festival.

A Victorian Grande Dame in the Wilderness

New Paltz, New York

For the last hundred years Mohonk Mountain House has looked much the same—a fairy-tale castle sitting on a pristine glacial lake at the top of the Shawangunk (pronounced by locals SHONG-gum) mountain ridge. Often
confused with the nearby Catskills (see p. 143), “the Gunks” have their own unique geologic makeup, with white quartz cliffs that offer the best rock climbing in the Northeast.

One of the country’s few remaining great 19th-century mountain houses, Mohonk has been owned by the same family since Albert Smiley, a Quaker, made his original purchase of 280 acres and a ten-room inn in 1869. His brother Alfred soon joined him in creating a glorious lakeside hodgepodge of Victorian turrets, gables, and crenellated stone towers standing seven stories high, drawing such distinguished visitors as Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Carnegie, and Arturo Toscanini. Today it stands at the center of a magnificent 26,000-acre wilderness made up of Mohonk’s holdings and Minnewaska State Park. With 85 miles of trails from its doorstep, Mohonk is a hiker’s paradise in summer and a cross-country skier’s delight in winter; a steep 1-mile hike to Sky Top Tower rewards climbers with a breathtaking 360-degree view of the Hudson River and the Catskills.