Top: June Sunrise. Montauk Point, Long Island.
About eighty miles east of New York City, Long Island splits around the Peconic Bay into two branches that reach like a lobster claw toward Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. The two branches of land, stretching toward the broad Atlantic, are known as the North Fork and the South Fork.
The North Fork is known for its wineries, agriculture and real estate prices that are somewhat within reach. The South Fork is known for a string of towns referred to as The Hamptons which are heavily populated by wealthy New Yorkers from the city and others who happen to have millions of dollars to spend on a summer home.
Above: Montauk morning. South Fork beach midday. Orient Point evening.
Whether you prefer the north or south either side of this end of Long Island is swept by cool sea breezes and often veiled by morning sea fog. Quaint villages are linked by mostly two lane highways. Route 25 in the north, Route 24 through the town of Riverhead and Route 27 out to Montauk Point. You can take a short cut through the Peconic Bay by using the north and south ferries that are connected by Shelter Island.
I landed on the north side in late June taking a morning ferry from New London. The trip takes about an hour and a half. I happened to be on the Cape Henlopen which carried troops ashore at Normandy during the D-Day invasion.
Orient Point fades into the sea while Montauk towers above it. The Montauk lighthouse stands high on a seaside cliff as if its lens is peering to see Europe.
Above: Montauk Lighthouse. Into the brambles. Morning run.
The harbors along the east end of Long Island are filled with pleasure boats. Commercial fishing vessels are not as visible as they are in some of the shoreline towns of New England, but they are there. In the early morning you can see them just off the coast heading out to open ocean fishing grounds. Their engines rumble in the distance as their angled bows push the water aside forming rolling wakes along starboard and port.
It is a tourist destination there is no doubt. Even during a pandemic traffic moves slowly along the south shore as visitors search for shops and restaurants that are open - even if under limiting restrictions. The north is quieter, but not undiscovered.
To the west, New York City serves as the epitome of man over nature. Out here, on the eastern end, the jagged shores remind us we do not set our own boundaries.
© Dean Pagani - June 2020
Credits:
© Dean Pagani 2020