Labor Day at Montauk in The Hamptons

On Monday the 3rd of September was Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer. I travelled out by train to the last stop on the Long Island Rail Road tracks, Montauk. Montauk is part of the Hamptons that has largely maintained its laidback beach side feel as compared with the likes of East Hampton that is very much wealth and status influenced.

There is a large number of lakes around the area that provide other boating and swimming options aside from the ocean.

For lunch I stopped into the main street of Montauk to visit Shagwong Restaurant for their lunch time special. It included a serve of clam chowder, 1 1/4 pound lobster and a serve of fries. The lobster was amazing and very filling. I tried some local Montauk beers from the Montauk Brewing Company as well.

The beach is a lovely long stretch of white sand that is rather quiet compared to the other Hampton Beaches. The sun was shining with amazing blue sky which was a wonderful way to end summer.

Kimset and Fire Island

Over the Labor Day weekend I took a day trip out to the hamlet of Kismet on Fire Island. Fire Island is a 50 kilometre long barrier island off from the South Shore of Long Island. To get there I purchased a $36 beach getaway package from MTA and the Long Island Railway. The package included 1 Discounted LIRR Off Peak round trip ticket from Penn Station to Bay Shore, 2 One way Kismet Ferry Tickets, 2 David Brothers One Way Taxi tickets from Bay Shore to the Ferry terminal and 1 Fire Island Lighthouse Admission ticket.

I left Penn Station around 8 45 in the morning and arrived at the ferry terminal at 11 15am. The ferry only takes 20 minutes and is a beautiful ride.

The hamlet of Kimset is a lovely small community with narrow streets and no car access. All the locals ride bikes and it is only a 10 minute walk from the ferry terminal to the beach.

To get to the Lighthouse is a bit of a treck but definitely worth the effort. If you walk along the beach from Kimset, you will walk through a nudist section, which was quite a surprise. There is a road if you want to avoid the naked sunbathers.

To get up to the Lighthouse you need to take the internal stairs, which are easily walked by people of all ages. The views across Fire Island are amazing from the top. Robert Moses Beach is shown with the large parking area behind.

I finished up my day with a beer at one of the bars back at the Harbor and then caught the 5 15 ferry back to Bay Shore followed by the 5 45 train back to Penn Station. I look forward to going back again next summer.

Public Pools in Manhattan

During my previous summers in Manhattan I was for some reason unaware that Manhattan and New York had such a great array of outdoor pool options. It was to my great surprise that I found the NYC Parks Department list of pools across the 5 Boroughs. The past week I have visited both a downtown and uptown pool. The first pool was on Houston Street in the Lower East Side. The Hamilton Fish Park pool has both a wading pool and olympic size pool. There are limited sun beds but I was able to score one quite easily.

The second pool I visited is the Lasker Pool and Rink that during winter is converted into a skating rink. The pool is the biggest one in Manhattan and features one large over sized circle pool. A nice feature was the Fountain at the end which sprayed water that was colder than the pool. The Lasker Pool is in Central Park only a 5 minute walk from 110th St. 

Brooklyn Bridge Park Beach and Pop Up Pool

Continuing the Summer of George I visited the pop up beach and pool at the Brooklyn Bridge Park. The pool opened up earlier this summer and is open till Labor Day on September the 3rd. Once again you needed to bring a lock to put all your valuables into the provided lockers. The pool is kept quite cold which is great with the 30+ degree weather happening at the moment. The sandy beach is a nice touch with lounge chairs that are freely available. With the amazing views looking back towards Manhattan and up the East River you can easily tell why I went back more than once to this pool.

McCarren Park Pool

As part of my summer adventures I travelled to Greenpoint, Brooklyn to visit the newly renovated McCarren Park public pool. The pool is larger than normal olympic swimming pools at over 50metres long. It can hold a total of 5000 people at a time. There was luckily no line up when I arrived on Tuesday afternoon around 1pm. You must bring a lock which I wasn't aware of so I needed to go to a local deli to pick one up. All of your posessions must be put into a locker including your shirt as only your towel, sunglasses and sunscreen are allowed on the pool deck. Around the pool is concrete, which can be uncomfotable to lay on but I was able to snare one of the limited deck chairs. The pool is extremely clean and at a great temperature. I will most certainly be back next week.

The Summer of George Begins

Given I have had two winters in a row with the North American Winter of 2011/2012 followed by the Australian Winter of 2012, I have decided to make an effort over the next two weeks to enjoy the rest of the US Summer as much as possible. The summer's unofficial end is Labor Day on Monday the 3rd of September.

Today begins the summer activities with a visit to the Gansevoort Park Avenue Rooftop Pool. We are staying here for two nights and will take advantage of their pool today and tomorrow.

Other summer activities include trips to Jersey Shore (Seaside Heights), Atlantic City, Montauk, Rockaway Beach, Fire Island- Kismet beach, Jones Beach, the pool at McCarren Park, the pool at Brooklyn Bridge Park, the pool at King and Grove Brooklyn and the pool at SoHo house.

Hopefully I will have a lovely tan by the end of the two weeks.