A Boat Tour Around My Neighborhood on Long Island

I'm changing things up a bit today.  I thought some of you might want to see the beautiful place I call home.  I think I live in one of the prettiest spots on Long Island - Great River, NY.  It's a small town and we even have to pick up our own mail instead of having it delivered.  But that gives this place an old timey feel and I really love it.

We have a sailboat that we're on most weekends.  My husband, Richard, is a diehard sailor and he feels more comfortable and at home on his boat than anywhere else.  Sailing is a stress reducer.  When you're aboard, life's worries seem to melt away.

My stepsons, Tim on the left and Dennis, right; My step daughter Megan (without makeup, I must add, right) and brother Dennis...and Megan's so stress-free that she even allows a picture of her toenails and nails in two different shades!

When we pull out of the dock where we have our slip, you can see one of the beautiful homes on the water...and look at that sky!!!  How gorgeous is that??

As we make our way on the Connetquot River (it's actually part of the Great South Bay and Connetquot mean Great River in an Indian language), we see lots of boats and beautiful scenery left and right.

I love sailboats...but I wouldn't mind a spin on that nice yacht!

And here's a cat boat, which only has one main sail.  My husband almost bought one of these. You can see that the water was a bit choppy - one of the reasons we only sailed with the jib that day!

There's a lot of eye candy - housewise - along the way.  Everywhere you look, there's a beautiful home and lovely scenery.  I'm glad I don't steer too often because we'd topple over if I was in the driver's seat.  I only steer and tack (change directions with the jib) when my husband is doing something else!

The large photo on the left shows The Bayard Cutting Arboretum and the main house on the property (a must see if you ever visit here) . The home styles on the water vary - from Miami Vice-esque modern to traditional and Hamptons beach homes.

You never know what you will see - maybe even a bird that's not native to the area.  As I was snapping away with my Iphone I spotted this bird that was floating and then he submerged himself completely for a really long time (a Houdini bird??) and then only had his neck showing above the water.  This was a first for me!!

There's the bird - in researching it I believe it's a Anhinga (or snake bird) and it's native to the southern part of the east coast of the US.  This is the first time I've ever seen this bird.

There he is again - with only his neck sticking out!  Amazing!  And what do you think of that gorgeous house on the right?  I saw that home being built over the past few years.  When I walk down to the end of my block - there's a small dock on the water there - and that's the home I see.

Some of the other sights you'll see on the Connetquot River are Dowling College and the View Restaurant (that used to be called the Riverview and was once part of the William K. Vanderbilt estate).

Dowling College pics - and The View Restaurant, upper right.

There's always a lot of sporting activity on the water - kayakers, the crew team practicing, waterskiers, upright paddlers.  They give kayaking lessons near where we have our boat slip and sometimes it takes a little while to be on our way because of some inexperienced kayakers...but we don't mind - we wait.

Here are some more pics of the lovely homes that I see every week...

I hope you enjoyed this little tour!  Let me know what you think of it - and if you've ever been to Long Island to visit!

Sharing this with...

The Charm of Home