It is easy to debase Long Island. The sprawl, like blight, is consuming its beauty. The proliferation of strip malls is unnecessary, traffic is a mess no matter where you’re headed, taxes are high, arts are hard to find, young adults are absent, downtowns are dieing, and there isn’t a single jam session a saxophone player can run to when he wants to solo over All the Things You Are. But there is a lot of good too, including a great wine country, some wonderful restaurants, and natural beauties, mainly marine ones, that can lift you out of the vapid suburbia.

Not far from my home, a small lighthouse watches over the Long Island Sound. You can pretty much drive right up to the Old Field Lighthouse any time to check out the black iron watchtower on the sandy brick base. And behind it there is a small trail that leads you to a rocky shoreline on the Long Island Sound. From what I hear, it’s never packed, making it a wonderful, meditative spot to relax in for a while.

From a rock jetty you can see Port Jefferson’s power plant watching over the harbor while you throw smooth rocks into the water.

Related posts:

1. Greenport Now
2. A morning in Port
3. At the marsh
4. Two parks, just down the street