I hope you enjoyed my last article about Baci’s First Trip to Watch Hill Fire Island. Taking a puppy with you is like taking a newborn……you never know how things would go. I hope I shared enough tips with everyone in case you were thinking about a furry family member to your crew and maybe you got some good suggestions for equipment and toys to purchase (I know I went way overboard with her things….)
So that article was about her first trip to Watch Hill – so this one is about ours. How it all started, twenty-seven years ago. I remember our very first boat trip there like it was yesterday. It was back in 1998 and at that time we were docked in Oceanside, NY on the East Rockaway side. Our normal boating weekends back then were anchoring in Gilgo Cove or as most know it, Garbage Cove. It’s funny how many years we spent weekends on the hook there but never entertained the thought of going to Zach’s Bay. But that’s for another time.
Anyway, it was a Friday and I worked until four. We met down at the marina and my husband had picked up McDonald’s for our gourmet dinner. We were traveling with our friend Keith, who had been to Watch Hill before. We had a 24′ Bayliner at the time and we had no idea how much or what even to pack being we never stayed in a marina before. We did the best we could and figured we would just wing it.
I was so excited that we were going to do something new and when we finally passed under the Robert Moses Bridge, I remember thinking – are we going to the end of the Earth? How far is this place? Growing up on Long Island I had never been to Fire Island before and so I had no idea what to expect. Considering I am terrible at distance calculations and measurements (just ask my boys about when I’ve ordered things), I was at a complete loss. After about approximately two hours and forty-five minutes we were finally pulling into the marina.
There were no slips with electric available so we wound up taking day slips on what is called E-land. No power and dockside water for a whole weekend? How was I going to do my hair? Girl problems, I know lol, guess I was going to have to rough it for the weekend. After we were all tied up and settled, we walked the marina looking at the other boats. Never being someplace like this before I though wow, how cool is this? The boats were so beautiful to look at and everyone was so relaxed and friendly when you walked by. What a change of place from the hustle and bustle of home.
At that time, the original bar and restaurant were there. I honestly don’t recall the name of it but I remember that when you walked in you stepped down into the bar and the bar was to the left. It was all wood and kind of dark inside. Our friends said they had the best onion soup ever there. We wound up talking to a couple and it turned out that they were cousins with friends of ours from home. Small world – you never know who knows who.
Later on that night, we were sitting on the dock in beach chairs just looking up at the stars and listening to music. The night sky was just so beautiful and with no light pollution, you could see everything so clearly, including the Big and Little Dippers. It was then that I saw my first shooting star ever. I remember feeling so excited, like a little kid on Christmas Day. It was just so cool to see and little things like that mean so much to me. Makes you appreciate how fortunate you are.
Saturday was our first full day there and it was nice just to be able to relax and enjoy the beautiful sunshine. However, that day was also a learning experience for us. We ran out of adult beverages and cigarettes! How could that possibly be?? Well it happened and so the guys had to take the mile walk to Davis Park to their convenience store. Three packs of cigarettes and drinks was $90! Back then we were all like…so expensive! Now compared to today’s prices, that was cheap. But what were you going to do? Either you paid it or you went without. That’s probably what started my overpacking obsession wherever I go. When I go away now, I could probably stay for a whole month without running out of food or wearing the same outfit twice.
We spent the day there on Sunday as well. It was just a perfect weather weekend. We left later in the day to head back home, unfortunately Monday was back to work. Weekends go by so fast when you are having fun and doing what you enjoy. I can’t recall if back then if the Sunday boat traffic on the way home was as terrible as it is nowadays or it was the fact that we were young and didn’t really worry about things as much as you do as you get older.
That first weekend at Watch Hill was such a wonderful memory for us. It was toward the end of the season, so it was our first and last time there that year. But it was then that I knew going forward, I wanted to spend every summer at what would eventually be known as “Our Happy Place”.
This was just the start of our boating lifestyle and what the future would hold for us. Things sure have changed over the twenty-seven years of boating.