Lake
Montauk - Anchorage
The
last two days we haven't gotten off the boat...today we made up for the lack of
exercise. It was three miles from the beach where we left the dinghy to the
Montauk Point Lighthouse. Which was our first stop this morning. It sits high
on the bluff on the very eastern tip of Long Island. Montauk Point Lighthouse
is the oldest lighthouse in New York State. It was authorized by the Second
Congress, under President George Washington, in 1792 and was completed in 1796.
It is the fourth oldest active lighthouse in the United States. The light
flashes every 5 seconds and can be seen a distance of 19 nautical miles. We
hiked down to the beach and did a little beach combing, not really a beach,
more of a rocky coast, but still fun to explore.
Our
next stop was riding through Camp Hero State Park. This park is the former site
of the Montauk Air Force Station. It was originally commissioned by the U.S.
Army in 1942. The site was chosen because of the fear of a New York invasion
that might be staged from the sea. It was a coastal defense station that was
disguised as a fishing village. Today the park offers a beach, fishing, hiking,
a bridle path, biking, and cross-country skiing. We enjoyed a few of the trails
and then had a picnic lunch before riding into Montauk.
To
get to the village of Montauk we had to do the three miles back towards the
dinghy and another two more miles further down the island. The miles aren't so
bad...it's the hills they have in New York that kill you! Coming down is sooo much fun, but going up is sooo much work. We thought Montauk would have a
little more New England charm, but I guess we're not in New England anymore.
Montauk is just your typical little beach town. The beach is beautiful and only
a few blocks from town, but the main drag is filled with t-shirt shops, surf
shops and over priced fast food joints. It reminded me of being at the beach in
Port A. That really isn't a bad thing, but just not my thing anymore...way too
many tourists. They did have a nice bakeshop and a cute little market, but both
were very expensive. We picked up a few things at the market before heading
back to the boat. We may not get a lot of exercise every day, but boy do we
make up for it on days like today!
The view from the overlook on our way to the lighthouse. Looking out over Block Island Sound
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