Uncle Sam’s backyard

I opened the map of USA a couple of weeks ago, closed my eyes and randomly touched my finger on the map. My finger tip pointed to Long Island.

And that’s where I went today.

Ok, I was kidding. Wish I have the luxury to say things like these! This is roughly how the Scottish doctor found himself in Uganda, in Idi Amin’s terrain. Go watch The Last King of Scotland if you haven’t.

Read on if you are ok reading about not-so-famous places.

After two weekends in NYC, and a busy week in office, I decided to drive down somewhere into the country side, and one of the few places that were in the drivable distance was the stretch jutting out of New York State into the Atlantic Ocean called Long Island. I decided to go to the tip of the Island, visiting famous places en route.

The risk about driving to a totally unknown far-off place is getting lost. I had taken printouts of the maps and had an overview of the major routes to take, but, to my utter surprise, a lot of roads mentioned in the map (Mapquest) were simply non-existent (I probably made a mistake here since I generally go for Google Maps). After several sorties in the middle of nowhere, I decided to go on my hunch and the compass in my watch (I hate asking directions – they just add to the multitude of confusion!). I did get back on track each time, but my total driving for today extended from 8 hours to 9.

Here are some pictures (as usual). To start with, the country side was awesome. So splendidly clean and romantic. Artistic buildings like these pop out of nowhere. And a LOT of these buildings and shops have an American flag waving outside.

And these are remote villages. Wonder what makes them so artsy - the architecture, or the ambience or the effort they put in. Perhaps all of these.

At the end of the drive, I arrive at Montauk Point. I first saw Montauk in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It was much more romantic in the movie, but I guess I got the timing wrong - should’ve come here during winter.

Montauk Point Lighthouse, built in 1792, is the fourth oldest in the US.

Atlantic Ocean. A pillow of winds. (View from top of lighthouse)

A long lonesome highway, east of Long Island.

Eagle’s Nest estate castle built by marine biologist Vanderbilt. An amazing peaceful place with a backside entrance from the port.

The pleasure of getting lost is the drive, which takes you unwittingly through really beautiful port-side villages like these...

See ya next time!