On to Part 3 .
Here's day 2 of the Challenge sunday 5-15-05.
We had planned to get up early and get to Huntington Harbor when it first opened as I was a bit concerned about it getting backed up there since there was only one boat that could handle about 20-25 people at a time.
We had breakfast at the hotel and that was my downfall. We walked in and the crew was there already- Dave Hannum, Jim Johnson, Ruthie Cooper, Derith, Brian Acree, Ken Reese and Mike & Patty Kaiz. Dave invited us to join him and that killed getting an early start.
An hour later at about 8:15 we got under way and I decided to change things and go to Old Field first so as to not backtrack. should have gone to Huntingto first as I planned.
We got to Old Field Farm where the bus stop was with no problems. The directions to all of the Lighthouses were right on target. Whoever did the test drive and wrote thme did a great job.
Here's a shot from Old Field.
We left there and continued on to Eaton's Neck. We got to the parking lot just before the bus got there but there were already enough people to fill it up before us so we had to wait for the next one.
This was no problem for two reasons- just because and also because Mike Seewald got off the bus so I had a chance to have a good long talk with him. I haven't seen him for quite some time and he doesn't frequent the forums anymore it seems.
Here's a shot of Eaton's Neck.
Here's a shot of Esther and I at Eaton's Neck taken by Chat Chapman of the LI chapter.
We left there and continued on to our last official stop which was Huntington Harbor. It's a great one to save for last but it seemed that many others did the same.
We got there just as a boat was pulling up to the dock but we had to wait for the next one as it was already filled for it's trip out.
Huntington Harbor is especially nice becuase they are in the process of restoring it and it's one of the Lighthouses you can actually climb.
Here's a photo of the light as we approached it.
Here's a shot of the ruins of Lloyd Harbor Lighthouse that preceded Huntington Harbor Lighthouse.
We left there and stopped for lunch at a restaurant reccomended by Pam one of the volunteers at Huntington (who described herself at one point as the "Lighthouse Bitch" due to her sterness of protecting the lighthouse from trespassers).
The Canterbury Ales restaurant in Huntington was just great. If you go to the area stop in and eat there.
We left there and made our last "unofficial" stop for the challenge at the Nantucket Lighthship. It's berthed in Oyster Bay (home of Billy Joel as a young man).
It stopped there quite some time ago on it's way to the National Lighthouse Museum on Staten Island.
The Lightship was originaly going to be part of the Challenge but unsurmountable problems got in the way. That's life- many went anyway.
To finish- the LI Lighthouse challenge was just great. The Chapter had it's act together and had some great volunteers doing a tremendous job to make it a rip roaring success.
We had good weather for about 95% of our trip. We got a bit of rain at Huntington Harbor and at the Nantucket Lighthship but the rest of the time it was just perfect- not too warm, not too cool. They survived me coming to the event- my Long Island Curse didn't show itself this time.
(It's a good thing it wasn't one week earlier though).
If you went you know what I mean and if you didn't make sure you go next year.
Dennis