Fire Island Adventure

For those of you not from New York, Fire Island is a barrier beach along Long Island's south shore.  Robert Moses State Park occupies the west end of the island, Smith Point County Park is at the east end, and the middle is taken up by a number of summer communities -- Ocean Beach, Cherry Grove, Kismet, Fire Island Pines -- that are accessible only by ferry.  Immediately east of Robert Moses State Park is the Fire Island National Seashore, under the control of the National Parks Department,

As I am sure I mentioned before, when I was in college, I spent two summers as a state parks department employee, assigned to Robert Moses.  But I hadn't been back to Robert Moses in years.

I remember that lots of people used to park at Robert Moses Field 5 and walk down the beach to Kismet, thus avoiding the cost of the ferry ride.   Back then, you had to walk from Robert Moses to Kismet along the beach, past the Fire Island Lighthouse, which was part of the U.S Coastguard Station. (We used to snicker about the people walking down the beach.  Nude sunbathing is strictly forbidden in New York State parks, but once you cross onto federal land, anything goes.)

The lighthouse was decommissioned in the mid 1980's, and has now become a national historic site.  Beautiful wooden boardwalks take you from the parking field at Robert Moses to the lighthouse.

And that's where my most recent adventure began.

The trail begins:

It's 3/4 mile from the parking lot to the lighthouse:

I love this shot:

This is what is left of the original lighthouse, built in the 1820's.  Its replacement, built in the 1850's, is the one we see today.

The local historical society owns the lamp that was used in the lighthouse.

The  keeper's quarters.

Inside the Visitor's Center:

A lens.

It was late in the day, so I didn't have time to climb the 182 steps to the top of the lighthouse.

Surf's up.

A view of the lighthouse from the beach.

I decided to walk back to Robert Moses along the beach.

They're very careful to tell beach-goers where state land ends and federal land begins.

That's the Robert Moses water tower in the distance.  Not nearly as glamorous  as the one at Jones Beach.

It was a great day.  I'm sure I'll go back.  Maybe next time I  will climb the lighthouse stairs, I am sure the view is incredible.