Last stop in the Northeast!

September 24-30

A 42-mile leg sailed us right out of our first chartplotter chip and took us from Block Island to Noyac Bay, which is located on the north shore of the south fork of Long Island, New York.  This is home waters for me.  I grew up in several places on Long Island.  I was born in Ronkonkoma and then lived on our boat in Oakdale on the Connetquot River and the Shinnecock Canal in Hampton Bays.  Noyac is located in the town of Sag Harbor, which is not far from the Shinnecock Canal.  Off the boat, I lived in Port Jefferson Station, which is where I went to school.  Then I lived in Farmingville, for those of you who are interested in my entire biography.

Our old across-the-street neighbors from Ronkonkoma own a vacation home in Noyac.  My dad and Kathy were on up from Florida, staying at the house in Noyac, which is why we decided to anchor here.  Our floatplan allowed for a detour to Long Island so that we could attend my cousin’s wedding on September 29^th.  We were all excited to spend the week with my dad and Kathy and then see lots of family at the wedding.

 

 

We got to the beach in Noyac in the early evening and met my dad and Kathy.  My dad had a shirt wrapped around his neck and across his face.  We were completely confused until he unwrapped it to reveal a beard, mustache, and ponytail!  In 40 years I’ve never seen my dad anything but clean-shaven with his trademark swoosh of blond hair.  He looks so different and I am now seeing how much my brother Matt looks like him.  You can tell that he is really enjoying his new look, which is very cool.

We had dinner with them that night and the kids got to sleep over in “the house with the tiny steps”.  The next few days were filled with a whole lotta hanging out, doing schoolwork at the house, going to the park in Sag Harbor, celebrating my dad’s birthday, and doing errands like going to the supermarket and CVS.

Midweek, we were surprised with a visit from Joe Hayden.  You won’t believe this, but Joe was our next door neighbor in Ronkonkoma in the 1970’s!  AND, Joe is my friend Keith Bernhardt’s brother.  We visited with Keith and his family in Marblehead, MA.  Such a small world.  Joe happens to work on the Noyac house from time to time and had stopped by to take a look at a pocket door that was off its track.  What a great little Garden Court reunion!  All we needed was Erik and Judy, who actually own the house!

The highlight of the week was our “Field Trip”.  Miss Mema took us to the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead.  We had the place practically to ourselves and we took advantage of all the events, such as the sea-lion show, the penguin and shark feedings, and the river otter discussion.  In between, we checked out the beautiful tropical fish, the koi pond, the rays, and the jellyfish.  As always, I loved seeing the seahorses.  Porter loved the penguins, since that is his favorite animal.

Here is what the kids learned about their favorite exhibits:

Bryson: Shark Tank

Sharks can breathe through their gills.

Sharks eat fish bigger than minnows.

The biggest shark is the whale shark.

(Here’s what I learned: I am going to completely lose it if I run into one of these giants while SCUBA diving in the Caribbean.)

 

Reese: Sea Lions

Sea lions can be trained to follow people’s fists, then things such as a little buoy on a stick.

A sea lion’s back tail hops up and down to help them move on land.

Sea lions can swim up to 25 miles per hour and make a wake when going that fast.

 

Porter: Penguins

The penguins wear a bracelet that helps the trainers know how much food they got, if they are a boy or girl, and what their name is.

They have webbed feet.  There are rocks in the exhibit to help the penguins dry their feet.  If they have wet feet, then they might get a foot fungus.

I saw one penguin jump in the water, swim down, eat a fish, and jump back out.  I think penguins don’t like swimming.

 

 

On Saturday, we spent the morning getting ready for my cousin Kari and Greg’s big day.  We dug out our fanciest clothes and I actually blow dried my hair.  We were all excited about spending the day with our extended family.  My aunt and uncle had also flown up from Florida and we would be seeing cousins from New Jersey and Maine.

 

The wedding was on the beach in Shoreham.  It was the most beautiful set up I have seen for a wedding ceremony.  The chairs were set up in a spiral, facing inward.  It was pretty and intimate and everyone got to see Kari and Greg up close.  When the bridal party walked in, they walked in and around the spiral to the center, so we all got to see and smile and touch hands with our loved ones as they walked by.

As I watched Kari walk down the steps to the beach with my Uncle Brian, I remembered when she was born.  I remembered her as a toddler and as a twelve-year-old.  I wished her true happiness in her marriage to Greg and thought about what it must be like to watch your daughter grow up and start her own life.  It was all beautiful and set against the backdrop of the gorgeous beach, surrounded by family.

After the ceremony, we enjoyed a cocktail hour and reception that was pure fun and celebration.  Amazing food, a memorable best man speech, great conversations, love all around, and dancing into the night with my dad, my cousin Lisa (see our post from Spruce Head, ME), and the rest of us crazy Andersens.  I loved the Kranse Kake that my Aunt Judy made.  This is a traditional Norwegian wedding cake.  She did a great job making this difficult cake and it was delicious!

 

 

 

The kids had an absolute blast.  My Aunt Judy had set them up at a kid’s table with gift boxes full of toys, art supplies, and other fun stuff.  They teamed up with my cousin Erik’s daughter and hit the dance floor all night.

 

 

The highlight, as always, was watching my dad, Kathy, Tante Betsy (tante=aunt in Norwegian) and Uncle Rich perform “Paradise By the Dashboard Light”.  Somehow, the DJ always plays this song when everyone has already kicked off their shoes and when beer bottles appear to be perfectly acceptable substitutes for microphones.  When I tell you these people know every single word, including the bit by the baseball announcer, I am not kidding.  By the end of the song, all the twenty-somethings had retreated to the bar.  I think we simply scared them off.

 

 

We got back to Noyac at midnight and had tired but happy farewells on the dark beach as we all loaded into the dinghy.  By the time we got back to Patronus, put the kids to bed, and prepared the boat for our trip the next morning, it was almost 0230.  NBD.  It’s not like we have a 375 mile passage in front of us or anything…

(More wedding photos can be found on our Gallery page.)