For many generations of East End kids, a core memory of summers on the North Fork includes sunny days spent at Drossos (69125 Main Road, Greenport, 631-477-1334, drossosmotel.com). Perhaps it’s their recollections of an annual family vacation spent at the motel with summer days teeing up at the miniature golf course and licking a dribbly ice cream cone from the nearby snack bar. Maybe it’s a reminiscence of a stolen first kiss with a high school sweetheart or a June-to-August romance sparked over a shared plate of fries and a milkshake. It could be they’ve even returned with their own kids (or grandkids) to create a slew of new memories not so different from their own.
There are many good reasons visitors travel down Main Road for a taste of nostalgia or fresh dose of summer fun here, but nobody knows the Drossos Motel, Drossos Miniature Golf Course or Snack Bar quite like Minnie Costas.
She’s Shining at 100 Years Young
Almost a year ago, on April 27, Costas celebrated her 100th birthday and almost five decades at the helm of Drossos.
“I really can’t believe it, that I’ve reached this age,” she says. “I enjoy every day to the fullest; I thank the Lord that I’m here.”
A Queens native, Costas always knew she’d go into the family business started by her parents, Alexandra and John Drossos, who founded the motel 68 years ago. As a young adult, she traveled to Greenport on weekends to help her parents and continued to do so while raising her family in Flushing. In 1979, when Costas’s father died, she, her husband, Gus, and their children moved to Greenport and took over the business, keeping Costas’s mother heavily involved in the day-to-day operations.
Like mother, like daughter: Minnie Costas took the reins of Drosso’s when her father passed away in the late ’60s. Years later, when her husband, Gus, died, their daughter, Elaine Fredericksson, left a successful career in the city to come and work in the family business, too. (Photo credit: David Benthal)
In 2004, Gus died and Costas’s daughter, Elaine Fredricksson, came on as her partner at Drossos. Before moving to Southold permanently, Fredricksson lived in Huntington and worked in New York City, using her talents at public relations firms, primarily in the arts. On weekends she’d visit Greenport to help her father with the miniature golf course and snack stand, unknowingly preparing herself to one day assume his role.
“I had another life,” Fredricksson says. “I used to be on Madison Avenue; now I’m flipping burgers.”
Similar to the close bond Costas shared with her own mother, who lived to 82, she and Fredricksson are very close and, after two decades of working together, have stayed true to the model that Costas’s parents laid.
In her 10th decade of life, the petite business owner still manages the hospitality load — literally collecting laundry and handing it off to the washing company — while Fredricksson splits her time behind the snack bar counter or checking out mini-golf equipment, handling the entertainment side of the job.
“The business has kept her very, very active to this day,” Fredricksson says of her mother. “We have 14 rooms in the motel and she insists on doing the laundry.”
“I don’t do it — the machine does it!” Costas interjects.
Even on Fredricksson’s side of things, Costas likes to stay involved.
“My mother will come out just as we are closing and she’ll start with, ‘One of those trees needs trimming! What about those lights around there?’ ” Fredricksson says.
But that, Costas says, is the secret to her longevity: constant movement.
“Sometimes people lie down in the afternoon — or all day. I never. You wish I did,” she says to her daughter with a laugh.
Still, over time, the trust between the mother and daughter has allowed Costas to both relax a little yet remain in the family business that has given her so much.
“There’s a role reversal,” says Fredricksson. “I’ve kind of taken over the mother role, but she’s tough because she’s been doing this for so many years her way.”
Drossos Becomes a Summer Destination
Costas’s stomping grounds have seen a lot of change since the motel’s founding, her own seemingly endless drive and work ethic running deep in the family’s DNA. Her parents created the first units of the motel while simultaneously rebuilding their Greenport home after it was incinerated by a fire. The Drossos property was later expanded to the 14 units that now stand, plus its 18-hole miniature golf course and ice cream stand.
It was only after Costas and her husband took over the business that food service was added, giving hungry mini-golfers trying to stay within the five-putt max per hole some sustenance to fuel their competitive spirits.
During those summertime putt-putt playoffs, Costas and Fredricksson’s ship-shape vacation spot seems to have inspired others. Jennie Werts, the acclaimed local line cook whose culinary expertise graces the plates at Ellen’s on Front in Greenport, created Jennie’s at Drossos with Fredricksson’s help in 2016, adding more advancements to the ice cream stand-turned-snack shack.
“They [Costas, Gus and Fredricksson] built more than a business,” Werts says. “They built a community grounded in kindness, laughter and a generosity that has lasted generations.”
Generations of Long Islanders have hit the putt-putt course or shoveled coins into the kiddie rides on summer days and nights at Drossos. While Costas and Fredericksson update the business regularly, nostalgia is still the order of the day. (Photo credit: David Benthal)
Werts, a lifelong regular at the miniature golf course, cheffed-up a seasonal pop-up snack bar open for lunch and dinner throughout the summer. It has quickly become a savory destination for crispy chicken sandwiches, teriyaki-glazed tuna, fried shrimp baskets, wings and snack bar classics like cheeseburgers, hot dogs, fries and onion rings.
With the popularity of the spiffed-up menu, Costas and Fredricksson decided to spruce up the motel units. In 2022, they added new flooring and furniture, modern bathrooms and finishes and fresh coats of paint to the charming spaces.
Where the Welcome Never Checks Out
As for what visitors can expect while visiting Drossos these days, Costas’s friendly face is certainly a fan favorite.
“She really does enjoy interacting with and meeting new people and is very accommodating,” says Fredricksson. “People love that about her; she glows.”
Indeed, Costas loves her customers — especially the children, welcoming them year after year to the family-friendly spot she helped create. It’s a life’s work that’s part and parcel to her positive outlook on life and has influenced generations of families who continuously return to share stories of childhood memories at Drossos.
“God gave me that gift,” Costas says.
Timothy Mueller is one such regular who warmly recalls Costas’s influence on him.
“She’s always been an upbeat, wonderful person [who], even with crowds all over, would find a way to connect with you,” says Mueller. “That’s what made it so special.”
“We’re blessed to be out here,” says Fredricksson. “We live in a beautiful place; to have a family business that my mother is still here and a part of, it’s a blessing.”
On Costas’s 100th birthday last spring, Fredricksson threw her mom a party to remember at Founders Landing in Southold. Despite outliving many people she’s known throughout her life, Costas was surrounded by a swathe of family and dear friends, smiling evidence of a century well-lived and a business that’s still creating friendships and memories on the North Fork.
“That was beautiful,” says Costas. “It was good to see everybody from years ago.”
