People, I need a vacation. Or maybe… a staycation?!?
I know we are always going on and on about how beautiful the North Fork is, beating that local drum of all the great stuff we’ve got going on here on the East End, but seriously. I’m still having FOMO over all the stuff I didn’t get to this summer. This fall? It’s all about hanging around, soaking it in and slowing down.
That was the inspiration behind what’s in store on these pages — our fun-in-your-own-backyard Staycation Issue! You can be a tourist, or just act like one, when you hop on a bike and follow avid lifelong local cyclist and frequent contributor Charity Robey’s triple-threat bike tour around the North Fork and Shelter Island (I will definitely be doing the Orient route with a big backpack in tow to pick up noted goodies along the way) or head out to pick and bag apples (and donuts and pies and cider) in staff senior editor Stephanie Villani’s fun frolic in the orchards. New to our pages is Mattituck-based writer Maria Pietromonaco (welcome, Maria!), whose deep affection for the decades-old farm Golden Acres, which her neighbor Kelly Brennan is now stewarding into a new era, can be seen and felt in her lovely words on the bucolic scenery and organic produce.
Staff reporter Parker Schug made a special visit for lunch at Buoy One’s new location for some relaxed fish-fry and fresh-catch vibes — and I must say, I was thoroughly tickled to learn after assigning this story to her that Parker’s parents had their very first date at the fish spot’s former Riverhead incarnation. Small world, right?
Longtime contributor BethAnn Mayer chilled out at some local spas and has more than a few excellent recs; we’ve got a spectacular recipe for the Old Mill Inn’s squid from their chef, Kyle Bloomer, grabbed by shutterbug and righteous recipe hound Doug Young; a really cool roundup of secret (shhhh!) coffee hubs for excellent jolts of joe; and a spooky graveyard tour straight from the history books. We also pop the cork on a little Wild Boar Doe and offer a whole bunch more to give you plenty of reasons to stick around this October.
May you feast on all that fall has to offer, friends. Like ol’ Dorothy said, if you’re looking for your heart’s desire, look no further than your own backyard. I certainly will be.
See you around the fire pit,
Amy Zavatto
Editor-in-Chief
