A day at the beach

This is the lighthouse at the between space of Fire Island and Robert Mosses.

Long Island, NY has some of the best beaches in the world. Next to Robert Mosses is Jones Beach - if you ever visit Jones Beach go to parking lot 6 and park on the left. The best area to sit and sun is on the left/east side because as you walk away from the crowds (and lifeguard protected swimming areas) you'll enter the nude area and just past that is the gay area. Also in the gay area there used to be lots of cruising in the dunes but I'm not sure there's much of that anymore - the dunes are protected bc they have been damaged by erosion.

This is the end of the day. I went to Robert Mosses field 5 for two reasons. First, to get there I had to drive, in my Wrangler with the top down and the radio blasting, past Jones Beach and then continue on Ocean Parkway for about 25 miles. It is a beautiful, flat, straight stretch of road laid on the sand that separates the ocean and the bay. There are homes and beaches and deer and rabbits and a club (used to be OBI oak bech inn and is now the Beach Hut) and a golf course and at its widest, there is about a mile between the ocean and the bay but on average, it's only about .5 mile.

The second reason is to see the erosion damage done to field 4. It's so extensive that the field is closed indefinitely. I thought I'd be able to walk along the beach but they had it closed off.

All the fields at Jones Beach and Robert Mosses have this same building. When I was a kid, they had the best french fries (they have different one know) but they're still good, especially with a cold beer. Just watch out for the seagulls - they'll take the food right out of your hands. This building also houses the ladies bathrooms and showers on one side the the men's bathrooms and showers on the other.

Aghhhhh, the men's showers. We had gone to Robert Mosses for many years but the summer I was 11 was when the summers took on a whole new experience for me.

As you can see from the pics, they are an enclosed/outside shower and I probably risked my life if not my clean arrest record to take them. Now when I took these, I was going more for the showers themselves then the many hot men I used to watch - I took the longest showers and forever to dry off. I don't have any one particular memory from the awakening I had that summer of '75 but the one burned image is darkly tanned skin glistening under the spray of the showers in the bright sun and sunsets and most of all the white butts left by the speedoos. When I was really lucky, I got to see the lifeguards.

Views of the bridge heading to Robert Mosses and Jones Beach through my car window and by holding up my camera and clicking wildly.