Grandma's house on Long Island

My home away from home up until I was thirty was my Grandparents home in East Setauket, NY on the north shore of Long Island not far from Port Jefferson and Stony Brook. There was a farm next to my Grandparents house, perhaps 30 or 40 acres. I can still remember strolling down the farm lane with my sister and my Grandmother when I was a little girl.

There were several nearby places to swim, at least when I was growing up. One was perhaps one-half to one mile down the road. It was nothing more than a patch of sand with a nearby dock where you could rent a rowboat and tool around the cove. Or at other times, we would walk the other way, go onto the beach and walk below the high tide mark. For the water front property owners owned down to the high tide mark. So, anyone could walk below the high tide mark. This was a great place to gather shells. And look for horse shoe crabs.

Finally there was a town beach that was a five or ten minute drive from our grandparents house. A beach with a float and a Good Humor ice cream truck. When we were teenagers, my sister and I would sometimes walk to the town beach, cutting through the old farm lane to the road leading to the beach.

The farm is long gone. It was sold after the elderly couple who owned the farm died. It languished for a few years untouched with only a new road going in from the street. I am going to say that it was sometime in the early 1970s when the farm was sold. This property was developed, not quite sure when, perhaps sometime in the 1980s

My grandparents house used to be the farm house. A sprawling house with an absolutely awesome porch on the side facing the cove. We would sit out there on nice evenings with my grandparents, walking on the railing trying not to fall into the holly bushes.

It was a simple time. With simple memories.

I returned later for visits, sometimes seeking sanctuary from whatever life was throwing at me at the moment. My Grandma and Grandpa would take me in for a few days. I'd watch tennis or baseball with my Grandpa and walk along the road on the shore with my Grandma. And eat. I still remember her macaroni and cheese and the toll house cookies she would make when we visited.

Memories of what seemed to be a simpler time.