Where's the Beach?

Today my jet-setting little brother came in from Germany, where he is currently residing, for a 10 day visit to the good old USA. Well, he does not think of it as good nor old, comparatively speaking. Though he is here for a wedding, he will, of course, be doing the rounds. My turn will be this weekend. The whole family, well those who are residing in New York, will be descending upon Long Island for a giant beach day.

Unfortunately, after hurricane Bill churned up the Atlantic ocean last weekend, there is not much beach left. It is interesting that my area of the south shore did not get one speck of rain but the higher tide and more powerful waves brought the water in, flooding all of the area beaches and submerging all of the sand. Erosion has been a major problem for Long Island beaches over the last few years and Bill did its number, the retreat of the ocean claimed another 25 yards of sand/beach. This undid millions of dollars of dredging efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers in recent years to combat erosion and shore up the beaches.

Today was the first time I'd been to the beach since Bill. I did a quick jaunt to Smith Point, which I may have mentioned is (was?) on my least favorite beach list, for an afternoon dip. First, I must admit that Smith Point has moved up a notch perhaps even redeeming itself. After all, it is nice and close, is an ocean beach and costs me only $5 to park (with my Suffolk County Green Key pass purchased for $24 and is good for 3 years.) What is not to like? Plenty. Though most of my dislike stems from the fact that I am not a big crowd person so I do not appreciate the smoking, the cursing, the amount of garbage carelessly left, the flagrant disregard for nature and my biggest pet peeve, the people who bring their gear in supermarket plastic bags which they then leave on the beach. OK, I will stop complaining now.

Anyhow, a few weeks ago, I was introduced to another side of the beach where there was a fraction of the people. There are no lifeguards on this side but you still have access to all of the amenities coupled with a quiet, idyllic beach outing which cast Smith Point in a whole new light for me. Proximity is useful and a 20 minute drive is a 20 minute drive so Smith Point is back on my list of destinations and, though sand and water quality are not quite of the ilk of beaches further east, that is OK.

Now that I have completely digressed, the sad part is that the lovely beach recently revealed to me is now a figment of its former self. Now, tropical storm Danny is coming this weekend. We will see.