Cherry Grove 2010: Cherry Grove 2010

Hi family & friends!
Here are some snapshots from our beach vacation in Cherry Grove on Fire Island. For those of you who don't know much about Fire Island (I am quoting from various sources I picked up, specifically from the Fire Island paper and some information from the Fire Island National Seashore), it is a barrier island right off the coast of Long Island, New York:

Cherry Grove specifically is, along with the Fire Island Pines a "gay community with a theatrical flair, art shows, cabaret, discos, hotels, bars and restaurants. Whimsy houses and fanciful house names dwell here."
Thanks to my friends Jamie, Deirdre and Dana who invited me to spend a day with them last year when they were renting a place, I have fallen in love! So this year we decided to go there on our first real official vacation. And since we never had a honeymoon it sort of was like our honeymoon, too.
This is the ocean on our very first day:

Checking out the awesome, calm and blue water. The first few days we had amazing water, then it got out of hand, culminating in a last day wipe out while attempting to body board. In the meantime, first day amazement:

Part of our studio that we rented:

Ken shaved his beard. This is the before picture.

These are some of the beach homes right beyond the dunes:

Ken lounging on our floaty which we mostly used as a beach mattress.

Cherry Grove has no streets, everything is connected by boardwalks on stilts.

And of course I enjoyed the reading time.

Hanging at the beach.

Checking out the waves and considering boydboarding...

There was always a lot of air traffic, helicopters of all sorts and small and large planes.

I'm very fashionable with my big sunglasses.

A baby sting ray, pretty dead sadly, right after we saw a giant horse shoe crab, who was just checking in and was off again soon thereafter.

Boarding.

Ken with our awesome waterproof camera.

Our daily beach set up.

Ken making tofu scramble and potatoes on our hotplate.

Yay!

Tame deer are all over the island. Since the 1980s the National Seashore has worked with the Humane Society of the US to get the population under control which can rapidly explode since many of the residents feed the deer. There is a birth control program in place. Other animals include bunnies, foxes, and all kinds of birds, some endangered.

A rare indoor moment. Getting ready to explore more of Cherry Grove.

Which of course included more deer.

And some more.

An old run-down house.

Local art.

This is a typical small house in Cherry Grove with a roof deck.

Saying hi to a local.

Sunken Forest is about a 30 minute hike from Cherry Grove. It is "the island's nature sanctuary. The marshy area is barely above sea level and home to a great variety of animals and plant life. The prize of Fire Island National Seashore."

Last chance to pee before entering Sunken Forest.

And here is the entrance.

Walking back to Cherry Grove on the beach.

Last day at the beach!

Short break at home before heading out to explore the Fire Island Pines.

Hanging out on our deck.

And we're off to the Pines. It's "the newer gay cousin to Cherry Grove, many consider it the most beautiful community on the island. Large modern houses on roller coaster sidewalks undulate through tunnels of entwined greenery. The boat channel is evocative of Venetian Grand Canal and pageantry."
Of course the first picture includes deer.