Fire Island

I had heard of Fire Island before. Someone had recommended that I check it out rather than deal with the chaos in the Hamptons. An opportunity arose to head over to the island for a beauty shoot just a few days before Memorial Day weekend in May. Apparently the official summer season is between Memorial Day weekend in May and Labor Day weekend in September, so the prospect of arriving before the first weekend of summer hysteria was very inviting. We drove an hour out of New York City to Long Island’s south shore and caught a 30-minute ferry ride to our destination The Pine’s, the island’s largest village.

When we stepped a shore, I was informed of the island’s no private car rule. The only driving permits are handed out to select locals, however, I did not see anyone driving on the island’s road. All the visitors and summer residents have to load up small red Radio Flyer wagons with all their luggage and supplies and walk down the one wooden track to their home. So we loaded up our little wagon and wheeled it a few hundred meters to the house we were staying at. There was something special for me coming from New York City’s traffic to an island with cute little retro style wagons being rolled down a wooden track. Like most homes in the area, ours was a summer share rental.

The fact that we were there before the summer crowds, being on an island with no cars, and the peace of being tucked away on a tiny island just off the mainland, made our evening that much more enjoyable. We had the perfect summer barbecue and slept like babies.

The next morning we headed down to the beach to shoot our story, which we accessed by walking down the track to an adjoining one called Ozone Walk which led us to the beautiful vista of the Atlantic Ocean and a sandy beach. It was amazing to see barely anyone around and so close to the largest city in the world. We had the beach to our selves. We capitalized on every moment we had on the beach, as we were on a tight schedule to leave that night. It was such a shame that we had to be back for a job the next day, otherwise we would have stayed on through the entire weekend.

After rolling back to the beautiful little harbor of the Pines, we stocked up with tasty beverages from the cute cafe overlooking the water and soaked up the last light of the day.