Two weeks ago, the South Shore girls decided to adventure out to the North Fork. Any who are unfamiliar with the island that we live on should know that there are definitive lines between North and South shores--then there are the North fork and the South Fork. The South fork consists of the Hamptons (yes, those Hamptons), and Montauk (yes, that "The End" Montauk), while the North fork is just…perfection.
Far be it for us to admit that anything North is Utopian, or even likable, however you have the Jamesport General Store, Greenport's fabulous tiny village, Orient Point's beautiful state park, all dotted with some of the most spectacular farm stands and vineyards (that would rival Napa) that you'll ever see.
Therefore, this was our day trip (with a few fun finds included)! The North fork, to us, is a close second comfort zone to our own home, and we will be back many times over.
Our trip began with a very last-minute detour to
The Big Duck. Yes, it is a giant duck. Few would probably know that Flanders was home to many duck farms. Tess recalls them as she rode down the highway at 10 years old looking over the overpass and seeing, literally, thousands of white ducks. And you could
always smell them. These farms no longer exist, however, they do have an annual rubber duck race!
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| The duck! |
Our trip started a tad stormy, but this soon cleared up as we headed towards Orient Point--the other end. This was at a pull off in East Marion overlooking Orient Harbor. Straight across you can see Shelter Island, where the ferries go out of Greenport.
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| Perfect shells! |
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| Smile, you're at Orient! |
As you continue to the end of the North fork (affectionately referred to as NoFo now by locals), you eventually hit Orient Point. This is where ferries leave out of Long Island and travel on their merry (or not so merry if your name is Katie) way to New London, CT. This picture was from
Orient State Park, which is home to marine life as well as many aviary species. We hung out at the beach for a bit, before heading back to hit farm stands, vintage (!) stores, and grab some lunch.
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| This sign greets you on the road leaving the CT ferry. Welcome, Connecticut travelers! |
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| The official sign |
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| North Shore beaches are famous for shells, and rocks, and many more shells. This makes them some of the intriguing and natural beaches on the island, in our humble opinion. |
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| We're always making new friends, you know! |
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| Zen! |
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| The perfect combination of wildlife, wilderness, and beach. |
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| Overlooking Gardiner's Bay |
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| You can always expect constant comfort from the sound of the waves. |
From there, we stopped for lunch at
Country Corner Cafe in Southold. This quickly became one of our favorites. This is where healthy food meets a little Southern (or NoFo) comfort, with classic bistro charm! We can't sing enough praises for the service, the friendly staff, and absolutely fabulous food. And the beautiful bathrooms.
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| Fresh mozz, tomato, and pesto panini, fried corn fritters, fried dill pickles, and roasted veggies on a whole wheat flatbread topped with fresh mozz! So good! |
After stuffing ourselves full of fantastic food, we continued on farm standing and exploring.
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| This is what you see when you turn down a side road on the North Fork--farms, farms, and more farms (and vineyards)! |
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| Katie's new best friend--no, really! |
After a long, tiring, but fantastic day, we lined up all of our venturous finds and took inventory of how many awesome things we got:
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| An assortment of the best homemade jams and jellies from Krupski Farms in Peconic. No, seriously, these are amazing. As in, eat with nothing but a spoon and an empty stomach type amazing! |
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| No words really need to be said about these wonderful goat cheese with just a hint of honey from Catapano Dairy Farm, where we also found our hanging baskets! |
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| Yellow tomatoes, blackberries, blueberries, donut peaches (the only things better than actual donuts), cantaloupe, and various preserves, jams, and butters. From left to right: pumpkin butter, peach preserves, apple butter, and ginger peach jam. All are naturally sweetened or sweetened with agave. |
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| Plums, blueberries, more donut peaches, fresh figs, basil, grape tomatoes, eggplant, and garlic--needless to say, the house and car smelled incredible! |
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| There is a reason that these are almost all gone--they barely lasted the ride home. Wickham's Fruit Farm provided us with some of the wonderful produce pictured above, too! |
Fresh produce straight from the farm is truly an experience, and nothing compares to the tastes and smells. We are huge supporters of small business and self sustaining agriculture, and the North Fork is the picture of perfection when it comes to this. One of our last finds, however, was not a food-related find or a vintage item, but rather a piece of vintage clothing that just screamed to be a part of Tess's wardrobe…
Ah, the joys of a vintage find! A Byer Too! dress. Another amazing find from the best vintage shop in Greenport, The Times Vintage!
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| Navy blue and white, with a splash of red... |
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| Perfect for a summer party! |
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| Vintage Lord & Taylor wise brim hat, prior purchase. tops off the outfit, so to speak |
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| Prior purchase - vintage Majestron silver and diamond watch |
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| Steve Madden heels. Of course. |
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| Triple strand of pearls, truly vintage, a wedding gift from my great uncle to my great aunt in the early 1900's |
Perfect dress for a summer party, or a walk in the garden!
XO, Tess & Katie
