Last week I decided to take a much needed mini-cation to the suburbs of Long Island. I reunited with my close friend from university, who generously showed me around and let me stay in her home (thanks Gina!). Although I only slept over for four nights, by the end of the trip I already felt like an authentic Long Islander and a new member of the Lee family. ♡
- DAY ONE -
On the first day of our LI adventures, I met Gina at Penn Station to take the Long Island Railroad back to her place, which was pretty exciting since I've only rode a train maybe two or three times in my life. The train ride wasn't too long, but I still felt extremely fatigued from my restlessness the night before. When I finally got to Gina's house, I was pleasantly surprised by her two adorable dogs waiting at the door - Coco (who is a little loco) and Ever (a cute lil Maltese). After I unpacked my things and adjusted myself, we both got ready for the rest of the day: a dinner date with her friends!
My first dinner in LI was super delicious and surprisingly vegan! I never thought vegan food could taste so flavorful and mimic actual dishes I usually eat with meat. We ate at a vintage looking cafe called The Witches Brew, which appears as an old house on the outside with lots of antique decor and comfy sofas on the inside. I had a falafel sandwich (my go-to nowadays) with a side of creamy potato salad. The portions were just right - not ridiculously enormous but also not leaving me hungry for seconds. I forgot to take a picture of the food, but I did take a cute picture with Gina!
It was dark by the time we finished dinner so it's only natural that we chose to drive through a creepy, abandoned psych ward in Suffolk County. I've never been to an abandoned building, let alone a psychiatric hospital, so you could probably imagine how terrified I was to even be driving near there. Fortunately for me, we stayed in the car and just drove around the campus of the hospital, which was still freaking terrifying due to the place having zero street lamps or anything. It was a fun time though, especially since we played lots of creepy music while driving in the darkness. Maybe next time I'll be brave enough to step into a building.
- DAY TWO -
We woke up bright and early (aka 9 in the morning, which is still early to me) our second day to grab breakfast with Gina's friend at the popular Toast and Co. restaurant in Downtown Huntington. It was pretty packed when we first arrived and we waited about 20 minutes to be seated. I got a yummy Popover Benedict which includes "poached eggs served over housemate gruyere (??? it tasted good though) popovers topped with Hollandaise." The food took awhile to arrive, but the wait was definitely worth it. And we all spent five minutes taking loads of pictures of our food anyways.
We went to the lovely Northport Habor after breakfast. The weather was pretty cloudy and humid, but we still decided to seize the day and took one of the pups along with us! This place is a great spot for pictures in sunnier weather- with the cute lil boats in the background along the water. The surrounding town is really cute too, featuring a downtown area full of small shops and boutiques.
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| The weather sucked the day we went to Northport, but hey, you can't let it control your day! |
- DAY THREE & FOUR -
The next day we decided to go to Jones Beach since the weather finally cleared up. We blasted music with the windows rolled down while driving on the bridge into the beach (summer vibes!). Which reminds me, I need to make a new summer 2017 playlist. We rolled around in the waves and soaked up the sun for awhile then headed to get acai bowls instead of ice cream. The rest of the day was spent sitting on her couch watching The Office on Netflix (forever a favorite of mine) while cuddling her dogs. Her mom also made tasty homemade Korean beef for us, so thanks Mama Lee!
My fourth day was spent in Flushing, Queens, where some of Gina's family members live. Before we left, we grabbed some bagels and got our eyebrows done at a threading place (the lady told me I had really hairy eyebrows... thanks I guess?). The last time I got my eyebrows done was over a year ago, so looking into the mirror and seeing how sharp and clean they were was a pleasant surprise. At the bagel place, I got a rainbow bagel with bacon and scallion cream cheese. I'm a year late on the rainbow bagel trend, but I can't get over how colorful and bright the bagels look. At Flushing, Gina's grandpa treated us to authentic Korean black bean noodles and an array of other delicious dishes that I will definitely be ordering more often.
- DAY FIVE -
My fifth and final day in Long Island :( Although I was sad to leave Gina and her wonderful family, we still spent our last few hours successfully. I forgot to take pictures this day since I was more focused on cherishing my last moments (wow this sounds dramatic), but we basically just ate a lot of food and she dropped me off back into NYC to go home. Thank you so much to Gina & her family for treating me so well and letting me stay over. I'll definitely be back for more adventures!
Until Next Time,
➵KW
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