Sue planned a family day out for Luke's 13th birthday. He said he wanted to go to Fire Island. We scramble in the morning to catch the 10:30 ferry from Sayville to Sailor's Haven. We have lived on Long Island for almost 19 years, and never went there.
It is a hot and humid day, so not so easy to stay cool even on the beach. We decide to take a walk thru the sunken forest. Who would have ever thought that on our barrier island, there is an actual forest. Ok, not like the rain forest, but very unique and diverse ecosystem.
Gavin filled in as a our tour guide and it's a good thing because the regular tour was only half way thru when we finished. Luke was not too thrilled to be hiking thru the 'enchanted forest' in the heat. We stopped for a picnic lunch (peanut butter and jelly), before taking to the bay to chase minnows, and crabs.
This day in history ""Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," an irreverent comedy based in the outlandish (fictionalized) world of American stock car racing, premieres in movie theaters around the United States on this day in 2006.
The comedian Will Ferrell (who also co-wrote the screenplay with director Adam McKay and served as an executive producer) starred as Ricky Bobby, a leading driver on the National Association for Stock Auto Car Racing (NASCAR) circuit. Macho and arrogant, Ricky Bobby is known for his motto "If you're not first, you're last!" and has no problems with the fact that his winning record is based on the willingness of his loyal friend and fellow driver, Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly) to always come in second to Ricky's first. This arrangement is upset by the arrival of Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), a flamboyant French star of Europe's Formula One racing. After a devastating crash, Ricky Bobby loses his job and his wife (both to Cal) and is forced to work his way back up in the NASCAR world. The climactic scene--featuring an explosive kiss in the middle of the track--takes place during the famous Talladega 500 race at Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway."One of Luke's favorite movies. Ricky Bobby is ridiculous.....along with "If you're not first, your last", there is the infamous shake and bake.
So, we catch the 230 ferry home as we really had enough beach when we went to Ocean City a couple of weeks ago. Back home, a quick shower and then Luke and I go to pick up his birthday present. A new iPhone 4S. He also gets some blue Mio, some soda, and a dinner at the sushi place.
We will go back to fire island again, hopefully do some fishing or clamming. We did see some poison ivy, and my curiosity as to how the island got it's name was researched.
There are conflicting views as to the origin of the name Fire Island. The island may have been named after Fire Island Inlet, which appeared on a deed in 1789, and the inlet’s name may have started as a simple spelling error.
The number of inlet islands has varied over time, and it is likely that “five” or the Dutch word “vier,” meaning four, was misspelled on early maps as “fire.”
Under another hypothesis, the name originates from the fires reportedly set by pirates to lure vessels to shore.
Fire Island Beach appeared on charts in the 1850s, and folklore suggests the name arose from land-based pirates, or “wreckers,” who built beach fires at night to lure cargo ships onto shore.
Some say poison ivy gave Fire Island its name, either for its red leaves in autumn or its fiery itch.
Regardless of whether any of these hypotheses are true, the name Fire Island has long been applied to the western part of Fire Island. The more easterly part of the barrier island was known as Great South Beach until about 1920, when common usage extended the Fire Island name to the rest of the island.
I am going to stick with the "Pirates"
Luke is now a teenager. Actually all three of the boys are teenagers.....Our baby is growing up.
Photo of the day "Fire Island - Sailor's Haven"
P.S. Luke asked for a paintball gun too. Not gonna happen. I may take him to the shooting range out east though, to shoot a real 22 cal. rifle...
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