But I can at least look forward to this:

I'm not a huge beach person, but I love the whole feel of coastal towns. It's like being in a whole other world compared to the city. Long Beach is a pretty big town, but there are others around it (along the same inlet) that aren't. And you can just go wandering around in areas like Point Lookout and be pretty much totally by yourself in the middle of sand and reeds, with the ocean beyond. But you can see that even Long Beach is not that crowded; it's not like most of the Jersey Shore. Part of it's that I think there's not enough parking, and most of what there is is reserved for people who actually live in the oceanside apartment buildings. But it keeps it from getting crazy.
This was actually taken on the north shore... but just look at how peaceful this is:


It's actually pretty pathetic - we live in a huge Italian area and we've never been to an Italian restaurant here, but I could tell you the names and locations of probably every fast food outlet within 10 miles. There's of course McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's, also Pizza Hut, KFC, and lesser-known chains like Nathan's and White Castle. I go to White Castle a lot because they still have deep-fried apple pies (though their fries are the worst of any fast food chain).
We've also got some of the best diners anywhere. I mean the real thing, with neon lights and chrome and art-deco interiors lifted out of a 1930's-era train car. Real Greek diners with gyros and souvlaki mixed in with the burgers and fries. Every town around here has at least one major diner; some have two. We've got our favorite, and this is it:

You know how you can tell a real diner from a fake one? Order a cheeseburger and see whether they put raw onions or onion rings on it. I have never seen a fake diner get this right. Real diner burgers have onion rings. It's universal.
Of course, we still go to (or stay in) the city to eat a lot of the time. That's still where the really great restaurants are, and I'm sure I'll write about more of them in the future. But I love the food on Long Island, even without having tried much of the local ethnic food. I think we've already fallen into our habits.
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