Fire Island in the summer

[Guest]

The one gay destination I haven't been to is Fire Island, and we're thinking of going in July, probably staying in Cherry Grove. Is it like Provincetown, in that there's plenty to do other than just party all night and go to the beach? Are there plenty of shows? I'm debating whether to spend 3 nights/2 days or 4 nights/3 days.

[+ nycman]

Honestly, there’s not much to do on Fire Island. I find
it to be a very "beach, drinks, and dinner party" type of place.
Although, more so in the Pines than Cherry Grove. If you’re
not staying with friends or know people there, it can be very
quiet and boring. I find P-town to be more lively, but let’s be
honest, it’s hardly a thriving metropolis.

[BtmBearDad]

It is nothing like Ptown 😂

You’re basically on a sandbar off the south shore of LI, so there’s not a lot of amenities or activities. The two gay “towns” on FI, (there are many others, populated mostly with families), are Cherry Grove and the Pines. CG had the reputation of being more “flamboyant” shall we say? Whereas the Pines was much more about not being flamboyant. I suppose in many ways that’s still true. 

I did shares in the Pines for many years in my youth - typical weekend would be grab something to eat on way out, take train from Penn to Sayville, bus cab from Sayville to ferry, ferry to the Pines. Stop at the Pantry for outrageously over priced groceries, same at the liquor store, off to the house, greet others, have cocktail, shower change, out to Sip & Twirl. Next morning, the house cook makes breakfast for all, then it’s the beach or the pool for most of the day. Cocktails at the Blue Whale or at whichever house is having a party (several are always having parties),  then tea (high and low), home for house dinner, change, shower, back out to Sip & Twirl. Etc.. Change the names of the places, maybe throw in a drag show, and that’s pretty much the same in CG. 

If you’re looking for fine dining, activities, sights, you better skip Fire Island. 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

4 hours ago, BtmBearDad said:

It is nothing like Ptown 😂

You’re basically on a sandbar off the south shore of LI, so there’s not a lot of amenities or activities. The two gay “towns” on FI, (there are many others, populated mostly with families), are Cherry Grove and the Pines. CG had the reputation of being more “flamboyant” shall we say? Whereas the Pines was much more about not being flamboyant. I suppose in many ways that’s still true. 

I did shares in the Pines for many years in my youth - typical weekend would be grab something to eat on way out, take train from Penn to Sayville, bus cab from Sayville to ferry, ferry to the Pines. Stop at the Pantry for outrageously over priced groceries, same at the liquor store, off to the house, greet others, have cocktail, shower change, out to Sip & Twirl. Next morning, the house cook makes breakfast for all, then it’s the beach or the pool for most of the day. Cocktails at the Blue Whale or at whichever house is having a party (several are always having parties),  then tea (high and low), home for house dinner, change, shower, back out to Sip & Twirl. Etc.. Change the names of the places, maybe throw in a drag show, and that’s pretty much the same in CG. 

If you’re looking for fine dining, activities, sights, you better skip Fire Island. 

This is absolutely spot on. 

Fire Island is now where young gay Manhattan goes to all try to keep one-upping each other.

It's exhausting as fuck to be around. 

Unless you own the house or know someone who does, I'd say go to P town instead. 

My most fond memories of being on Fire Island are when I was sequestered in a house, away from the mounds of social bullshit in town. 

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by BenjaminNicholas

[BtmBearDad]

47 minutes ago, BenjaminNicholas said:

It's exhausting as fuck to be around. 

100%

47 minutes ago, BenjaminNicholas said:

Unless you own the house or know someone who does, I'd say go to P town instead. 

Very true! You don’t want to be renting a bedroom in a house with strangers - especially those there to one-up each other - see above on exhaustion. 

49 minutes ago, BenjaminNicholas said:

My most fond memories of being on Fire Island are when I was sequestered in a house, away from the mounds of social bullshit in town. 

 🙌🏻 This was my favourite part of shares in FI - you could get off the ferry, stock up at the pantry and liquor store, and not bother going into town again. Last few years I did shares, we were way out the east end - practically in Water Island - so we could and did just go from house to beach and back much of the time, only venturing to town to catch the ferry back. We got to know others down that end equally over the “scene” in town, so we’d all hang together, have each other over, etc.. The most we’d do is go to tea, usually when we had friends visiting, and/or to a house party if it was at a friend’s house. 

I still think FI is pretty special, but like many places, for me it’s best in my memories. I’d be gutted were I to go now, and have my memories crushed. 

[+ Charlie]

I haven't been to Fire Island or P-town for many years, so like @BtmBearDad my memories are possibly out of date, but his certainly match mine of the '60s, '70s and early '80s. Other than sex, the only entertainment I can remember was in the Grove, when I went to see Carmen McRae perform at a bar one night. Martha Raye was in the audience, and she and I ended up sharing a pizza down by the ferry landing later that evening.

[+ Lucky]

14 minutes ago, Charlie said:

I haven't been to Fire Island or P-town for many years, so like @BtmBearDad my memories are possibly out of date, but his certainly match mine of the '60s, '70s and early '80s. Other than sex, the only entertainment I can remember was in the Grove, when I went to see Carmen McRae perform at a bar one night. Martha Raye was in the audience, and she and I ended up sharing a pizza down by the ferry landing later that evening.

But the sex made it worthwhile, no?

[+ Charlie]

1 minute ago, Lucky said:

But the sex made it worthwhile, no?

Yes.

[BtmBearDad]

@Charlie, my years of doing shares spanned from the late 90’s thru the early 2000’s. Yes - the sex was definitely abundant - whether you met someone on the beach, walking “the boardwalk” aka Fire Island Blvd, at tea, at a party, or when cutting thru the “Judy Garland Memorial Forest” - you couldn’t swing a cat without finding an eager hole or pole to satisfy your needs 😂

As I write this, a memory flooded back of a weeknight upstairs from Sip N Twirl at the bar on my own, having a drink. I noticed one very handsome guy playing pool. I thought I knew him, but decided I didn’t. I must have stared too long because he came over, we got to chatting, one thing led to another, and we’re back at his. After, as we lay there chatting a bit, I realised I did know him! Actually I knew the character he played on a soap, and before I could stop myself, I blurted out “OMG I just realised you’re *character name*!” He looked at me with a smile “you didn’t know?” I explained how I thought I knew him, but then decided I didn’t. He laughed and said “here I thought I had to thank *character name* for getting your attention”, to which I replied something about how it was his good looks that got my attention, and so commenced round 2! 

Memories like this make me smile. 

[+ azdr0710]

sorry to be a country rube, @BtmBearDad , but what does "doing shares" mean?......thanks......great story, by the way, about the soap star......

[BtmBearDad]

1 minute ago, azdr0710 said:

what does "doing shares" mean?

Not being a country rube in the least, @azdr0710! I sometimes forget not all idioms, expressions are universal. 

On FI, when renting for the summer, you have 3 options:
• a full share where the house is yours entirely from Memorial Day to usually 1 or 2 weeks after Labor Day.  
• a 1/2 share where you have the house every other weekend for the same time period. 
• a 1/4 share where you have the house once a month, again over the same time period. 

It’s down to the owners how they want to list the houses. So the expression would be “doing a share” when talking about spending summers on FI. Also, it wasn’t a Sunday-Saturday week, your week began either Wednesday or Thursday and ran until Tuesday or Wednesday. 

I’d say, like my own experience, the overwhelming majority of shares are done year after year by the same groups of friends, and usually the same houses. We always did a 1/2 share, where each side had one of the parties (the Invasion or the Pines Party) on one of their weekends. Usually, providing the other 1/2 was cool, you could swap weekends. 

I remember an “elder gay” owner who offered 2 pieces of advice on doing shares - (1.) if you’re all still friends after your first summer, you’ll be friends for life; and, (2.) never let a stray into your share - there’s a reason the previous groups don’t want to do a share with him again.  He proved prescient on both counts! 

[Enronnja]

Ok, looks like the fantasy of what I saw in TV series on Bravo, Treasure Island Media Porn and Porn of the 70s and 80s is now gone.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

15 minutes ago, Enronnja said:

Ok, looks like the fantasy of what I saw in TV series on Bravo, Treasure Island Media Porn and Porn of the 70s and 80s is now gone.

A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore these days

[Enronnja]

9 minutes ago, BenjaminNicholas said:

A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore these days

Yeah, unfortunately due to social media and smartphones have disrupted the original intention of these meeting spaces. They were always intended as ‘safe meeting spaces’ where Gays could be themselves without risks. With apps like Grindr, 24/7 access to porn planning escapes to secret mecca’s like this have become more of a right of passage than actual necessity. 

Vice News did a short documentary about bear week and there was a scene that got me so hot and bothered. It was under the docks the narrator described the smell of ass, musk and lube. You could hear the sound of men moaning. 

[CuriousByNature]

9 hours ago, Charlie said:

Yes.

Sex with Martha Raye?