City Island Recommendations?

[RainDog]

I also recommend checking out the Public Library on City Island. They have an impressive collection of nautical books if you into a few hours of browsing.

[CalebD]

Originally Posted by Hesper

Nice to see all the kind words about Stuyvesant YC since I'm a member there. Truth is, though, all 4 clubs on the western shore have guest moorings, restaurants, showers, etc. and are accomodating to visitors.

The diner mentioned by two posters is the City Island Diner and the best place I know of for a hearty breakfast. Take-out sandwiches are great, too, but their hours can catch you by surprise - they close early.

Lickety-Split across the street is always filled with kids - for ice cream, of course. They also tend to favor the "greasy-spoon" fried fish joints - two at the southern tip of the island and one on the west side halfway up. I've never been to Artie's myself, but I really like the Black Whale (outdoor gargen and the owner also runs Stuyvesant's restaurant) and the Crab Shanty. The latter is somewhat aptly named when it comes to atmosphere, but the seafood is first-rate.

Lots of antique stores along the Avenue and several places to pick up necessaries for the boat. Dempsey's and The Snug (both on the same block as the Diner) are the local watering holes if you're looking for a burger and beer with Dempsey's being the place for late-night raucus entertainment.

Nice work Hesper. Now that is local knowledge!

[hellosailor]

If your scehdule allows, skip the heavy tourist hours. I've seen summer weekends when Friday or Saturday from, say 4PM to 10PM, the traffic was so heavy that it was "one car on the island, one car off the island" and solid all the way down the avenue.

A much nicer place to visit if you can do it during the week!

[Plumbean]

Thanks for all the recommendations on this thread. We made it over to City Island about three weeks ago (the day of the microburst -- see here http://www.sailnet.com/forums/long-i...l-i-sound.html) and thought I would post a quick recap.

We picked up a mooring at Stuyvesant Yacht Club in the late morning. Everyone there was really nice and they cut us a break on their normal fee since we were only staying for a couple of hours. Walked to the main drag and had lunch at the City Island Diner, which was a good choice for the kids. Standard diner fare with a friendly waitstaff. Afterwards, we walked across the street to Lickety Split for ice cream for the kids (and dad). The kids had a blast and I expect we will be back.

We did not explore the rest of the island, as it was very hot that day, and the forecast was pretty ominous, so we decided to call it good and head back across the sound to Manhasset Bay. As it turned out, that was a good decision (see the link above). I'd like to get back and explore some more -- my best one sentence description is that it seemed like an odd combination of a quaint New England seafaring town with patches of urban blight mixed in.

[murphbmurph]

I keep my Precision 185 on Lake Nockamixon in PA, but would like to try City Island for a few weeks next summer. Any chance I can get a marina slip for less than a full season? Any suggestions where I should start looking?