Lifestyle

What with all the quaint towns on the North Fork, it seems unfair to play favorites, but there’s no denying that  with its gorgeous old houses, leafy streets, and syrupy marine light, Orient has a charm all its own.

Perhaps because it has no bars, restaurants, or souvenir shops, Orient, the easternmost village on the North Fork, isn’t as popular with summer visitors as its neighbors to the west. Yet for the writers, artists, architects, farming families, and nature-lovers who live here, Orient’s secluded location at the end of a causeway is a big part of its allure.

The North Fork is the type of place people dream about spending their summers on. It has everything from beaches to vineyards, to locally caught seafood and freshly grown produce. As the stars light up over the Long Island Sound each night, it’s easy to get caught up in the beauty, the peace, and the magic that is the North Fork.

Questions and Answers with Elizabeth Weigart of the Times Vintage in Greenport Q: How did you get to the North Fork? A: I moved to NYC when I was 18, for school—Marymount Manhattan. I studied studio arts. While I’ve always loved vintage, my first love has always been art.

Leah Sullivan | Century 21 Albertson Realty | Cell: 631.816.0876 Leah is blessed to call the North Fork her year-round home and for the opportunity to raise her children in the same hamlet that she was raised. She enjoys a deep-rooted connection to the community and environment, and has firsthand knowledge of the area and its’ unique history.

Strong’s Marine has set the benchmark for Long Island boating since 1945, when Stewart Strong opened the family’s first marina in Lindenhurst. Three generations later, with headquarters on the North Fork, locations on Peconic Bay, Mattituck Inlet and across Long Island, the Strong family continues to build Strong’s Marine into the region’s leading purveyor of luxury boating.

The Greenport artist Cindy Pease Roe makes sculptures out of beach trash. Bottle caps, old sneakers, flip flops, surf-battered plastic in various stages of decomposition, miniature dolls, sand pails, shovels, sun visors, shredded tarpaulins, and bullet casings are the raw materials of her work.

Holiday shopping on the North Fork can be an exciting and enjoyable experience. Treasures abound in the many local shops and stores throughout the quaint hamlets of the North Fork, featuring beautiful clothing, fine accessories, handmade jewelry, fun children’s toys, delicious chocolates, and so much more.

These days it seems as though every new restaurant in this country is eager to establish its farm-to-table creds. Yet if the restaurant is Japanese and the chef is ambitious, nationalist pride trumps local produce almost every time.

Historic downtown Riverhead is currently undergoing a renaissance unlike anything seen before. On Main Street there are new breweries, fine restaurants, yogurt cafés, tea shops, art galleries, music stores, new apartments, office spaces, and more. Riverhead is becoming a vibrant downtown once again.