City Island 2015

I was obsessing so much over last year's visit to City Island (I wrote about it here and here) that I couldn't wait any longer to go back. Luckily, JMP was interested in going so we braved the heat and humidity on Sunday and headed up north. I already knew what to expect in terms of the travel involved, so the trip went by quickly and soon we were in the "Seaport of the Bronx" without much trouble at all.

I do wish that it hadn't been so insanely hot, but we made enough stops to make sure we cooled down. In some ways I even kind of enjoyed the heat—City Island just oozes summer to me, so the weather was right on par. However, I definitely want to visit in the off-season because I'm sure the slightly abandoned, strange feeling of the island is only heightened in the winter.

One of the things I love most about City Island is the lack of chain stores. We did notice a Dunkin' Donuts at the northern end and remarked to each other about how out of place it felt amongst all the local restaurants and shops. Sometimes New York can feel as if it's rapidly becoming one big strip mall as small businesses are squeezed out by high rents in favor of banks and Starbucks—it's refreshing to be in a place that feels so authentic.

At one point JMP said something to the effect of "you find the weirdest shit to take photos of..." which is definitely true, and thankfully not that difficult on City Island. I love how insular the island feels, like a true community where neighbors greet each other on the street and know everyone's business. The diner was filled with regulars, but we felt more than welcomed wherever we went, including the diner (the one where Jerry Seinfeld took Ricky Gervais on an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee), the antique shop, the Nautical Museum, the cemetery and the ice cream stand.

Speaking of weird shit, the Early Ruth antique shop was an excellent stop, even if the mannequin hands I wanted weren't for sale (ugh) and the anthropomorphic hot dog statue of my dreams was way out of my price range ($3,500). The sombrero does come with the hot dog, though, in case you're interested.

We didn't spend a large portion of this trip drinking with locals at the Alehouse or eating fried shrimp at Johnny's Reef like last time, but we did walk the entire island. We ended up at Johnny's but we weren't hungry, so we just watched the seagulls which were equal parts fascinating and terrifying. I've never seen so many birds in one place outside of The Birds and it's kind of miraculous that we managed to avoid getting pooped on. We decided to call it a day pretty early since we were both tired from the heat, but I think my second trip to City Island was a success—I'm already dreaming about my third.