Tales From the East End: Riverhead

What Did You Expect in 'Riverhead' - A Lake ??

For those of you who felt we had too many ocean pictures in our trips to the East End, we offer a welcome respite. This is the first leg of our second trip, which covered the North Fork of Long Island - Suffolk County's county seat, The City of Riverhead. I'll be honest: I never went to Riverhead as a kid. In fact, Moye's been here probably dozens more times than I have ... It had a bit of a bad reputation, it was far away, and I really had no reason to ever go there. From what I can tell, it's changed a lot over the years, and it's a nice place to spend a few hours....

Nestled in between the Two Forks, Riverhead is just that - it sits just inland on the Peconic River. Overall, it's not some wonderland - there are plenty of spots that we still wouldn't recommend going. Basically, you take the Long Island Expressway all the way to the end at Exit 72 (Rt. 25), and it goes right into Riverhead. The west side of town looks kinda like Pamplico. After a mile or two, you hit Riverhead proper, and things pick up. It reminded me a lot of Downtown Florence, except the stores were all occupied and open. The main difference is they took the one advantage they had - The River - and made it a place for everyone to enjoy.

First up, the Suffolk County Historical Society building - where you can see stuff from the area's rich fishing history....

Next, the US Supreme Court building... Nah, it's the Federal Courthouse. See, it does look like Flotown....

For you Train Buffs, there's the Suffolk Railroad Museum, complete with it's own train .... WOO-WOO !!!

Take the kids to the Long Island Aquarium, which was packed with busloads of school kids on a Field Trip...

There's a good half-mile of small shops to visit, but the main attraction is just behind it at the riverfront area.....

Many of the posts on the boardwalk have been carved with nature and nautical themes. Nice touch....

Not a bad lunchtime view from the Hizir Baba Restaurant, is it? The Gyro Wrap was pretty good too....

No, I wouldn't build my entire vacation around Riverhead, but it's a decent old town with a lot of history, and some new wrinkles to make it worth a day trip...

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