How to avoid being bored to tears while visiting the very boring county of Suffolk, NY

July 10, 2010 4:10 PM

How to avoid being bored to tears while visiting the very boring county of Suffolk, NY

I'm visiting my grandmother who lives in Medford, NY starting from July 20th to August 8th. My grandmother isn't going very well so I'm going to be on my own the rest of the time. I have a childhood friend who lives very close to my grandmother, but she seems caught up in her own life and frankly, a little dull, so I'm not counting on having someone to bring along.
I know that there are a lot of theatre productions going on around there and I plan on seeing quite a few, but I would like to find other things to fill my time. I will be reading a lot, working on personal animation projects but I'm interested in taking advantage of exploring a new location.

***I will be staying in the city the last leg of my trip when my friends from California come to meet me and I know there is no shortage of things to do there, so I'm specifically trying to find things to do that AREN'T IN THE CITY***

THINGS TO CONSIDER:

*I'm female and 21

*I'm very social and make friends very easily, so if anyone has suggestions on an interesting place I could potentially meet friends that would be awesome

*I love bars, feel free to suggest; but I might feel uncomfortable going by myself unless it's a place where I can go have a beer and read a book comfortably or it's like a great club that's such a shitshow that being alone wouldn't be a problem

*I have access to a car and am willing to drive up to an hour away from Medford


Also, specifically, I would love to find a good yoga studio, particularly one with an introductory offer (e.g. 10 for $20). There's no shortage here in California but I can't seem to find any over there via Yelp and Google.

Thanks!

posted by ad4pt to Travel & Transportation around New York (6 answers total)

I grew up in Suffolk County (further out than Medford, though) and love things that aren't bars and hate cities, so take this all with a grain of salt... but having said that:

Old Bethpage Village (actually in Nassau County, sigh) is pretty cool if you like historic villages. Actually talking to the docents in the bits that interest you can be especially fun when you're by yourself, since you won't feel guilty about boring your companions to tears and the docents will love having an interested ear.

Old Westbury Gardens is a beautiful place to spend a day, reading a book, enjoying the outdoors, etc.

Fire Island (the state park part at Sailor's Haven known as the Sunken Forest) is a beautiful place to visit; Fire Island (the more social part) can be a lot of fun and potentially a place to meet people. It is, of course, known as a gay community.

The entire North Fork is wine country -- I have no idea if that's more than an hour from Medford, but doing wine tastings on the North Fork is a very entertaining day -- the wineries are TINY compared to in California, and so you get family members serving and telling you about their farms, and you get slightly larger servings ;) This can be a down side, if you're driving -- my parents live out there so we usually opt for bikes rather than a car. You might be able to arrange some hybrid of this where you park and bike?

Riverhead has an aquarium and outlet malls. I enjoy both equally.

If you enjoy weird roadside architecture, the Big Duck is pretty famous. Also in the middle of nowhere, though, unless you're already on your way to one of the forks.

On the South Fork, the Pollock-Krasner House is a cool experience if you're interested in mid-century modernism; their hours can be limited, so check ahead of time. Also the Parrish Art Museum is fabulous, truly excellent exhibitions in a beautiful building -- and the whole town of Southampton is worth an afternoon, especially if rich people and tourists don't drive you crazy :)

Do you like lighthouses? There's everything from the well-known at Montauk to the intimate-but-lovely at Horton Point (also nearer to you).

And finally, because I guess none of this really sounds like your idea of a kickass time, I will say that when we were looking for random bars to go out to (my friends and I all went away to college, so got to drinking age and realized we had no idea where to go when we were home), a good bet for finding friendly people and places was to look for cover bands. Bars that are venues for cover bands are usually a) large enough that you'll be inconspicuous even if you do decide to read a book, and b) full of people who are easy to talk to (assuming you know anything about the band being covered).

Oh, and obMeetupsuggestion: why not try to organize a MeFi meetup?

As for yoga studios -- there are tons, like there are everywhere. If you seriously can't find any via Google (I am shocked, but too lazy to try myself) then I suggest you look for a natural/health food store once you arrive and see if they have a bulletin board for ads. There will be yoga fliers, if they do. If you want something for sure before you arrive, try national-chain gyms, or the Y, or something. It might not be your ideal yoga class, but they will almost certainly be cheap.

And lastly, asking people for help by telling them that where they live/love is boring is not the greatest way to make friends. But you knew that already.
posted by obliquicity at 4:43 PM on July 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: These are awesome suggestions, obliquicity! I'll definitely go wine tasting and check out Bethpage village and the outlets. Thanks!

About the yoga, I found places, just not any with special introductory offers and I'm looking to save money.
posted by ad4pt at 5:10 PM on July 10, 2010

You could always spend a few lazy days at Robert Moses.
posted by Rubbstone at 6:03 PM on July 10, 2010

yup, I was going to suggest the beach. Suffolk County has mighty nice beaches. I live on Maui and I still pine for the beaches of my youth, especially Fire Island.
posted by fifilaru at 7:41 PM on July 10, 2010

There are a lot of parks. One of my favorites is Caumsett - nice for hiking.

A few other nice outdoor sites... Coe Hall Arberitum is very nice. And the Japanese Stroll Garden is in Nassau county, but (to me) worth the trip.

There is an arts & crafts fair in Long Beach (again Nassau county) the weekend of July 17.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 11:00 AM on July 12, 2010

My friend says the yoga studio he goes to will do a free introductory class. Let me know if you're interested.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 11:11 AM on July 12, 2010