By Matt Solowan

Edited by Natalie Grace Sipula

[3 minute read]

Whenever people ask me where I’m from and I say New York, they always reply with something along the lines of “Wow, that’s so cool! You live in New York City!” I then have to remind them (and for some people teach them) that New York is actually a really big state, and New York City (or Manhattan more specifically) is only one part of it.

I grew up on Long Island, about an hour drive from Manhattan. While some people only know us Long Islanders as inhabitants of the setting of The Great Gatsby, we have also made quite a name for ourselves for other reasons. From the beautiful beaches of the Hamptons to our world-famous bagels and pizza, Long Island has come to be known for many things.  When I go home for breaks now, I like to squeeze in as many of my favorite Long Island-themed activities as I can possibly fit in. This got me thinking about what my perfect day on Long Island would be. So without further ado here it is:

I’d wake up early so that I can get to my favorite bagel shop while the bagels are still fresh. I’d order my favorite bacon egg and cheese on an everything flagel (slang for a flat bagel) and an iced coffee. No breakfast food can compare to a Long Island bagel, and in fact, whenever my family or friends come to visit me at school, I always beg them to bring me as many as they can( By the way, if you think you’ve had a bagel, but it wasn’t from Long Island, then you probably were just eating bread).

If it were summertime, I would then drive out to the beach with my friends, preferably the Hamptons or nearby Fire Island, but Jones Beach or Oyster Bay are nice hangout spots too. While we may not have the same crystal clear blue water that you find in the Caribbean, to me spending the day at the beach has always been like a mini-vacation (although the seagulls can get pretty annoying).

After that, my friends and I would return home to get ready to go out for the night. One of the best parts about living in the shadow of Manhattan is that at any time you can hop on a train and spend the night in one of the greatest cities on earth. No matter how many times I step out of Penn Station on arrival in Manhattan, I am always in awe at the sights and sounds of the city.

After dinner and dancing in Manhattan, we’d catch a late-night train home. But the night wouldn’t end there, because no night on Long Island is officially over until you end up at the diner. In Long Island, there’s a diner on every corner, and there’s no better place to go late at night for a chocolate milkshake and some mozzarella sticks.

So there you have it: my perfect day in Long Island. While I am happy to now call Los Angeles home, I will always look back at my time in Long Island fondly. And now after writing this, I’m craving a Long Island bagel, and can’t wait for my next break when I get to go back to the place I call home.

Featured Image by Ross Sokolovski on Unsplash

Matt Solowan is a recent USC graduate who worked as a one-on-one conversation partner.