OHEKA Castle and One of My Favorite Places. . . . The Fire Island Lighthouse

On Sunday we checked-out of our hotel in Saddle Brook, NJ and then spent a few hours visiting sis-in-law Liz again.  I saw Beth and Greg off for their trip back to their home in Connecticut, then drove to Hicksville to check-into my next digs, the Econo-Lodge there.  My "travelling in style" days only included the ones that involved the kids!

On Monday morning I went to OHEKA Castle (the Otto HErman KAhn mansion in Huntington, not far from where I once lived) in the morning. And Fire Island Lighthouse, where I'd been a volunteer docent in 2012 till early 2013, in the afternoon. . .

Kahn was the man whom "Mr. Monopoly" - of the Monopoly game - was modeled after. A well-to-do Wall Street Banker in the Roaring 20s.

Here's the view of some of the rooms and of some of the outdoors around the place. Our tour guide, Laura, said it is the 2nd largest - by the building's square footage - mansion in the country. According to her only Vanderbilt's Biltmore in Asheville NC is larger.

The place has 42 rooms for use as a hotel, as well as catering facilities for weddings and big events:

It is the largest privately-owned mansion in the country.  It's owner, Gary Melius, a building contractor, made it his life's ambition to restore it after it had "run into hard times" in the 1980s. He lives on the premises in a private suite there. In my opinion, he did an excellent job and performed a great service to the people in the area around the mansion.

Next up on that day's agenda was a visit to the Fire Island Lighthouse. . .

I took _this_ photo as I was _leaving_ but I've put it here first:

I'd spent a few days there during the month's between my Eleanor's parting and my decision in early 2012 to become a volunteer docent there. It is a peaceful and serene place, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life on Long Island and in NYC. . .

Dunno how so many bikes got here.  No cars are allowed on Fire Island other than in the Robert Moses State Park's parking lots. The 30 or so towns on F.I. are travelled by bike and bike only. Maybe these ones were left behind over this past summer. . .

There are herds of deer that roam the island too. . .

I felt at ease in the "job" of "keeper of the light". . .  or as _I_ used to call the Fresnel Lens, "Old Blinky."  It was fun to educate kids when they came there on school Field Trips. . .

 I'd get the kids to stand on the balcony that surrounds the contraption, and look thru the "bullseye" at the middle of the Fresnel Lens. I'd have another kid stand at the opposite side of the contraption. The two kids would laugh themselves silly when they saw their friend magnified and UPSIDE DOWN in the lens.

I visited Dave and Peggy, the bosses, in the lightkeeper's residence, and I chatted with John and Janet in the Lens building, my current "replacements."

Then I walked back to the parking lot, over the mile-or-so-long boardwalk to it. . .

It was a good visit.

Continued. . . .