O n this, the largest island in the contiguous United States — and one that prides itself in glorious Junes, Julys and Augusts — residents and vacationers alike expect to have fun, and lots of it, during the summer. This indefatigable reporter compiled a list of some of the delicious food and experiences he craves, and odds are you will, too. Unlike a Long Island iced tea, which knows no season, the (slightly) less potent Fire Island invention, the Rocket Fuel, is distinguished by an irresistible frothiness that has long since skip-jumped Great South Bay and become an essential summer potable.
Some routinely dismiss the Rocket Fuel as the colada you make when the Amaretto bottle needs dusting, but many others couldn’t survive summer without it. Just ask the day drinkers dancing on the deck at Flynn’s in Ocean Bay Park or fighting for bar stools at The Island Mermaid or CJ’s , both in Ocean Beach. For these folks, mainlining Fuels is the quickest, surest route to recovery — from beach days with cranky, sunburned children, from excursions to Sunken Meadow sunk by the threat of heatstroke, from misperceptions that fat-tire cycling on sand is fun and more.
Classic dishes like bratwurst and homemade potato pancakes are staples at the German-American Restaurant Plattduetsche Park in Franklin Square. Credit: Jeff Bachner Plattduetsche Park might conjure images of polka dancing and impressive steins of Krombacher Dunkel quaffed under twinkle lights in Franklin Square, but.