On Long Island, the clocks run slower

As we leave New York, we notice that the Long Island Rail Road is cleaner than the Amtrak train and that the train travels slower. After changing at Jamaica (Queens), the train slows down even more and meanders along at a leisurely pace. The water that we increasingly see on both sides of the train and the spaciousness of the train almost give us the feeling of traveling on a ship as we creep between the towns.

When we arrived in Long Beach, we were greeted by a very generously planned city with many single-family homes that displayed national flags and also displayed prosperity. Everything seemed very quiet. After the hectic Manhattan, we quickly calmed down, walked from our Air BnB to the beach and spent an hour there before the threat of sunburn called us home. Here, the weather rather than the sights determines the day.

We then spend the evening in the simply designed garden with kosher food from a Jewish delicatessen and Long Island Ice Tea (normal iced tea that we bought on Long Island). We watch several fireflies (“firebugs” in the local idiom) in their fiery attempts at flirting.

Mrs. Waas is delighted with Hugo, our host Frank's dog, who licks our bare shins with relish. (Hugo, not Frank!) Frank's Air BnB is very simple and we only have a microwave, but it is a real Air BnB and not a pseudo-holiday apartment and we can hear Hugo's claws being trimmed in the next room directly behind the wall.

The next day brings rain and we use the day to finally stay in bed for a while and take it easy. This means we finally get around to writing our New York blog. Then we try to go for a walk and escape the rain into a restaurant with nine (!) TVs with five different channels - up to three of which are showing different baseball broadcasts. Mrs. Waas has a chocolate milkshake and Mr. Ärmel dares to try a chocolate peanut butter shake, which deserves a special mention in the hopefully soon-to-come food blog article. The afternoon has the beach promenade and kosher vegan leftovers in store for us again.

On our last day, the sky gradually clears up again. We take a trip on Frank's bikes (without handbrakes, bells or lights) to a lookout point with waterfowl and a lovely little park with play areas for all ages, and we have a surprisingly good brunch.

After a bit more beach time and the last supper, we head to the beach one last time at night and watch a calm, beautiful fireworks display for the 4th of July with lots of other people in a pleasantly quiet atmosphere without alcohol or shouting. Yes, it is the 13th, but in Long Beach, the clocks run differently...