Shelter Island known for laid-back atmosphere


May 29, 2006

Bicyclists love Shelter Island for its laid-back New England atomosphere and gently rolling, tree-shaded byways – many ending at small beaches. To avoid the long weekend ferry lines in summer, savvy day-trippers leave their car in North Haven or Greenport, walk their bikes aboard the boat (or rent them on the island), then meander around on two wheels.

The 8,000-acre island is even more compact than its official dozen square miles when you eliminate marshes and other areas not suitable for bicycling (including the huge Mashomack Preserve, which does, however, provide bike racks.)

Sunset viewing is a major evening activity and there aren't too many planned daytime events. There's a scattering of shops, galleries and places to stop for a meal, snack or picnic fixings. But the overall snail's pace is just fine with the locals – and with visitors drawn by the island's simple charms.

Your itinerary should include lovely Dering Harbor and sprawling Big Ram Island, en route to which you'll see huge osprey nests on platforms atop telephone poles along the causeway.

On summer weekends, visitors can tour a couple of historical society properties – the home of a member of the First Continental Congress and a museum with changing exhibits in an old chapel – both in The Center, one of the Island's two main communities. The other, known by an equally straightforward name – The Heights – has the island's oldest building. It's the Chapel in the Grove, noted for its marine mosaic windows. It was built in 1875 to 1876 for guests of a fashionable hotel that was the center of a religious community.

While you're there, stop at Crescent Beach for a soul-melting sunset and, in season, inspiring free concerts by gifted students at the summer home of the Perlman Music Program (co-founded by Toby Perlman, whose husband, Itzhak Perlman, provides mentoring.)

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