It’s that time of year again: Thanksgiving! It’s time to stuff our faces, spend time with our families, and most importantly, acknowledge all of the things that we’re thankful for. Most people remember to thank their friends, family, health, and success. But they rarely show thanks to the place that makes it all possible, the place that they live. Here at Her Campus Adelphi and Her Campus Old Westbury we want to give thanks to our own lovable Long Island. When people think of Long Island, they think of Great Gatsby, great bagels, and terrible accents. While they’re not totally wrong, there’s so much more to it than that. It might be one of the priciest places to live in the country, but there are so many awesome things that make it worth it. Here are the reasons why we are so so thankful to live on Long Island:
1). BAGELS
Did we already say bagels? Good ’cause it’s worth repeating. No matter what the rest of the country says, no other place can do bagels quite like Long Island can. Every Long Islander has their go-to bagel place whether it’s Bagel Boss, Hot Bagels, or A&S Bagels. If you’ve never had an egg bagel with Oreo cream cheese, you’re not doing bagels right and need to report to Long Island immediately.
2). Ralph’s Italian Ices
Along with everyone from Long Island being Italian, they also love their italian ices. Even though Ralph’s has closed up shop by this time of year, we can’t wait until March when we can buy a cup or tub of ices. The toughest part is choosing which unique flavor. Whether it’s Birthday Cake, Cookie Monster, Blue Hawaii, or Cannoli, you know it’s gonna be good because it’s Ralphs, duh.
3). The Beaches
One of the best things about Long Island is that it is an island. There are beaches basically everywhere you look. Much like bagel stores, every Long Islander has their regular beach whether it’s Long Beach, Montauk, Jones Beach, or Robert Moses. The best thing about Long Island is that some of the beaches even come with their own towns. Long Beach is filled with beach houses and several beach themed stores and restuarants including Diner by the Sea, home of the famous rainbow shake.
4). The Adorable Towns
Not only does Long Island have amazing beaches, but they also have equally amazing towns that you can visit all year round. Only in Long Island can you make plans to go to the next town over and actually make a day of it. Each town has its own unique sites, boutiques, and restuarants. I’ve had plenty of adventures with friends and dates in Long Island’s cutest towns like Port Jeff, Stony Brook, and Long Beach.
5). The LIRR
Whether you call it the “L-I-R-R”, the “lurr”, or “L-I-Double R”, chances are if you’re a true Long Islander, you’ve ridden on it hundres of times. Whether it’s to get into the city, commute to school, or visit friends, you can always count on the LIRR to get you to where you need to go. Also, you’re not a true Long Islander if you haven’t experienced the drunk train on the way back from the city.
6). Sweet 16’s
If you grew up on Long Island, you knew Sweet 16s were lit. No other place in the country does Sweet 16’s quite like Long Island. Our Sweet 16’s were basically mini weddings. People invited 50 of their closest friends, decorated the venue in whichever theme they choose, serve full course meals, occassionally have cute choreographed flash mob, loads of grinding on the dance floor, and always a candles ceremoy to show how blessed your privledged Long Island live was. They were ridiculous but we couldn’t get enough of them.
7). Amusement Parks
We might not have had Six Flags or Disney World on Long Island, but we had our own pretty awesome amusement parks. Adventureland (yes it’s a real place) was one of the most fun place to go with your friends. I went with my girl scout troupe every year and would honestly still do so even though I grew out of girl scouts in middle school. Another amazing LI amusement park was Splish Splash. Your summer wasn’t complete if you didn’t hit up Splish Splash at least once with your friends.