72 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • OCTOBER 2018
PRESS BUZZ: DESTINATIONS OYSTER BAY:
Oyster Bay’s annual Oyster Festival overlooks the hamlet’s eponymous body of water, where baymen harvest its famous shellfish.
By BRENDAN MANLEY
The hamlet of Oyster Bay, part of
the greater Nassau County Town of
Oyster Bay, is perhaps best known
as the home of former U.S. President
Theodore Roosevelt, whose regal Sagamore
Hill estate still wows onlookers
today. It’s a community steeped in
colonial heritage and Gold Coast opulence,
providing both tourists and
locals alike with some of the finest
waterfront access on the North Shore,
along with a host of other natural,
historic and manmade attractions.
Once Matinecock Indian land,
English settlers first began purchasing
parcels in Oyster Bay from the
Matinecock in 1653, receiving an official
charter from the crown for the
township in 1667. Oyster Bay figured
prominently in LI’s involvement in
the American Revolution and like
much of LI, blossomed in the 1800s
once connected to the Long Island
Rail Road (Oyster Bay welcomed
its first LIRR train on June 21, 1889).
Around this time, in 1880, Roosevelt
had purchased 155 acres in Cove
Neck, where his home was completed
in 1885, when he was still a New York
State Assemblyman.
“Steeped in history from Colonial
times straight through the Presidency
of Teddy Roosevelt, as well as
numerous amenities including parks,
beaches, and facilities nationally recognized
for their excellence, Oyster
Bay has been consistently recognized
as one of the best places to live in the
nation,” says Oyster Bay Town Supervisor
Joseph Saladino. “I encourage
visitors to come and visit ... there is
no place quite like it!”
These days, Oyster Bay is also famous
for its annual Oyster Festival
(theoysterfestival.org), one of the
largest waterfront festivals on the
East Coast, which draws some 200,000
attendees to the hamlet each year. The
35th installment of the festival happens
this year on October 13 and 14 in
Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park
and Beach (see below). Highlights
include live entertainment, boats,
artisans, pirate shows, rides and its
famous oyster-eating and -shucking
contest. There’s also a delectable
food court, where scores of tempting
oyster, clam and other seafood concoctions
and traditional festival fare
are served to hungry patrons.
But don’t let the Oyster Festival be
the only reason you visit. Some recommended
year-round Oyster Bay
diversions include:
HISTORICAL HAPPENINGS
One of the most iconic destinations
in Oyster Bay, as well as the whole
of Long Island, is Sagamore Hill
National Historic Site (20 Sagamore
Hill Rd., 516-922-4788, nps.gov/sahi),
home of former President Theodore
Roosevelt from 1885 until his death
in 1919. Dubbed the “Summer White
House,” this stunning 23-room
Victorian mansion — preserved
and still containing its T.R.-period
contents — sits on an 80-acre estate
that also contains a 37-acre National
Environmental Study Area with forest,
tidal salt marsh and bay beach areas.
The site also holds the Theodore
Roosevelt Museum, chronicling
the life and career of the president,
within the 1938 “Old Orchard” house
used by Brigadier General Theodore
Roosevelt Jr. (T.R.’s oldest son) and his
family.
Another historic Oyster Bay Gold
Coast estate that now delights the
general public is Planting Fields
Arboretum State Historic Park
(1395 Planting Fields Rd., 516-922-
9200, plantingfields.org), once the
home of the W.R. Coe family, who enlisted
the Olmsted Brothers to create
a 400-acre arboretum renowned for
its divine camellias, rhododendrons
and azaleas. Attractions include the
Main Greenhouse, which holds an
extensive collection of hibiscus,
orchids, succulents and seasonal
displays, as well as the impressive
Coe Hall, formerly the Tudor Revival
residence of the Coe family, which
is open for guided tours from April