Oyster Bay
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In the mid-1700s, both the English and the Dutch inhabited picturesque Oyster Bay, which accounts for the fact that the place has two main streets just a block apart. East Main Street was once controlled by the Dutch, West Main Street by the English.
Named for Oyster Bay’s most prominent resident, the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park is a charming little downtown park along the water on Long Island Sound.
Oyster Bay, Cold Spring Harbor, and Old Bethpage can all be combined into one nice day trip from New York City, starting in Sagamore Hill (Oyster Bay), with lunch in Cold Spring Harbor, and on to the Whaling Museum or Old Bethpage Village to round out the day. To reach Oyster Bay from Route 25A, head north on Route 106.
Raynham Hall
Among Oyster Bay’s notable historic homes–turned-museums is Raynham Hall (20 W. Main St., 516/922-6808, www.raynhamhallmuseum.org, 1–5 p.m. Tues.–Sun., adults $5, students and seniors $3, children under six free), once the home of prosperous Revolutionary War–era merchant Samuel Townsend. Townsend was a suspected Tory, but his son was George Washington’s chief spy in New York City.
When the war broke out, Raynham Hall was confiscated by the British, though Townsend’s daughter Sally remained in the house. There she overheard the British discussing Benedict Arnold’s planned betrayal of West Point and conveyed that information to the colonists.
Planting Fields Arboretum
West of Oyster Bay is Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park (Planting Fields Rd., 516/922-9200, www.plantingfields.org, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, $6–8 parking), a lush affair on the former estate of insurance executive William Robertson Coe. Some 160 acres here are planted with ornamental trees and shrubs, while about 200 other acres are preserved in their natural state.
At the heart of Planting Fields is Coe Hall (516/922-9210, noon–3:30 p.m. daily Apr.–Sept., adults $5, seniors $3.50, children 7–12 $1), a Tudor Revival stone mansion. The 1918 house is furnished with European antiques to give it the feel of an old English country manor.
Accommodations and Food
For overnight stays, the East Norwich Inn (6321 Northern Blvd./Rte. 25A, at Rte. 106, 516/922-1500, $122 s, $137 d) is a pleasant, upscale motel offering comfortable rooms with double beds.
For dining in downtown Oyster Bay, you’ll find Wild Honey (1 East Main St., 516/922-4690, $21), a restaurant that serves creative American food in a beautiful historic building—formerly Teddy Roosevelt’s executive office.
Canterbury Ales Oyster Bar & Grill (46 Audrey Ave., 516/922-3614, $14–28), specializing in its namesake—direct from Oyster Bay, of course. Also on the menu are various fish entrées, lobster, pasta, and wild game.
© Avalon Travel and Sascha Zuger from Moon New York State, 5th Edition
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