Opinion: Long Island Tough! But I Need A Warm Vacation

Long Islanders are a tough breed. They deal with snowstorms, hurricanes, floods, traffic occasional power outages and they love their cable. They know trucks, vans, sheet rock, building decks, maintaining pools, getting to the job at 5 a.m. and how to kick back and do a real neighborhood BBQ. After living on the island for 15 years but coming from elsewhere I have grown a huge respect for the work ethic and camaraderie Long Islanders have for each other deep inside their DNA.

Now after the last few weeks of single digit temperatures with the next week forecast to be the same plus this "Bomb Cyclone storm," I wonder, is it time for a vacation? Yes, the Christmas bills are just pouring in and the tree and lights need to be taken down and put away but . . . "Get me out of here for a week or two!" Now Long Island beaches score well in the list of top ones in the world but I am thinking Maui or Costa Rica. Imagine sitting on a stool at some exotic tiki bar with Jimmy Buffett songs being piped in through some tin horn sound system. At the same time waiters and waitresses are delivering drinks in cut in half coconuts with tiny paper umbrellas along with slices of fresh cut pineapple to everyone around you. I can almost smell the coconut shrimp, how about you?

I know the costs of booking a trip to any of these places right now is the same as buying braces for the whole 7th grade of your local school, but who is not tempted while holding that snow shovel. After this week I will never complain about the walk from the beach parking lot to the surf ever again. Instead of layers meaning double socks, long johns, warm pants, flannel shirts, wool sweaters, big warm jackets, with wool hats and big time ski-type gloves. Layers in Maui and Costa Rica consist of a bathing suit, a T shirt, and for our ladies a light cotton wrap to go over the bikini. Perhaps flip flops or sandals.

Now I live in the real world and judging by what I see, I know the airports are closed for a while during this "Bomb Cyclone" and my steps, walkway and driveway need to be shoveled . But I can hear the sound of a breeze, not this wicked 30 mph frigid arctic one, but the soft gentle tropical one that waves through palm trees off tropical ocean beaches. But for most of us Long Islanders that won't come for another 4 to 5 months when our home island once again becomes a summer paradise.