Shelter Island Hallockfest

Last month, I took my last trip to New York until 2018 (sob!), and as usual, it was an absolute whirlwind of a long weekend. I think I slept about twenty-eight hours total from Thursday night to Tuesday morning, which is a far cry from my preferred 8-10 hours per night. But a bit of fatigue is a small price to pay to cram in as much time with the people I love as possible! This trip was no ordinary jaunt home, however: I was there for a long-expected Hallock family reunion on the island where my dad grew up!

Shelter Island is such a special place to me: I have fond memories of visiting my grandparents out there, and Jeff and I got married there last year. Happily, it's also the perfect place for a family reunion, with miles of publicly-accessible waterfront, tons of gorgeous beaches, and nary a traffic light in sight. It's only accessible via ferry, and unlike the nearby Hamptons, it's still a lovely, relaxed place.

I've always loved the ferry ride to the Island, and even though it takes less than five minutes from the South Fork of Long Island (ten if you take the North Ferry from Greenport), I'll always hop out of the car and watch the familiar shores approach.

Catch up on my mini-review of this Collectif dress!

Hi Mom!

This time, I was extra excited on the way out, because a lot of my cousins who couldn't come to our wedding were going to be there. I grew up taking trips to Vermont to visit my cousins every Labor Day and every other Christmas, but I hadn't seen my Vermont cousins since 2007 and 2009, respectively, and I was beyond amped to meet my cousin Kate's kids! My cousin Brianna and my aunts and uncles were there when we finally arrived, because the New York Hallocks always win the award for showing up latest despite having the least distance to travel. The rest of my cousins showed up before it got too late, along with a very special guest: my best friend Jenny, who spent her 24 hours off that week driving out to spend a night on Shelter Island with us!

No makeup, no problems, as long as I have my beste!

My Arizona cousin rented the house across the street from ours, so I also got to experience a lifelong dream of mine: a family compound (of sorts!) It's just so much nicer to wake up and only have to walk across the street to visit with the people you're there to see. Their rental also had a pool, which was really exciting for all my cousins' kids (and, to be honest, just as exciting for me and my mother).

I was so busy during the reunion that I went two days without charging my phone, which never happens! On Day 1, I spent a lovely day at Crescent Beach with my best friend and my family, posted more things on Snapchat than I had before or have done since, and at some point, texted Jeff to tell him that he wouldn't believe I was actually related to so many calm, easygoing, quiet people. (I stand by my story!) We also put together dinners for like 20 people each night with a minimum of stress and fuss, which made my future-Jewish-mother heart extra happy.

My favorite part of the weekend might have been just sitting around on the patio with my cousins and aunts, uncles, and parents, and just talking and listening to each other. I was also just so happy to see how well the younger generation of Hallock cousins got along, even though some of them had never met. It really made me look forward to the day when my baby meets all of her cousins!

I've never had a BLT with this much bacon from any other place!

After such a lovely weekend, it really was hard to leave, but my parents saw me off in the best possible fashion: with the most amazing BLT in the world from the Shelter Island Pharmacy! The world would be a much better place if every town had such a nice soda fountain. While I'm officially grounded from flying now that I'm well into the eighth month of this pregnancy, I'm glad my last trip East was such a special, memorable occasion, and I hope I'll see everyone again before too many more years fly by!

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