Video: 2017 on the North Fork
At the risk of sounding like an odd kid, one of my favorite television shows growing up was “CBS Sunday Morning.”
While most adolescents and teens wake up in the morning and flip around to find their favorite cartoon, I’d head straight to channel 2 and the dulcet sounds of Charles Kuralt.
The consistency of the show is something I’ve always found comforting. Even when it veers toward a theme for a particular episode, you can expect a steady balance of news, nostalgia and humor to carry you through the hour.
The program has always stood as a reminder to not make the newspapers and website I help create too serious or stuffy. Beyond providing essential reporting, news publishers should inform and entertain with humor columns, average joe profiles and content that gives a sense of history and place.
Thirteen months ago, in a nod to “CBS Sunday Morning,” I created a recurring weekly feature called “One Minute on the North Fork” on northforker.com. The inspiration for the series was the weekly nature spots that close each episode of my favorite Sunday morning program, right down to the idea to time it each week for Sunday morning.
Nothing has put me more at peace on a weekend morning than those segments just before 10:30 a.m. each week, and I wanted to mirror that experience for readers of our lifestyle blog. If you’re not familiar with our videos, they follow the same formula each week: head to one serene setting and film six 10-second shots capturing the beauty.
They rarely feature people and the sound is always ambient. No talking, just peace.
We launched the segments last November and our multimedia content producer Krysten Massa has done the bulk of the work ever since. The response from the public reaffirmed my sense that people would enjoy such a series.
Out on assignment together recently, it occurred to Krysten and I that we’d been recording the weekly videos for more than a year now. So this week we put together the above supercut of all the locations we’ve filmed at — which serve as a best-of-the-best of North Fork nature.
Instead of an hour-long video featuring every shot we’ve already published, we cut it down to one five-second spot from each location.
I also studied the analytics of each video to see which segments attracted the most viewers. The following is a list of the 10 places on the North Fork our readers have enjoyed spending a minute with us at the most. Don’t just take our word for it, visit these spots yourself.
Until then, I’ll see you in the newspaper.
67 Steps
67 Steps Beach, with its gorgeous sunsets, large boulders and close proximity to Greenport Village, has long been a North Fork favorite. This soundfront town beach was also our most-viewed “minute” since launching our series last October.
The beach can be found below the 67 steps at the end of Sound Road in Greenport.
Wading River Beach
Also an amazing place to catch a sunset, this beach and playground is the westernmost municipal park in the Town of Riverhead. It’s also the only location in Riverhead to crack our most-viewed “minutes,” coming in second.
Wading River Beach is located across from La Plage on Creek Road, making it a great special occasion dinner and sunset location.
Wolf Pit Lake
If you grew up in Mattituck, you know all about Wolf Pit Lake for sledding or just as a quiet place to pull up a bench and get away from it all.
It’s tucked away location at the north end of Wickham Avenue, however, keeps it a bit of a hidden gem.
Macari Vineyards
We’ve filmed our series at a half-dozen wineries since launching it last year and none were as widely viewed as this Sound Avenue vineyard.
Also home to some of Long Island’s best wines, this is a highly recommended place to visit on more than just video.
Breakwater Park
Further proof that our readers prefer when we film along the sound over the bay, this town park in Mattituck is the third sound beach to crack our top five most viewed “minutes.”
As its name suggests, this beach is located at the end of Breakwater Road in Mattituck.
Orient
We cheated a couple times focusing on an entire hamlet and not just a specific location, but it’s probably no surprise the North Fork’s easternmost hamlet is the one people responded to the most.
The Old Field Vineyards
Among the more rustic tasting spots on the North Fork, The Old Field is also widely considered one of the more beautiful vineyards in the region. It’s also the first property touching the Peconic Bay to make this list.
Inlet Pond
The first county property to crack the top 10 in viewership is this North Road haven for birdwatchers and hikers.
At about a mile-and-a-half, the trail takes you past a pond to a soundfront beach in Southold.
Sound View Dunes Park
It’s fitting that this Peconic park lands next to Inlet Pond on our list since they offer similar experiences and make for a great one-two punch of nature on a weekend afternoon.
You can fined Sound View Dunes on Soundview Avenue, just east of Goldsmith’s Inlet.
Krupski Farms
It wouldn’t be fall on the North Fork without a pumpkin farm cracking our list and it’s appropriate that Krupski Farms, one of the oldest and more beloved patches receives the honors.
You can find Krupski Farms on the south side of Main Road in Peconic.
Editor’s Note: This column was previously published in November.
