A January Sunrise 150 Feet Above the Atlantic Ocean

The Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society was nice enough to allow a group of us to have a special sunrise tower tour on Sunday,  January 30, 2000. Our guide for the tour was Tony. Below are my thoughts and photos from that morning.

I left Stony Brook about 5:40 in the morning (the nice thing about a winter sunrise is that you don't have to get up as early to see it). I made the 45-minute drive to Fire Island and parked in Field 5 at Robert Moses State Park. The walk to the light was brisk, with the temperature in the 20s and the partially iced boardwalk crackling under my feet. It was quite odd to see the interior lights lit in the keeper's quarters and tower. I've been to the lighthouse for several sunrises, but this was the first time anyone was at the light, so the lit windows added a new feel to the morning.

As I approached the light, I did as I always do on sunrise visits: I stopped at the base of the tower and just looked and listened. The beams from the light silently circled the tower, and Atlantic Ocean waves crashed on the nearby beach. The world seemed to pause for a moment. That, to me, is the best lighthouse experience.

I entered the keeper's quarters. Tony already had coffee ready. Joan was at the gift shop. You'd have thought it was the middle of a regular Fire Island lighthouse day, if it wasn't for the fact that it was still dark out.

Folks filtered in, some of them familiar faces and others whom I had never met. At about 6:40 Tony started the tour by talking about the light's history...

We climbed the tower, pausing every so often to let everyone catch their breath while Tony filled us in on the history of the area. We got to the top several minutes before sunrise and went out onto the catwalk. Oddly, it wasn't very cold out, considering we were 150 above the Atlantic in late January...

Before long the sun started to peek out from behind the horizon...

I saw some ice on the outside of the eastern side of the watch room and thought it might add a nice effect to the images...

As the sun moved higher in the sky, you could see the snow on the ground and the ice on the Great South Bay...

Off in the distance, though you can't see it in any of these images, we could see the sun hitting the tops of the twin towers in Manhattan. Another unexpected treat was the pair of foxes we saw running around below the lighthouse. The foxes had beautiful, heavy winter coats...

Eventually, we all went back down. Having enjoyed a beautiful sunrise from a unique vantage point, we talked, warmed up, had coffee, bagels, and donuts, and and bought some souvenirs before heading home.

The FILPS people have said that we can arrange another such tour in the future. If you are interested in joining me for one of these sunrise tours, contact me. If you have your own group and would like to arrange a special tour of the Fire Island light, call the lighthouse at 631-661-4876.

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