I usually treat my summer like a really long vacation right here on Long Island. With the extra daylight in summer I relish having more time to be outdoors. Spending time boating, hiking, touring the wineries on the North Fork, or going to the beach here on Long Island are all things that I enjoy. Particularly, when I am out on the boat I feel like I am on my own little island and I can invite who I want on it.

During the summer months I tend not to plan vacations. However, this year a family wedding and other obligations had me traveling for about a month. I experienced some mixed feelings about traveling because I did not use the boat much this year and only spent a day in the vineyards. Although I love so much about Long Island in the summer, I found Ireland and Chicago, Illinois very nice places to spend time in summer. In both places I was outdoors a lot of the time, especially near the water. Both areas have very different, but amazing things for the sea lover to experience.

Ireland is most famous for its abundant green landscape and rolling hills. On my recent trip to Ireland I saw plenty of this, but I was also amazed by the waterscapes and the boating and fishing communities that dot the coastal areas. I had read a lot about fishing in Ireland and heard some about sailing, but never connected how important the sea is to the whole country.

Clean waters and a dramatic coastline envelope Ireland's coast. There are more than 3,000 miles of coastline with many unspoiled, but well-equipped sheltered harbors that are similar to Oyster Bay. I found that the southwest area is not frequented by tour buses that you find in more central and northern regions. It also never gets too cold or too hot there so the boating season is longer than it is on Long Island. In addition to sailing, fishing is a way of life for so many people in Ireland. With almost every meal I had seafood. I can genuinely claim that Ireland is one of the best places for sailing and fishing that I have ever been to.

Along a two-hour drive from Cashel in County Tipperary to Cobh and Kinsale in County Cork, I passed about a dozen race sailboats being towed on trailers. It turns out that it was the last day of the sailboat races of Cork Race Week, which is a biennial event that takes place in Cobh. Cork Race Week is almost as famous for its festivities along the shore as the race action through the Royal Cork Yacht Club. The club was established in 1720 and is the oldest running yacht club in the world. Like the numerous yacht clubs in this region it hosts many regattas throughout the year.

Chicago rightfully deserves the nickname the "windy city." It also deserves to be known for first-rate shopping along Michigan Avenue, deep-dish pizza, beer, architecture, baseball, and the Chicago Bears. Two neat areas that jut out of downtown Chicago into Lake Michigan and also offers many recreational activities that can keep a family occupied for a day are Navy Pier and another pier that holds the Adler Planetarium, an outdoor concert hall, a museum, and the Soldier Field stadium where the Chicago Bears play. However, Chicago should also be known for its location along the turquoise waters of Lake Michigan.

Walking north from downtown Chicago along Michigan Avenue I came across the beach. I spent a few hours sitting at the beach and also walked along the miles of pedestrian and bike paths. As hard as I tried to look to the east and see land, I could not. During those few hours on the beach it first felt like being on the beach on the North Shore of Boston, but soon it started to feel like I was in Miami, Florida on a mild windy day looking at the Atlantic Ocean.

There are a lot of sail and powerboats out on Lake Michigan nearly any time of day. There are also boat slips, marinas, and boat clubs on the Charles River and Lake Michigan. The City of Chicago owns over 5,000 boat slips across nine harbors. In the 10-plus years that I have raced on sailboats I have met at least a half dozen people who grew up around Lake Michigan. After experiencing Chicago and its proximity to Lake Michigan, it now makes sense to me why I have met so many people over the years who grew up boating on Lake Michigan.

Thank you to all of the guest columnists that filled in for me while I was away. If anyone would like to write or share a thought about something relating to Oyster Bay Harbor, the environment or outdoors recreation, then please contact me. You can email me at Jaime.VanDyke@gmail.com or call me at 946-9464.