Walking Tour : The Allure of Fire Island ... but Beware

 Fire Island is a barrier beach island, just south of Long Island, NY.

     Despite its varied population and 17 communities, it's mostly famous as a homosexual hangout.  In the 1970s, it gained prominence as a nearby secluded escape for closeted Manhattan men.  It has grown in popularity.  The island is not big...

(32 miles in length) so our "picture tour" will be easy!
     Most gay guys get their "engines" purring at the thoughts of visiting the island during its peak summery season.  Nicknamed "Fire F*cking Island", it has become a global hotspot: a mecca to make a pilgrimage to.  Unless you have a boat, the only way to reach the mostly-car-free island is via ferry.  Tourists who fly to the area join Manhattanites taking the Long Island Railroad to the ferry ports.  Such train travelers are often "distinct" against the backdrop of suburban commuters.  Their eyes might also have a more lustrous glow, as their imaginations hum along with anticipation.

     Fire Island's two distinct gay regions are called Cherry Grove and The Pines.  Branching off are arteries of "fun" leading through the bramble & brush to the beach, sunken forest, and vacation homes.  Uniquely, the island has cozy "small town" parts... 

(albeit with drag queen stores) 

juxtaposed with bass-thumping twink bars and leather clubs.  Woodsy "retreat houses" sit next to testosterone-full orgies (sorry no pictures of that).  Instead of sidewalks, the marshy land has wooden boardwalks.  Quaint, huh?  

     Like the doctor whom Lewis and I go to, a few men own homes there.  They resided long before its social media hoopla (like below).  

     Very few people people live there year-round.  Today's homeowners are investment bankers, developers, editors and lobbyists... who love to use/broker their homes for orgies of flesh and pleasure.  During the warmer seasons, owners rent their houses or "time share".

The vast majority can't find hotel rooms, so they do their best to find a bed... any way they know how.  

     Servitude is another way of guaranteeing a room on the island.

     All walks of life mingle there: "out", "closeted", models, pop stars, publishers, retail executives, fashionistas, promoters, ballet dancers, go go boys (sometimes one in the same), politicians (and their aides), illegal immigrants, tourists, porn stars, Olympic and "professional" athletes, rich kids, potheads, energy seekers, thrill seekers, bi-curious, gay-for-pay, real estate developers, and sugar daddies.  

Ferry arrivals are cheered like Homecoming!

     Below is what the island looks like and has to offer.  I put the pictures in random order to illustrate what you'd see behind each corner, during a daily walk.  If it appeals to you, then you might've found a new place to visit!

  
Above, a ballet dancer-turned mega-porn star (then hired as director of LA Fitness to support peoples' "health") strikes his winning pose.

     Above, a registered nurse emphasizes "feeling good", alongside the manager of a popular NYC gay bar, a club promoter, a lawyer for (powerful) Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a Broadway actor, and the Head of a global travel firm.

Click the video to see what typically goes on:

https://www.facebook.com/827012/videos/vb.827012/10104978369689039/?type=3&theater

The blonde kid, above, does look a tad young... but great "exposure" (pun intended) to the community, huh?

The darkness and lack of street lamps reminds me of walking between campsites... 

The gates of homes along the boardwalks are unique, too.

Above, a senior writer for MTV munches on melon.

Below, is he going out or returning from the night before?

Above, a Public Relations manager, a Client Services manager, and a Calvin Klein underwear designer bring laughter to the pool.

Sunbathing above, an associate from Equinox gym "advertises".

Above, a retail Vice President of Stores celebrates the arrival of booze.

Above, a Disney Broadway musical choreographer poses.

Above, a wardrobe designer on Broadway ogles the outfits.

Above, one of the city's renowned DJs floats on the Atlantic ocean.

Above, a stylist for the Food Network celebrates teamwork with a married-thus-retired pornography model.

Above: mix of attorneys, realtors, model recruiters & stage singers

Above, our doctor poses in a group picture (he owns a house there).

Below, a Vice President for Financial Institutions Group frolics atop a camel in the sand.  His fiancée is playfully elsewhere (a Director of Business Development at a Communications firm).

Just like NYC, Fire Island is a global destination point, so you meet guys from all over the world!  They "come" right to you!

Above is our preferred waiter at Pounds & Ounces, in Chelsea

In the manly mix above is an Executive Producer for CNN, while Ryan's smile competes with the sunset, below.

Before you think that it's time for bedtime...

consider the island's famous activities: Pines Party, the Invasion of the Pines (drag queen parade), underwear parties, people watching at Big Dicks Inn, Spartacus Party, and "Ascension" (below), 

Or IndepenDANCE...

People are toiling away on the nearby islands of Long Island and Manhattan, but revelry soars without limit here: a true getaway...

Just like Pinocchio's "Island of Pleasure" for naughty boys:

Like many of the performing arts, "Broadway Bares" does a local version of its fundraising burlesque show.

Unlike house parties, the ticket-selling parties do fundraising for the LGBT Community Center, Friends in Deed, Camp Heartland, a National LGBT Task Force, Live Out Loud, The Trevor Project, Standing Tall & Answer, and Friends of Fire Island National Seashore.
     Just like other juxtapositions on Fire Island, such charity work (to cure AIDS) abuts a famously erotic area: the "Meat Rack" (a place for unprotected and/or anonymous sex)...

You may even reencounter someone (above) later on the boardwalks (below).  Perhaps he'll remember you.

During your stroll, you might also spot "boy toys", captive in their daddies' shelters.  They might invite you in to sip some sweet tea...

or to partake in a group activity.

Yes, it's certainly a series of networking opportunities...

     Obviously, it saddens some people when they have to leave the "Fantasy Island" and return to normalcy.  

(Of course, what they call "normal" might be someone else's fantasy, lol).  Read my blog entry about Chelsea, NY:
http://halfwindsorfullthrottle.blogspot.com/2015/12/picture-walking-tour-of-chelsea-nyc.html

But, don't despair.  Someone you met on the island... 

might be someone you encounter again back home!

You never know what singular or lasting connections you'll make during the journey of Life.  

     Now, here is the "cost/benefit"... because everything in Life has one. 

[Interesting that the symbol of a serpent around a cup can symbolize poison, while a snake around a pole symbolizes our modern medical industry]

     Even though Fire Island hosts fundraisers against HIV, our doctor has dutifully expressed his dismay with the population of men returning from Fire Island (or wherever) with STDs.  Not just the ones you know about, but also varieties of HPV, Human Papillomavirus.  Those viruses are transmitted during SAFE sex.  When the blemishes form on your skin and (who know where), acid must be used to remove them, or they must be surgically removed.  No cure has been discovered yet, and they may reoccur after treatment.  Sobering?  Their presence might've been brought here via the area's tourist throngs.  Nearly 800,000 visitors hit FI's beaches, each summer.  Plentifully more visit NYC.
     Inspired by social media, gay men across the nation and from other countries travel to NYC Pride and Fire Island to partake in its revelry.  Developers, investors and club owners promote it (and debauch it) through the sexiest lures.  Also, guys enjoy random sex.  Years ago, random hook-ups occurred because sex was taboo; now it's due to (phone app) convenience.  Perhaps due to a lack of social principles & education (or phycological development), too many people are "emotionally blistered".  Therefore, they avoid dating or trying to understand one another... and just go for sex.  They might engage in sex during "substance abuse", making less-than-safe choices.  Even if they play amongst a regular group of guys, one partner might "tap into a new well" and bring back something "new" to his circle of "friends with benefits".  So many grown men don't want to look prudish, so they partake of what's considered normal.  "Round and round it goes; where it stops nobody knows."  Make educated choices.

And have fun (as in this video)...
https://www.facebook.com/robshmalo/videos/10154017406027067/