Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park — Attraction in Town of Oyster Bay

My college had a bus that would take us to the nearby train station. If you board the train headed away from the city, and stay on it until it reaches the final stop, you will arrive at the most beautiful small town you’d ever seen. When you get off the train, walk away from the town, past the lake, and into the woods. Take care you are prepared for the journey: your body must become worn down to the point of collapsing before the gates will allow you to find them. Even when you’ve traveled deep enough into the forest to find the massive iron gates, you will still need to walk a long ways before you reach the guardian. Now you are no longer in the outside world. You are entering the Other Place. You traverse a wide stone path lined with massive cedars. The sun is so bright you can’t see the sky. The sounds of the forest have vanished, replaced by only the echoes of your own footsteps. You feel small and unworthy before the majesty of the place you are entering. The guardian dwells in a stone hut with a straw roof, but he allows anyone with a pure heart to enter. This is his purpose: at the height of your fear of unworthiness, he smiles, reassuring you that you are pure of heart and worthy to enter. If you follow the path through the solemn gardens, you will arrive at a magnificent stone chapel. Immediately you sense a presence dwelling in this building, and you recognize that this entire realm is the dwelling place of this presence. It is the presence of a wise and ancient god which welcomes you. The chapel's shadowy and candlelit interior is full of cloaked figures bustling about whispering prayers. In its center is a feasting hall with wooden tables and chairs. Here you will find a drink, the warmth and sweetness of which goes straight to your heart, bringing peace and healing. Surrounding the chapel are rolling hills of the greenest grass for as far as the eye can see. Among these hills are trees bursting forth in leaves of every color, and among them are men, women and children of every tribe and tongue, for none are excluded. They laugh, play, and wander and yet, it is not crowded. I sat beneath a yellow maple, an ocean of golden leaves spread out before me, and glimpsed eternity. I sensed the spirits in the leaves, I heard their voices sing out with all creation in a divine hymn to life’s beauty that went from the beginning of time to the end, only time had no beginning or end. Here this place became perilous: as I walked its paths, I wandered astray and my thoughts drifted back to the world I left behind. Traveling from our world to the next puts a strange burden on the mind. You cannot remember whether the old world is a dream and your current realm is reality, or vice versa. Your memory of your old life becomes as swirling and murky as a half-forgotten dream. If you are not careful, it distorts itself into your worst fears. As I fell prey to these delusions, I found my way to the main path, which led me deep into the woods. In these woods, the veil between the seen and the unseen truly becomes lifted. Here, one departs the realm of time entirely and enters eternity. Each moment feels like the only moment to ever exist; every second feels like a second you have lived through a million times over. You forget the world outside these woods exists at all; you even forget who you are. Here you see a truer vision of time’s infinite nature than you have ever seen before. You must confront and accept it with peace, lest your soul destroy itself with anticipation of infinite future sorrows. The only escape from this is to continue walking until you have left the woods. Back in the fields, you regain your memories of your life. Through entering back into my body and my life from a stranger’s perspective, I gained a truer sense of who I was than ever before. Knowing this realm had nothing more to offer me that would not destroy me, I departed using the same path by which I entered. My visit to this realm changed my life, so that my thoughts drift back to it daily. I hope my account is of use to...

I have to change my 5 star review to 1 star based on the staff HARASSING my family on our last visit. I loved this place so much. It's gorgeous. I've been here on many dates with my now husband, and it's actually where he proposed to me 6 years ago.

Our last visit on July 11th was awful. My husband, mother, sister, and brother in law were FOLLOWED AND HARASSED by their employees. My husband is a hobby photographer and has a DSLR camera, as do many people nowadays. He's brought it and has taken pictures of the grounds and of me every time we've been there, just as many other visitors do on their dates or family outings.

The minute he takes out his camera, a female employee on a golf cart asks what we were doing in an accusatory tone. As we're trying to walk through the grounds and snap a few photos of the scenery and of each other, another male employee on a golf cart pulls up and stops to watch us. We walk further along, and he CIRCLES AROUND US 5 MORE TIMES and says nothing. The SIXTH time, in a different spot, he asks what we were doing and if WERE TAKING ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS. He made this assumption--well accusation since they thought we were breaking their rules by not having a permit--because my sister and brother in law were "dressed too nicely."

1. The woman who started this whole thing passive aggressively accused us of doing something against their rules before my husband even lifted the camera to take a photo. Because he had a professional camera?! So did the other families around us yet they weren't approached.

2. Circling us repeatedly made us EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE, especially as the ONLY BLACK/BROWN family in that area of the planting fields at the time

3. A comment on our physical appearance is unwarranted and extremely INAPPROPRIATE coming from their staff

4. To suggest that you know us enough to know that we're "dressed too nicely" is far-fetched. What led to that assessment? What makes your staff experts on what's considered "too nice" for a regular family visit to the fields? It's not like we're were dressed in ball gowns and suits.

5. Why were none of the other couples and families approached and harassed this much? We saw other families, who happened to be white and Asian, use professional cameras with larger zoom lenses taking photos of the grounds and of each other just like we were. Their activity was not alarming to their staff for whatever reason.

6. Are they suggesting that photos family members take of each other on a visit are "photo shoots" that require $100/200 permits? There was no paid professional photographer. No photo equipment other than a camera. No married or engaged couples getting photos taken for that purpose. No large family portraits. We didn't block pathways or do anything that would impact other visitors' experience. So really, WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?

We didn't stay as long as we had planned because we felt so uncomfortable. To make things better, there was no one available in the visitor center to make a complaint. We will never visit this place again and have told friends and family of our experience so that they avoid going, too.

When this place reaches back out with some scripted apology, provide a number where I can file a...

Around an hour-drive from Queens. We went Sat. so avoided highways with heavy traffic and same amount of driving time anyway. Cell signal wasn't good in the area.

We only paid for parking, $8 at the meter. There are fees for the Coe Hall tour, also for events (there was a musical performance yesterday) but we only went there to walk outdoors which is free.

I saw a large map by the entrance - get an idea of the grounds. On a printed map (got one from the greenhouse), can see main paved roads, locations of buildings/structures but didn't show the different gardens, even a bridge which we didn't find, or pathways. Be ready to walk around.

At the main greenhouse were trees and plants, and smaller rooms with an interesting variety. Tight, also have some steps so may not be wheelchair accessible. We exited to a natural walk-through tunnel out to a view of grass, trees and the Dahlia garden, via pebbly walkways. There was an assortment of flowers, and with plenty of insects, even a tiny lizard. It's an open area so can be hot. Videotaped a hummingbird by a tree. Some structures were closed to the public like the carriage and manor houses so we just walked by them. The visitor center had a display about the place, an art exhibit and restrooms. Some seats/benches outside (saw very few benches around the ground).

The rose and Italian gardens and another greenhouse are closer to the Coe Hall area. Beautiful area. We saw a few groups getting their professional photos taken there.

Btw, greenhouses close at 4pm but the fields close at 5pm. Also more restrooms by the...