A Japanese Garden on Long Island Resembling a Forest of Fireflies

This Japanese garden on Long Island is a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time, but it’s so unique: it’s only open on weekends, and only for four hours each time, so I kept putting it off until the height of summer.🌞 Before even entering the garden, the scenery along the road is quite different from New York: tall trees🌲 block out the summer sun, and the temperature is a bit lower than in New York City.🌡️ Upon entering the garden, you need to walk slowly up a gravel🪨 path. They call it a “mountain,” but it’s really just a small hill.🏞️ After crossing a small stream, you can see a small teahouse🍵 hidden among the bamboo.🎋 An elderly man is playing a Japanese flute inside the teahouse.🎵 In front of the steps of the teahouse, three elderly people are sitting quietly, listening to the performance.👵 We didn’t want to disturb him, so we were just standing quietly in the distance, listening to the flute.🤫 Unexpectedly, after he finished his performance, the old man greeted us, introduced us to the bamboo flute in his hand,🎶 showed us the complex Japanese musical score,📜 and even offered to play a few more pieces of music for us until the garden closed.🎼 This is a magical garden: perhaps it’s the koi pond,🐟 perhaps it’s the small pebbles in the garden, perhaps it’s the lush greenery,🌿 or perhaps it’s the melodious sound of the flute,🎶 but总之, after entering, the whole person will calm down.😌 Suddenly, a line from an ancient poem popped into my head: "There is profound meaning in this, which I have forgotten how to express in words."📜 John P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden Hours: Saturday 10 AM - 2 PM; Sunday 1 PM - 5 PM. Admission: No mandatory fee, but you can make a donation💰 of your choice upon departure to help maintain the beautiful garden.💚 Tips: ✨This Japanese garden is small, about 0.5-1h can finish the tour.🕒 Suggested route: 1) After visiting the Japanese garden, drive to the nearby Planting Fields Arboretum;🚗 2) Refer to our itinerary: Japanese garden - stop by DJ’s Clam Shack for a lobster roll🦞 - stroll through the Vanderbilt Museum by the sea🏖️ - after closing, go to the nearby Centerport Beach to watch the sunset🌇 (non-residents need to pay $30🔪 for parking, it’s okay if you don’t stay too long). ✨For the Suzhou-style garden in New York, the Noguchi Japanese garden, please see the “100 Museums” collection on our homepage. For Montauk on Long Island, please see the “Hidden Gems of New York” collection. #CapturingEarlySummerWithMyLens #NoteInspo #NewYork #WeekendGetaways #NewYorkLife #NewYorkWeekends #NewYorkArea #JapaneseGardens #MustSeePlacesInNewYork #USTravelGuide #LongIslandNewYork