At my lemonade stand I used to give the first glass away free and charge five dollars for the second glass. The refill contained the antidote.-Phillip

Hey, all! First off, I wanted to thank all of you who emailed me wishing me well! That was a big surprise, and some of you had some wonderful and thought provoking things to say. Now, I didn't post what was going on to look for pity...but usually my posts have some sort of theme or thought behind them--something I had seen or heard that day, something going on in my life or someone else's--that gives me a thread to go on. My eye issue was inspiration to do a post about health related events. As we are on the note of my last post, well, the eye issue seems to be the beginnings of a detached retina due to my blood pressure. So I basically need to get the BP down, and hopefully that will keep me from having to have surgery. So this post is all about relaxing and enjoying life...we are all just too busy sometimes and miss out on some great opportunities to kick back and smell the roses!

Music and Dance!

I'm going to start out with an event that is a bit down the pike, but mark your calendars as it looks great! Thank you, Laurie, for the heads up! Painters in Brookhaven will be hosting a benefit with WPKN on September 14 featuring great acts such as Cathy Kreger, Marci Geller, The Thunderbird Sisters, and MORE...$10 admission.

TONIGHT! The last open mic night at Acoustic Long Island...get there early! Deepwells Mansion, St. James, FREE!

Thank you, Christopher, for the next two entries! For those of you who can't get enough Jay Scott...well, I'll just cut and paste here:

THIS THURSDAY August 28 at 8:00 Jay Scott & Grand Case Scenario, The Sun Gets Down and Rorie Kelly & More of the Mess - three up and coming Long Island acts on the same bill featuring their unique styles of original music. It's the first time each group is playing at Lefty's, a great Long Island venue, so support them and get your Labor Day Weekend started early! $10.00 Lefty’s Candlelight Bar & Grill - 543 W. Hoffman Ave, Lindenhurst www. leftysbar.com 631-225-5526

Monday September 1 at 12 Noon with WMJC 94.3 FMJay Scott Acoustic with Jason Tebaldi on 5-String Acoustic Fretless Bass. WMJC 94.3 Radio is hosting another in their series of “On Location” events featuring Long Island’s best original music, plus games, food, and prizes for the whole family! IT'S ALL FREE! Massapequa Nissan - 4500 Sunrise Highway, Massapequa

Sunday, August 31, Lil Cliff and the Cliffhangers will be playing at Bayard Cutting Arboretum, $6 to park. While you are there, make a point of checking out the mansion...it's beautiful!

Saturday, Garnder County Park, 6PM--Tornado Alley will be playing! Ken "The Rocket" Korb has been known to pop in from time to time...make a point of checking this show out!

Thursday, August 28, 7:30PM at the Jones Beach Bandshell, the NYPD Jazz Ensemble will be playing for FREE!

Friday through Monday is the Mozart Festival at Old Westbury Gardens! $10 per person.

Movie Alert!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is playing under the stars at Eisenhower Park Thursday night, 6PM.

Cinema Arts presents a screening of the classic oldie Greed with organ accompanyment by Ben Model. $9 per person! While on their site, don't forget to check out the Theatre of the Wild!

The call of the wild!

Did you know that the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation does tours of their facility if you give them a small donation and if they have a biologist working that day? All donations go to the preservation and feeding of marine animals in their care!

There are a couple of good hikes to check out this holiday weekend...Saturday, August 30, 9AM at Lakeland County Park, and Sunday, August 31, 4PM at Sunken Meadow Park. For more info, check out http://www.hikeli.org/ or call 631.567.9484.

These Peconic Estuary Cruises slightly exceed Cheap Date guidelines, but are definitely worth checking out at http://www.americanbeautycruises.com/!

Shooting stars?

No, there are two fireworks shows this weekend! The Mother Cabrini Festival in Brentwood on August 31, and at the Main Beach in East Hampton on Aug 30!

Foodie alert!

One of my favorite places, the Soundview in Southold, has lunch specials that put you just over the Cheap Date guidelines at about $17 per person. I'll take the liberty of cutting and pasting here: You may have heard of the Soundview Inn in Southold. Right on the water. In fact when the tide is in, it is over the water. Well anyway, they have a lunch special for $17 that you can eat off the porch over the water. I know it's $2 over but it is worth it. Includes soup or salad and desert ( one is a crepe around ice cream with rasberries on top and whip cream). Thanks, James, for reminding me of that! While you are there, go around to the back of the hotel...you'll see the big rock that Miss Chris likes to sit on and read and get her zen on as the tide comes in!

Cool sites worth mentioning...

PixerBog is a site for people to post pics taken with their camera phone...you'll find everything and anything on here...some adult content, so be warned! Thanks, Webbleeper! Very funny!

One of the guys from my whale watching trip has a photography website, and sent over some amazing photos from the trip...I'll post the pics separately, but check out his photos...very impressive! This is his old site...there is a new one under construction. I can't wait to see it!

Worth checking out...

I didn't get out much this weekend, but I did get over to the Maritime Museum early Sunday to check out the Seafood Festival...take a look at some of the photos, and my badly shot video of this great band called Stout...they do chanteys, bluegrass, etc...they were really good and you can catch them on the folk music circuit!

All for now! Please let me know if you have anything that should be posted here at cheap.date.long.island@gmail.com

Chat soon!