It’s often known as the town you pass on the way to the Hamptons or the North Fork, but now one Long Island community is having its own moment after it was named to a list that also includes the likes of the Azores, Curacao and French Polynesia.
Even to the residents of Riverhead, being named to Forbes' "Best Places to Travel" came as a bit of a surprise, to say the least.
"Oh my God, it’s unbelievable. My family has been here since 1920, they finally found us," said restaurant owner Anthony Meras, whose family has run a Main Street eatery for decades.
Meras loves the town, but was stunned to see it make the list of 50 that features such exotic locales.
The magazine refers to the Suffolk County spot as a "historic town on the North Shore." It mentions the Long Island Aquarium (which boasts one of the largest all-living coral reef displays in the world), the supposedly famous 20-foot-tall "Big Duck" and the Jamesport Farm Brewery — which came as quite the surprise and delight to the brewery's owners.
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"I was shocked to see our names were there, it was wonderful," said Melissa Caggiano, who runs Jamesport Farm Brewery with her partner, Anthony.
The brewery has craft beers, a food truck and live music in the summer. Come the fall, they attract thousands of visitors, but they were still stunned to be named in the magazine.
"When you’re speaking world-wide — yeah it’s a cool place to be, Riverhead and the east end of Long Island. But to be on the world stage was pretty shocking," said Anthony Caggiano.
The town has been going through a renaissance over the years, with the revitalization of their downtown and many farms and wineries that attract crowds
"It’s a great town, the last developing town on the east end. So they finally found us, I can’t believe it," said Meras. "And Forbes, too — I knew I was a Fortune 500 company."
The magazine doesn't detail how the locations were selected, but Forbes also noted the apple- and pumpkin-picking that Riverhead has to offer in the fall, plus the abundance of hotels in the area.
