Lake Ronkonkoma
This is the view I'm talking about. At first glance you might almost believe this was taken somewhere on Lake Constance. Not really, but you gotta admit most people wouldn't think this was taken on Lake Ronkonkoma. The tower you see poking out between the trees there is part of St. Mary's Church on Lake Shore Rd. I'm not much of a churchgoer myself but I have to say St. Mary's is probably the nicest looking building on the lake.
Lake Ronkonkoma
Once you zoom out a bit, you can see the remains of the Bavarian Inn parking lot jutting out into the water. Takes a bit away from the shot. The sand isn't the cleanest here either. What I like about this shot though is the different waterfowl in line towards the church.
Lake Ronkonkoma - 2015Zoom out even further and the larger picture is just sad. As always, perspective is everything. And I promise I didn't pose those bottles there for dramatic effect; that's exactly how I found them. Rip down that retaining wall, cut away the parking lot so the lake shore has it's original shape again, clean up the trash, build a boardwalk, and this could turn into a very pleasant place to walk or ride a bike.
Lake Ronkonkoma - 2015
At the end of the old street is a small bridge that leads to the old Bavarian Inn property. It doesn't look like much of a bridge in this picture, but it goes over the small brook that flows from Lily Pond Park into the lake.
Lily Pond
This is the view towards Lily Pond Park. There's a lot of plants in the way, but under them there's water flowing south towards the lake. The power lines you see are the ones that run along Smithtown Blvd.
Lily Pond flowing into Lake Ronkonkom
This is the lakeside view. With water constantly draining south it's no wonder the basement of the Bavarian Inn flooded.
Thistles growing by Lake Ronkonkoma
At the end of the bridge there's a bunch of thistles that were full of bumble bees and butterflies. I managed to get a closeup shot of a bumble bee pollinating one of the thistles.
Site of former Bavarian Inn - Summer 2015
This is what the Bavarian Inn property looks like as of 2015, not pretty but still a huge improvement over the old abandoned building. By the time they ripped it down it was covered in ivy and graffiti.
Lake Ronkonkoma
From here you also get a nice view of the lake. It's as if the swans are still here in honor of Mad Ludwig of Bavaria and his Neuschwannstein castle.
Remains of Bavarian Inn parking lot - 2015
But again, perspective is everything.
Site of Bavarian Inn looking North - Summer 2015
This is the way off the property and points toward Lily Pond Park. After I got back on Smithtown Blvd I backtracked a little bit to so I could take a few pictures in there as well. That'll be the subject of my next post.
Enjoyed reading all parts of your Ronkonkoma blog. I spent my summers as a youth with my grandparents out there in one of the old bungalows on Seawanhaka, my teenage/driving years "parked" in the lot of the Bavarian Inn facing the lake, and even had our wedding reception at WOTL. After years and some heartbroken memories, we took a ride out there yesterday. Had we found your blog first, we could have saved a trip. The area looks like it's in a transition but doesn't know what to do with itself, all around the never changing lake. There's very old next to very new, run-down bungalows next to new houses wedged into once abundant space, and yes... the sidewalks to nowhere still abound. It still has it's charm, but wreaks of pain and sadness (for me personally and the area in general). The lake though - stoic and unique - beautiful as ever. Feed it a boy every year and it will stay fresh and youthful looking. Still, I miss it.
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