The Meat Rack

Foreboding, yet peaceful, scary but fun, quiet with the occasional orgasmic moan, the Meat Rack in Fire Island is all of this, and more. The Meat Rack is a stretch of knotty pines and dunes that sit between Fire Island Pines and Cherry Grove, with paths that meander through it, some leading to well-placed, secluded dead ends.

The Meat Rack gets its name because it's the place to go for an outdoor, semi-private hook-up. Guys can be seen at all hours of the day (I've seen 'em as early as six o'clock in the morning), wandering around looking for another wandering hottie to get it on with. Ever the decorative community that we are, bags of condoms hang from branches for safe-sex-in-the-sun. Now, as mentioned, there are paths that meander and wind their way through the Meat Rack, though there is one main path that takes people between The Pines and Cherry Grove, and which is clearly marked with a tree that has a band of white spray paint at every ten yards or so; it's easy to get lost, and that's precisely what many guys try to do.

I recall a few years ago, having gotten up early, when two friends and I decided to go for a walk through the Meat Rack for breakfast in Cherry Grove. We were silent as we walked through the dark forest, with only the loud morning songs of the birds above. Patches of sunlight filtered through and hit the ground here and there as we followed the main path. My friends didn't notice him, but I did. Up a wooded hill, about 20 yards away, he was standing motionless and leaning with his back against a tree. His sunglasses hid his eyes, but I knew they were following us as we walked by. Freeky doesn't begin to describe the incident, which I later told my friends after we were finishing breakfast, and who agreed that it was very eerie.

However, don't let this scare you from a visit--usually when I walk through the Meat Rack, I pass couples walking through hand-in-hand, groups of friends on their way to the beach, or the lone wanderer, who usually will still give a smile (albeit flirtatiously). If you're not the sort for quick, al fresco hookups, but enjoy some X-Rated entertainment, then the Meat Rack offers some, well, meaty diversions. I have a friend who loves to walk through the Meat Rack looking for a show, and he never fails to regale me with tales of two or three hot guys going at it, while a gaggle of voyeurs stand watching.

So, whether you're a bird watcher, a guy watcher, or just out for a sexual hook-up in the dunes, the Meat Rack has something for everyone.