For some, Valentine’s Day is merely a made-up holiday peddled by the greeting card, flower and chocolate industries to make a guaranteed buck once a year. For others, it’s a day of love and conversations that begin with I love you and end with No, I love you more.
For some, Valentine’s Day means a tour of Long Island’s famous castle. For others, it means reservations at another kind of Castle.
No matter what your take on V-Day is, there is someone else out there who wants to celebrate the exact same way you do, from bloody Valentine horror shows to romantic candlelight dinners.
FRI 2.11
A Valentine’s Whacked Family Reunion @ Ladakins
714 Montauk Hwy., Moriches. 7:30 p.m. $40
Interactive comedy with dinner.
Dinner & Dancing Rat Pack Style @ Ward Melville Heritage Organization
97 Main St., Stony Brook. 631-689-5888. www.wmho.org. 7-11 p.m. $75 pp
Art of the Love Song @ Steinway Piano Showroom
Route 110, Melville. 7:30 p.m. $10
Cupid’s Love Songs @ VINYL
215 Sunnyside Blvd., Plainview. $10. www.vinylpromo21.com
DJ Johnny Iovino. Free chocolate rose, Cupid band and love mix CD for ladies. (Also Sat 2.12)
SAT 2.12
Lighthouses for Lovers @ Fire Island Lighthouse
4640 Captree Island, 631-661-4876. $30 per couple. 4-6 p.m.
A romantic evening at the top of the Empire State Building has been done many times in movies like Sleepless in Seattle and An Affair To Remember, to name two. Well, you don’t have to schlep out to New York City to be romantic this Valentine’s Day. The Fire Island Lighthouse will be open so you can take in the view of the Atlantic, and the stars, completely unobstructed by city lights.
Wine Lovers Tour @ North Fork Wineries
www.longislandwinecountry.com. $199, $149.
Valentine Movie & Dance @ Bay Street Theatre
Main Street. Sag Harbor. 8 p.m. $25
See Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams in MAHOGANY. Following the film there will be a dance with a DJ.
Chocolate Pairing @ Martha Clara Vineyards
6025 Sound Ave., Riverhead. 631-298-0075. www.marthaclaravineyards.com
Anti-Valentine’s Day @ Blood Manor (Also Sat 2.13)
New York City. www.bloodmanor.com
All For Love Retreat @ The Garden City Hotel
$399 Includes overnight accommodations, in-room champagne & chocolate-covered strawberries, Cupid’s rose petal turndown service + three-course Valentine’s dinner for two by Master Chef Steven De Bruyn (Also Sun 2.13 & Mon 2.14)
SAT 2.12 & SUN 2.13
America’s First Valentine @ Raynham Hall
West Main Street, Oyster Bay. Opens 6:30 p.m.
Romance in the United States was invented in Oyster Bay. We kid you not. Raynham Hall is the home of the first documented Valentine in our nation’s history, written for 19-year-old Sarah Townsend in 1779 by Lt. Col. John Graves Simcoe, the 26-year-old British officer who was occupying her family’s home. The Valentine was found among Sarah’s possessions when she died in 1842 at age 82, and was documented in history books in the late 1800s but lost from the house by the early 1900s. So, where better to spend Valentine’s Day than in the place where it all started?
SUN 2.13
Valentine’s Mansion Tours @ Oheka Castle
135 West Gate Dr., Huntington. www.oheka.com
Through Rose Colored Glasses @ Ripe Art Gallery
67A Broadway, Greenlawn. www.ripeartgal.com
Annual Valentine’s Day Group Show.
LI Lesbian Valentine Mingle @ Bunk House
198 N. Main Street, Sayville. 631-487-0093. 5-9 p.m.
My Furry Valentine@ Petport & Decker’s Nursery
Petport: 114 Main St., Northport. 631-261-7222. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Decker’s Nursery: 841 Pulaski Rd., Greenlawn. 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Loyalty. Unconditional Love. Yeah, you can find these in a person once and a while, but pets will always give you both. So this Valentine’s Day, celebrate the special four-legged someone in your life-they may not be able to afford to take you out to a fancy dinner, but you don’t have to worry about them stepping out with your best friend.
The Valentine Ball @ Fox Hollow
Jericho Turnpike, Woodbury. 516-921-1415. www.thefoxhollow.com. 6-10 p.m. $349 per couple
Dinner, dancing, overnight accommodations.
Renew Your Vows on the Atlantic @ Gurney’s Inn
290 Old Montauk Hwy., Montauk. 631-668-2345. 3 p.m. $10. 631-668-1737. www.gurneysinn.com. Reservations required. Celebrity Judge Jim Ketchum officiates. Wedding cake and champagne will be served.
MON 2.14
The Art of Chocolate @ Hofstra University
Hempstead Turnpike, Hempstead. Lowenfeld Conference and Exhibition Hall, 10th Floor, Axinn Library, South Campus. 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Born in Australia and raised in Lebonan, artist Sid Chidiac studied at The Julian Ashton Art School, a unique and historic school established in 1890 that remains one of Australia’s finest schools of art. His work initially focused on oil on canvas. His interest in working with chocolate as art started with an idea to paint entirely edible portraits of a diverse group of people in chocolate. His first show of chocolate portraits was titled Flavor of New York and was exhibited at the Sixth Annual Chocolate Show in Manhattan. The exhibit opened in November 2003 and was a huge hit with thousands of attendees and the media. In 2003, Chidiac was sponsored for five years by Berry Callebaut chocolate, one of the largest Belgium chocolate manufacturing companies in the world. Invitations to exhibit around the world began in 2003 and since then his prints are shown across the globe. Chidiac continues to work in both chocolate and oil. He is proud that his chocolate and oil paintings are hanging across the globe and seeks to remain innovative, but also universal with his art.
Castle Dinner & Dance @ Oheka Castle
135 West Gate Dr., Huntington. 6-11 p.m. $225 per person. 631-659-1400. www.oheka.com
Cocktails, 3-course dinner, dancing. Reservations required.
Shall We Dance @ Cinema Arts Centre
423 Park Ave., Huntington. 631-423-7611. www.cinemaartscentre.org.
Enjoy Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the classic Shall We Dance, followed by a Fair Trade chocolate, cake, and champagne reception with flowers for each guest, a ballroom dancing exhibition and lesson from the award-winning dancers of The Ballroom of Huntington. Shall We Dance casts Fred Astaire as a world-renowned ballet dancer and Ginger Rogers as a musical comedy headliner. Rogers’ manager concocts a phony romance between his client and Fred Astaire in order to garner publicity. Eventually, of course, the two fall in love for real, but not before a cornucopia of confusion, complications and misunderstandings. Highlights include a number performed on roller skates and Astaire’s dance solo in the art-deco boiler room of an ocean liner. The phenomenal score by George and Ira Gershwin (their last for Astaire and Rogers) includes Slap That Bass, Beginner’s Luck and Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.
A Natural Valentine’s @ The Viana Hotel & Spa
Brush Hollow Road, Westbury. 516-338-7777. www.vianahotelandspa.com. $39.99 pp.
5-course price fixed meal. Overnight packages include dinner & couple’s massage.
Valentine’s Day Dinner @ White Castle
Call 718-899-8404 ext. 300 for reservations and participating locations. 5-8 p.m.
Gay & Lesbian FourPlay Bowling @ AMF Syosset Lanes
111 Eileen Way, Syosset. 516-375-9473. www.glsbli.com
Valentine’s Dinner @ Porto Vivo
7 Gerard St., 631-385-8486 www.porto-vivo.com. $49 pp.
$29 half-bottles of Piper-Heidsieck champagne.
Champagne Dinner @ Garden City Hotel
45 7th St., Garden City. www.gardencityhotel.com. $95 pp
Includes bottle of Paul Goerg, keepsake champagne flutes, hand-made chocolates, rose for each couple & strolling violinist.
Tasting Menu for Two @ Thyme Restaurant & Cafe Bar
8 Tower Pl., Roslyn. www.thymenewyork.com
Big Band V-Day Dance @ Koenig’s Restaurant
86 S. Tyson Ave., Floral Park. www.koenigsrestaurant.com
4-Course Valentine’s Dinner @ Four Food Studio
515 Broadhollow Rd., Melville. 631-577-4444. $75 pp. www.fourfoodstudio.com
Complimentary gift bags for the ladies.
The Science of Kissing @ Hofstra University
Hempstead Turnpike, Hempstead. Lowenfeld Conference and Exhibition Hall, 10th Floor, Axinn Library, South Campus.
Sheril Kirshenbaum is the author of The Science of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us, a wonderfully witty and fascinating exploration of how and why we kiss. When did humans begin to kiss? Why is kissing integral to some cultures and alien to others? Do good kissers make the best lovers? And is that expensive lip-plumping gloss worth it? In the book and at the podium, she tackles these questions and more. Kirshenbaum is a research scientist with the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin’s Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy. Kirshenbaum is a graduate of Tufts University and holds two masters of science degrees in marine biology and marine policy from the University of Maine. She co-hosts The Intersection on Discover blogs with Chris Mooney and has contributed to DeSmogBlog, Talking Science, Wired Science and Seed.
ONGOING
Cabaret @ The Engeman Theater
250 Main St., Northport. 631- 261-2900. www.johnwengemantheater.com
Let your hair down and loosen your collar. Cabaret, based on the 1998 Tony Award-winning Broadway revival will spice up your Valentine’s Day with live music, a decadent pre-show cocktail in the newly converted “Kit Kat Klub” and of course, and adults-only Cabaret.
Skate-a-Date @ Rockefeller Center Ice Rink
Fifth Avenue, New York. www.patinagroup.com/east/skateadate. $85
Includes dinner for two, two skating sessions and ice rentals.
Carriage Rides @ Central Park
$34 for the first 1/2 hour and $10 for each additional 1/4 hour. 212-736-0680
Love is in the Air @ Glen Cove Mansion
200 Dosoris Ln., Glen Cove. 516-674-2990. www.glencovemansion.com; $370, $197
Includes luxury guestroom accommodations, chocolate-covered strawberries, champagne, breakfast, and a $50 credit toward dining.
Observation Deck @ Empire State Building
350 5th Ave., New York. 212-736-3100. $26 per person.
