Six Hours to See Long Island
 

Yes, I know that is not possible, but I'll be staying near Melville and have a must attend event around 4pm. I hate sitting around so I'm hoping for recommendations on what do and see during the morning and early afternoon hours on a Saturday in October. I will have a car. Thanks for any help.

Ooh, you should go to the Teddy Roosevelt house, Sagamore Hill!
The visit inside is by guided tour, and both times I've gone the park wardens have been excellent. There's another building on the park premises that houses a lot of photos of the president and his family. I hadn't known much about him other than what you pick up in history class and living in NYC (museum of natural history and such), and thus wasn't much interested at first. I found it fascinating!
http://www.nps.gov/sahi/index.htm

Oh crap, should have gone to the link first. Turns out the home is closed for renovation since last winter. :(

But the second building I mentioned is open 7 days a week, and it says there's no admission fee. The grounds are extensive, all the way down to the Sound, and you can walk in the president's footsteps(!). In fact, I learned that he took his kids on these intense daily walks, where they had to go straight through/over/under everything (instead of around), so it's interesting to see the grounds in that perspective...

The Bayard Cutting Arboretum, in Great River, near Islip, is a lovely place to spend a few hours. It should be beautiful in October.
There's a beautiful old mansion, hiking paths along the river, lots of plants and flowers, of course. They sometimes have musical programs on the lawn, but I don't know the schedule. And they serve light meals/refreshments in the mansion, and sometimes have art exhibits.
I'm guessing it's less than 40 miles from Melville.

You might consider:

Old Bethpage Restoration - with numerous houses and shops from the earliest years which are manned by docents recreating the way life was lived then

Old Westbury Gardens - go to the web site for details

Nassau County Air and Space Museum in Garden City - has a large number of exhibits from the earliest days of aviation (Lucky Lindy took off from nearby Roosevelt Field - no a huge mall) on his solo trip across the Atlantic) to space capsules and everything in between

Thank you so much! I love all of the above suggestions, so it is going to be a tough decision.

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