LIers enjoy final days of summer

The calendar says there are 18 days remaining in summer.

But what does the calendar know?

Summer aficionados know that Monday is the unofficial season ender - and that, when the clock hits midnight, the summer of 2010 will be a memory.

The holiday weekend - an accident of Labor Day's timing - provides many of summer's fans three days to celebrate with a final fling - and to bid the season of long days and sunscreen an extended goodbye.

But mark your calendars: Memorial Day is only 266 days away.

At Robert Moses Beach, most beachgoers said Hurricane Earl did not impact their Labor Day plans.

Samuel Cabrera, 36, of Bayside, Queens, and his son, Sammy, 4, spent more than two hours at Robert Moses Beach Field Five Saturday. Cabrera, who works in vending services, said he spent Friday at work and planned to visit his parents who live in North Babylon Saturday. His plans went off without a glitch.

"I almost feel like there was no hurricane, " Cabrera said. "The weather alone made it a pleasant day for everyone. This is a picture perfect day."

He said his son enjoyed playing at a nearby playground or in the sand. Cabrera said he, his wife and son plan to spend the rest of the week barbecuing with family members.

Friends Melanie Brasor, 24, and Krista Sinacore, 24, both of Rocky Point and students at Dowling College, and Brittany Ennover, 24, of Farmingville, a teacher, spent Saturday stretched out across the sand.

Brasor said she postponed plans to go kayaking on Friday because of the winds Hurricane Earl was expected to bring to the Island. It would have been hard to paddle, she said.

"It was not a catastrophe," Brasor said. "We just moved it to another day." Instead, Brasor is going kayaking on Monday. Meanwhile, Ennover said she plans to go bowling and Sinacore said she will be hanging out with friends.

"I'm pretty excited," Sinacore said.

"It's the last weekend to mellow out before summer ends," Ennover said.

John Dole, 54, of Huntington, owns a heating oil business. Saturday, he was one of the few people who braved the large waves and went swimming. He brought along his son John, 5, as well.

"I was glad to come over here and be able to swim," said Dole, who added that he swam several hundred feet into the ocean. He said his son only went in a couple of feet for his own safety.

Dole said he planned to spend the rest of the weekend enjoying the outdoors on his boat. He said he planned to go to a music festival in Huntington by boat.

Bill Lorde, 44, and Phyllis Jay, 45, of Queens invited Ed Harris, 63, and his wife, Shawnee, 51, of Freeport to join them in a low-key day at one of their favorite spots.

“This is like home for us,” said Jay, who wore a windbreaker to protect herself from the chill. “We’re enjoying it because it’s not crowded.”

For Shawnee Harris, who is grieving the death of her son last month, the warmth of the late summer sun was welcome. “After he let the umbrella down and the sun started radiating on my body, I started to unwind,” she said.

Five-month-old William Bremer III of Garden City appeared to enjoy his first visit to the beach. His parents, William and Debra, had avoided taking him to the beach in the earlier summer heat.

“It’s been a very hot summer, it’s been way too much to put him into that,” said his dad. For sisters Kalei, 7, and Kami, 5, it was their last weekend of summer before school — second grade for Kalei, kindergarten for Kami.

Suman and Mandabi Upadhyay moved to New Jersey from India in May and found Sunday’s crisp weather enjoyable — and a stark contrast to the searing summers they’re accustomed to.

"We enjoy the climate,” said Mandabi. “To us, this isn’t summer. For us, it’s like spring or fall.”

Pritam Mukherjee, 22, Mandabi’s brother who is studying for a doctorate at the University of Maryland, and was visiting, said this “is my first trip here and it’s a nice one. Hurricane Earl has passed and it’s so sunny. It turns out Labor Day weekend has been a perfect weekend.”