Things to Do in North Bay Shore

High-school social studies teacher Anthony Pennino Sr. played his first round of paintball in 1985. By the following year Tony had gathered 20–30 friends and kin for paintball bouts on his family's private land. As demand for paintball guns and safety gear grew among his brigade of marksmen, he converted his basement into a makeshift store, supplying paintball accouterments from home until moving into a storefront in 1990. Within two decades Tony and his clan formed the lauded paintball team the New York Dogs, opened their own indoor arena, and eventually combined that arena with their largest store yet.

That facility forms the backbone of Island Paintball, where two sports turf fields host Model 98–brandishing players. In between games, players can watch other contests from behind the staging area's plexiglass viewing windows or browse Island Paintball Supplies' gun wall and 12 massive showcases of paintball gear. An in-house gunsmith repairs any malfunctioning guns, which patrons can wield at open-play sessions private parties.

Built to replicate the Suzuka Circuit racetrack in Japan, the 632-meter track at Musselman Honda Circuit challenges roadsters of all sorts to master its seven turns. Whether drivers jump behind the wheel of a 9-horsepower P1 fast kart or behind the wicker picnic basket attached to the front of a motorcycle, the dirt track cushions tires during competitive pursuits and practice sessions alike. The multifaceted raceway accommodates a wide range of driving pursuits throughout the week, including driving education classes, cycling, and handicapped-accessible adaptive karting.

The FAA-certified instructors at Nassau Flyers have helped countless students obtain pilot licenses since 1976. Today, their rental fleet still roars to life, lifts off from Republic Airport, and soars into the skies above Long Island's shorelines and New York City's iconic skyline. Nestled within the likes of a Cessna 152 or a Piper Cruiser PA28-140, the instructors let students take the controls during their very first lesson, and then guide them all the way to FAA licensure.

The ground school complements this in-air training with classroom work and simulator time. Their Redbird FMX full-motion simulator wraps students in a fully enclosed cockpit and lets them practice various scenarios. When not training the next generation of pilots, Nassau Flyers' staff is often in the hanger maintaining aircrafts or anxiously awaiting the new Wilbur Wright action figure to put in their pilot shop.