04+Rockaway+Beach,+NY

__Rockaway Beach__ In 1609 Henry Hudson discovered the Rockaway Peninsula. It was called "Reckowacky" by the Indians in the area, which could be interpreted to mean "the place of our own people," "neck of the island" or "place of waters bright." Rockaway Beach, on the Rockaway peninsula is located in New York along the South Shore of Long Island. Rockaway Beach is the largest urban beach in the United States. It was once referred to as the Irish Riveria, for many Irish Americans dwelled there. When Patricia Reilly Giff, the author of __Lilly's Crossing__ was a child she, too, used to spend almost every summer day at Rockaway Beach. The bakery mentioned in the book was also a part of the author's childhood.