Yes, Riverhead is a great place to visit. And it’s a great place to live.

This town has long struggled with a self-esteem problem. Local residents were dumping on Riverhead long before social media platforms provided a megaphone for their complaints. Spaces like Facebook and Twitter seem to attract people who are persistently negative and all too quick to judge others, often very loudly and sometimes crudely.

So we weren’t totally surprised by the comments of some people on the RiverheadLOCAL Facebook page, when we first reported Forbes including our town in the “Top 50 Places to Visit in 2023.” Somewhat predictably, some people piled on the negativity about Riverhead — and the Forbes travel writer who did the write-up about Riverhead.

May we suggest a reality check? Step away from your computers, go outside, put your phones away and take a drive around town. Maybe go for a walk.

You live in a beautiful place.

Let go of your preconceptions and view it with fresh eyes. Be a tourist in your home town.

From the duck ponds in Wading River and the scenic wooded road in Manorville, to the rocky beaches stretching along the Long Island Sound and the scenic vistas of hundreds of acres of farmland, to the quiet shoreline of the the bays and the lush Peconic and its tributaries — this is a beautiful place.

Get up early and get inspired by daybreak on the eastern horizon from a bay beach — and end your day by enjoying a breathtaking sunset on a north shore beach. Spend the hours in between hiking in a local park. Hallock State Park, Wildwood Park and Indian Island County Park all have wonderful trails. Have you walked in the Cranberry Bog Park in Riverside? That’s beautiful too.

Drive along the town’s scenic byways — the Sound Avenue historic corridor and Main Road. Stop off at one of the roadside shops, or a local farmstead or brewery or winery. Check out the Hallockville Museum Farm to get a taste of what life was like here in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Head downtown and walk the historic trail to learn about the town’s origins and the people and events of earlier eras. Stop and really look at the beautiful architecture in our downtown district — the handsome buildings and incredible architectural features we pass by every day without even noticing. Stroll the riverwalk, listen to the gulls, watch the shorebirds dive for food. Walk through Grangebel Park — soon the alewife will be traversing the fish ladder on their annual journey to their up-river spawning grounds. Sit on a park bench facing west and take in the beauty of the river.

And yes, by all means, head across the river to visit the iconic Big Duck for a selfie like the Forbes writer did.

Riverhead is indeed a beautiful place. Make some time to appreciate it.

As locals, we know something the Forbes travel writer can’t know — something any casual visitor probably won’t get an opportunity to find out.

We know the people who make this community what it is. I’m not talking about the “nattering nabobs of negativism” one encounters on social media. (That was a phrase used by U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew to describe political opponents during the 1970 midterm election. Agnew probably would have loved Twitter.)

We’re talking about the people who live here and work here, the entrepreneurs whose businesses are the lifeblood of our town, the municipal workers who keep the town running in all kinds of weather and keep our parks manicured and our beaches clean, the volunteers who fight fires and rush to our aid when we’re sick or injured, the residents who spend countless hours volunteering protect the environment and preserve Riverhead’s sense of place and make their neighborhoods beautiful and safe, the folks who spend their spare time picking up litter on the roadsides and beaches, the people who volunteer at food pantries and soup kitchens to provide for individuals and families in need.

And we’re talking about the community that unfailingly comes together when tragedy strikes — to donate money, clothing, shoes and furniture to a family that lost everything in a fire, for example, or to search for lost elderly person who wandered off on a cold winter day, or to help a grieving family with funeral expenses or and education fund for children who’ve lost a parent.

We see the heart of this community every day, and especially when such tragedies occur. We get the phone calls and emails from people who want to help — who reach out to ask us, “What can we do? How can we help?” We hear not only from our readers looking to help, but also from the funeral homes in town, when there is a tragic death in a family without means. Our readers don’t hear about this because these funeral directors want no credit or publicity. They just want to help because they care.

Such is the heart of Riverhead. (With apologies to the new civic group of that name.)

And for all its beauty on the outside, the heart of this community is what makes Riverhead a beautiful place inside too, where it counts the most.

That’s something that no travel writer passing through, or an average tourist, typically gets to see or experience.

We’re proud that Riverhead was recognized as a great place to visit. It is. But we know it’s also a great place to live. We’re proud to call this place our home.

RiverheadLOCAL file photos

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Editorials are the opinion of RiverheadLOCAL and are written collaboratively by Denise Civiletti, Katie Morosky and Alek Lewis.

RiverheadLOCAL welcomes letters to the editor. We don’t publish anonymous letters, so please include your full name, hamlet of residence, email address and a daytime phone number where we can reach you for confirmation or clarification. Submit your letter here.