There is a Saturday in July when the sky over Randall Road will not look like any other Saturday sky in Shoreham. On July 11, hundreds of electric drones will lift off the grounds of Nikola Tesla's last standing laboratory, trace his life story in light, and settle back down at 9 PM. If you live within walking distance, you will hear it before you see it.
Most summers in Shoreham feel like a choice between staying home and driving east to the North Fork. This summer is different, and the reason is not the Expo itself. It is a small building called the Sayan Center, and once you understand what changes when it opens, the rest of your July and August plans reshuffle themselves.
The Wardenclyffe you knew is not the Wardenclyffe you get this summer
For more than a century, the 16-acre Wardenclyffe site sat behind a fence. You could see the original brick laboratory from Route 25A. You could take a guided walking tour of the exterior. You could not go inside anything.
That changes now. Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe anticipates opening the Visitor Center to the public on Fridays and Saturdays starting in early summer 2026. The Sayan Center will be dedicated as the first building on the Wardenclyffe campus ever opened to the public, marking a historic turning point for the site. At 2,200 square feet of indoor space, complemented by planned outdoor areas, the Center will provide powerful opportunities to expand programming, welcome visitors, and lay the groundwork for future restoration and growth.
Two thousand two hundred square feet is not a museum. It is roughly the footprint of a modest Shoreham ranch. What matters is the shift in category: for the neighbors who have driven past this fence for decades, a locked landmark becomes a place you can walk into on a Saturday morning.
The Expo, in the order you should think about it
The formal dedication happens during the 2026 Nikola Tesla Expo on Saturday, July 11, from 5 to 9 PM at 5 Randall Road. The rain date is July 12. If you have been to the Expo before, here is what is different this year:
- The dedication itself. Guests are invited to celebrate Nikola Tesla's 170th birthday alongside two landmark occasions: America's 250th Anniversary and the dedication of the Sayan Center, the first public building on the Wardenclyffe campus.
- A drone show instead of fireworks. Hundreds of electric, zero-emission drones will light up the Long Island sky in a mesmerizing, choreographed display, a sustainable alternative to traditional fireworks. The show is narrated and traces Tesla's arrival in America through the technologies his work made possible.
- Programming built for kids who normally get dragged along. Meteorologist Samantha Augeri takes kids inside the science of storms in an electrifying headline show. Expect thunderstorms, lightning, a giant storm cloud, and a lineup of hands-on demos straight out of Nikola Tesla's playbook, a Van de Graaff generator, plasma globe, Tesla coil, thunder drum, energy stick human circuit, and more.
- A place in Suffolk 250. The Nikola Tesla Expo 2026 is proud to be part of Suffolk 250, Suffolk County's official commemoration of the USA's signing of the Declaration of Independence.
A practical note for anyone living on the streets near Randall Road: the event drew thousands from across Long Island last summer, and returns even bigger in 2026. If you walk or bike over, you keep your driveway free and skip the parking crawl. That is the kind of small planning move that only makes sense if you already live here.
If you cannot make July 11, the tour season is longer than most residents realize
Here is a fact that surprises even people who have lived in Shoreham for decades: the 2026 guided tour season runs from Friday, March 20 through Sunday, November 15. That is roughly eight months of public access to a site most people assume they need a special event to see.
There are three tour formats worth knowing about, because they are not interchangeable:
- The standard guided walking tour runs about 90 minutes and covers the original brick laboratory designed by Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White, the foundation of Tesla's 18-story wireless transmitting tower, the bronze statue of Tesla gifted by the people of Serbia, and the Bricks for Nik Plaza with thousands of engraved messages.
- Picture the Past is a 90-minute immersive exploration of Wardenclyffe from 1900 to 1917, led by knowledgeable guides, focused on architecture, infrastructure, and historical context through detailed storytelling and archival imagery.
- The Wizard of Wardenclyffe Family Tour is specially designed for families with elementary school–aged children who are eager to explore science through hands-on discovery.
If you have out-of-town family coming through in September or October, this is a genuinely good weekend plan. The site is the original brick laboratory, designed by architect Stanford White, still standing on this 16-acre site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2018. A Shoreham tour guide will tell your visiting brother-in-law things about your own town he will remember.
Entrance is on Randall Road only. Route 25A gives you a view of the lab from the road, but there is no public access from that side.
Wildwood, on a schedule that matters
The other summer anchor is Wildwood State Park, which sits just east of the village. Most residents know it exists. Fewer know its 2026 calendar precisely enough to plan around.
| What | 2026 dates | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Daily swim season | June 27 through September 7 | 10 AM to 6:30 PM |
| Extended weekend swim | September 12 through September 20 | 10 AM to 6:00 PM |
| Guided Wardenclyffe tours | March 20 through November 15 | Scheduled |
Source for park dates: 2026 Swimming Season: 6/27 to 9/7, 10 am to 6:30 pm, daily. Weekends 9/12 to 9/20, 10 am to 6:00 pm.
The two weekends after Labor Day are the ones locals should circle. Crowds thin out, the water is still warm, and the lifeguards are still on. Those September weekend hours exist for a reason, and the reason is that the beach is genuinely at its best after the summer visitors leave.
What Wildwood actually is, if you have only ever driven past the sign: 600 acres of undeveloped hardwood forest terminating on the high bluff overlooking Long Island Sound. Twelve miles of marked trails, two miles of Sound beach, and a bluff view that most Long Islanders drive past their whole lives without seeing. For a Shoreham household, this is arguably the most underused amenity in the neighborhood's backyard.
A quick logistics note. The Empire Pass card is $80 and your key to all-season enjoyment with unlimited day-use entry at most facilities operated by State Parks and the State Dept. of Environmental Conservation including forests, beaches, trails and more. If you visit Wildwood more than a handful of times a season, the math tips in favor of the pass by mid-July.
The dinner problem, solved without a drive
Here is where a summer plan usually falls apart. You have spent the afternoon at Wildwood or on the Wardenclyffe grounds, the kids are sunburned, and no one wants to get back in the car and drive to Port Jefferson or Riverhead for dinner. Shoreham's dining scene is small, and pretending otherwise does no one any favors. But it is not empty, and two options in particular hold up as reliable local anchors.
Osaka is tucked into Shoreham Plaza. Located at 99-8 Rte 25A, Shoreham, NY 11786, in Shoreham Plaza next to the post office, the restaurant offers a wide array of Japanese dishes. Sushi, hibachi standards, the kind of menu that works whether you have a picky ten year old or an in-law with opinions.
Eat + Drink sits in the village proper. It is one of the small handful of true sit-down restaurants in Shoreham itself, and worth knowing about specifically because most search results will push you toward Wading River or Rocky Point instead.
If you are willing to broaden the definition of "close," the immediate ring around Shoreham gives you Alexandros in Mount Sinai for Mediterranean, and The Cooperage Inn if you feel like heading a few minutes toward Baiting Hollow for something more of an occasion. But for a Saturday after the beach, staying inside the 11786 zip code is usually the right call.
A simple three-weekend template
If you want a scaffold to work from, here is one that uses only what is already on the 2026 calendar:
Weekend of July 11: Walk or bike to the Expo. Arrive around 5 PM to catch the Sayan Center dedication and the earlier programming. Stay for the drone show at 9 PM. Order takeout from Osaka on the way home.
A Saturday in August: Book the standard Wardenclyffe walking tour. Follow it with an afternoon at Wildwood, either the beach or the bluff-top trail loop. If you have kids, swap in the Wizard of Wardenclyffe family tour instead.
One of the two September weekends after Labor Day: Take the Wildwood swim window that most people miss. Dinner at Eat + Drink after. This is the weekend that locals get to themselves.
None of this requires driving to the North Fork. None of it requires the LIE. It is the kind of summer you can only really have if you already live within a few miles of Randall Road and Hulse Landing Road, which is to say, if you already live here.
That is the quiet argument for Shoreham this year. The rest of Long Island will pass through for one Saturday in July. You get the whole season.
Let's Connect
If you have been thinking about your next move on the North Shore, or you have friends and family asking what it is really like to live in a place like Shoreham, I would love to talk. Reach out through Elaine Kelly Sells, and I will bring the same steady, step-by-step guidance to your real estate questions that I brought to thirty years in Miller Place classrooms.
