72 Hours in the Hamptons With the Wrong Color Toes
& a smörgåsbord of vintage finds for a beachy weekend away
Hello from the LIRR. It’s raining in New York, and the soggy hems of my Levi’s keep sticking to my heels when I re-cross my legs on the train seat. I just finished Another Marvelous Thing by Laurie Colwin and struggled through the last couple chapters with blurry tear-filled eyes. I’m such a sucker. 5 stars.
I’m headed back to the city after a weekend at a friend’s house in the Hamptons. They’ve been been year-round residents for more than 20 years, which I take advantage of with pestering inquires about the town: Which buzzy restaurants are actually good? (Not many of them); How many new builds were just farmland a decade ago? (A lot of them); And how long has the main street fro-yo shop been open, and are the toppings fresher under the new owner? (No). The local perspective is always better.
Things I loved:
Peanut butter-flavored ice cream on Friday and peanut butter-flavored frozen yogurt on Saturday
That I spotted more $30 Havaianas on the beach than designer sandals; the last time I visited, Hermes slides ruled the real estate where the sand meets the sidewalk
Morning light bouncing off the bay when it’s wavy
Morning light being absorbed by the bay when it’s placid
Bunnies in the backyard, fawns scurrying through hedges, and a curious chipmunk who tried to sneak into the living room
Honey mustard chips by the ocean
Peering into neighboring backyards while stand-up paddling down the bay, saying “at our house we’d need an attic office with a great big window” and “we wouldn’t paint our house like that, we’d want something warm and wooden and far less modern”
Driving 45 minutes for raspberry cream pie first thing in the morning to a farm I was worried would sell out
The rainbow sticks of flavored honey at the farm stand’s cash register
Eating the pie for breakfast every day and making the argument that in essence it’s not all that different than a danish
Sea squish clinging to the underside of the dock swaying with the current
Reams of retro fabric at the general store on main street
Coca-Cola with pomegranate juice and a packet of True Lemon and extra ice
Stumbling on a used book sale with overflowing stock and a grandma DJing the classical music station running the show
Popcorn reading Calvin and Hobbes comics aloud on the bar patio, sipping a guava seltzer and tuning out the rest of the world
When the free bread at the Italian restaurant was a giant basket of focaccia garlic butter rolls, my face lighting up like a kid on Christmas morning as our waiter plopped them on the table
Things I didn’t love:
I didn’t register how deprived of color the town wardrobe was until a brunette with baby bangs walked into the bar in a crimson midi dress and I realized I hadn’t seen anything brighter than a dri-fit salmon golf polo in two days
The ocean so icy it’d be considered a cold plunge to go in past my ankles
Feeling like the only girl in the world who didn’t get the memo to have her toenails painted white — I prefer my red anyway, but I would’ve at least like the invitation
A matcha latte from a local shop with un-whisked clumps of bitter chalky powder swirling the bottom of the cup
An espresso latte from an Instagram famous shop that couldn’t have had fewer than 16 pumps of vanilla syrup in it
Having to deter the chipmunk from actually coming into the living room, I know it’s safer for him that way and I don’t want him to spook and run under the couch, but if it were up to me I’d carry him around in my bra and feed him peanuts from my pocket
To hear that Julie Andrews once got denied from a fussy French restaurant by the water — the line was out the door every time we walked by, girls in strappy heels with their arms hooked into those of boyfriends in suits, and I wondered why anyone would want to go anywhere that thinks they’re too good for Julie Andrews
Luckily the love list is much longer.
Below the fold, all the beachy pieces on my watchlists right now.
A sunny lot of funky vintage swim and flirty little sandals and more saucy sundresses and 100% cotton gems as low as $4 if you can even believe…
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