The Hamptons

The Hamptons

We left early (5:30am) for a day trip out to Long Island and the Hamptons.  Our plan was to head to the easternmost tip (Montauk) and make our way back toward Brooklyn throughout the day.  We arrived at the lighthouse around 8:30am, a couple hours before it opened.  The peninsula was actually shrouded in fog so we didn't get much of a view of the ocean anyways :(. 

We stopped in the town of Montauk itself, a small beachtown with a laidback attitude, and enjoyed some breakfast before checking out the beach.

The sand did not disappoint.  Very soft and fine and felt great on our toesies!

(Not pictured: toesies in the sand)

Who knew you could surf in New York?!

Headed west after Montauk and made it to the Hamptons.  The first stop was East Hampton which had a downtown area with high-end retail shops and an overly-eager Lululemon salesgirl.  It was a beautiful and tranquil place and we could instantly see why the area is so popular for vacationing in the summer.  

We continued on to Bridgehampton for lunch then cruised through the neighborhoods to look at the houses.  It's very difficult to see most of the houses because of the huge hedges surrounding the grounds and gates enclosing the driveways (to keep tourists like us from gawking in to their homes we assume).  But every so often you can get a glimpse of a truly spectacular property.

An example of the ubiquitous hedge-and-gate privacy walls.

 

Meg hopped out of the car to snap this pic to fully appreciate how awesome these places are. 

Our last stop before heading home was Southampton, a similar set-up as East Hampton with a downtown area dotted with high-end shops (including a Dash store filled with teenage girls) and restaurants.  The history of this little town is apparent in the architecture and historical buildings, churches, etc.  It's also home to one of the oldest surviving buildings in all of New York, the Halsey House, built in the mid-17th century.  We had a great time exploring the town and nearby beach, if anyone owns a home that needs housesitting in this area please don't hesitate to call us!

Southampton Village Hall on Main Street

A very historical looking Pottery Barn...

Ice cream time!  Aren't the kiddies in the window cute?  

Finally, after a long day of touring through Long Island, we headed back to Brooklyn.  We decided to stop in Williamsburg on the way for some dinner at a very "edgy" spot called Shelter Pizza.  After dinner we took the chance to explore Williamsburg a little bit and found out that it's got a very popular night life!  We'll definitely be going back when we've got more energy, ha ha.

All in all, it was a jam-packed day of driving and exploring, a perfect Saturday.