Sixty-Something: Entering the Hamptons Time Zone

The world officially has 24 time zones, one for each hour of the day. So, technically, it’s the cocktail hour somewhere on the earth every hour. Years ago, as a teenager driving out to the Hamptons from Westchester with some friends, it seemed to be a long drive. When we crossed the Shinnecock Canal, we used to say how we were now entering the Hamptons Time Zone. For us teens, it was the ultimate joy to finally be able to drive ourselves where we wanted to go, and back in the summer of 1970, that was Dune Beach off Meadow Lane in Southampton.

After dark, we would set up a tent, without permits, etc., and sleep in between the dunes right up next to the ocean. If there was no breeze, you wouldn’t believe how many khats there could be in a tent, even with mosquito netting. Just to put things in perspective, collectively we’d go to the Hamptons with less than $30, and back then there were no debit cards or smartphones with money apps. We’d go to the diner the golf caddies used and have a toasted bagel with cream cheese and a coke. We didn’t even drink coffee yet. We would cook hot dogs on the beach for dinner, and somehow there was always sand on them.

Fast forward 24 years, and boy, have things changed on the east end. The beach we used to sleep at has a mega-mansion there, and you need a sticker to park the car anywhere near the beachhead. What hasn’t changed, however, is that the whole area still exists in what I consider the Hamptons Time Zone. In the summertime, if you are retired or on vacation, it’s a casual lifestyle where you can go where you want to go when you want to. Since COVID, there are still places that close down approaching 10 pm, but that’s slowly changing. One sure thing about living in the Hamptons Time Zone is that it’s not inexpensive.

Is it any wonder that Montauk, the new mecca of the young, has a Seven-Eleven that does the highest gross of all their franchises in the USA? Kids living on egg or chicken salad sandwiches for $4.99 find those deals a touch less expensive than a $40 lobster roll. Still, everyone co-mingles at the ocean beaches. When I am at Atlantic Beach in Amagansett, I marvel at the wide breadth of fellow beach folks. There are folks with designer towels, amazing beach chairs, as well as folks like me who use the same chair and beach towel year after year. Truth be told, I spend most of my Hamptons Time Zone in Gardiner’s Bay sailing or swimming at the many deserted beaches on the bay.

Isn’t the magic of the Hamptons Time Zone that everyone has their favorite spot, place, location, beach, coffee shop, restaurant, bar, pizza place, and even gas station? I have a lawyer buddy who brings his kids out on his birthday, August 1, every year for the last decade. His little boy, whom I took to Children’s Beach in the Springs, will be a freshman at Auburn this coming September. His sister is now a high school basketball star up-island. My point is they come out for one day a year, but they have a favorite place to swim and a place we must go to have the birthday dinner.

Another friend, who has had a long successful career on Wall Street, purchased a home in Montauk after renting the same home in Amagansett off the Ocean for many years. This friend knows where is the best place to dine at any specific hour of every day. Most of all, he loves his private time in the Hamptons Time Zone. He paid millions for his house; it has multiple bedrooms and more decks than those new ocean liners, yet most of the time he is there alone, relaxing. He does entertain relatives and has a lovely steady lady companion, but he loves his private downtime.

There are always those parties, events, fundraisers, and private shows the east end is famous for. Still, I believe the magic that comes to most folks in the Hamptons Time Zone is the private time to think, or not have to think. Those moments bring value to time spent on the east end. As one friend said to me about his time in the Hamptons, “It’s not how many hours you are here; it’s what you do in the hours you are here; for me, I love the freedom I have to be either isolated by the beauty out here or when needed the ability to go where the action is.”