Sixty-Something: Ten Things To Do In The Hamptons Before Summer Ends

Boom, just like that summer 2019 is almost over in the Hamptons and there are things you meant to do this summer that you just haven’t done, yet. Over the years there are those traditional summer activities you always aim to do. Here is a list of suggestions of ten Hamptons things you might like to do before this summer ends.

1. The magic of that Shelter Island visit. The short breezy ferry ride is always special. Then perhaps a visit to the Sunset Beach Bar and Restaurant – or a hop over to the Rams Head Inn. For others, it’s a cold draft at the bar of the Dory. As for me, it’s a quick stop at the Marie Eiffel Market for a special lobster roll.

2. An August night dedicated to singing karaoke. Wednesday at the Talkhouse in Amagansett or Fridays in Montauk at Liar’s Saloon or for Southampton folks, at the North Sea Tavern. I so fondly remember singing “The Weight,” and having everyone join in on the chorus over the years. I must confess there was a time that during the summer I sang karaoke six nights a week all summer long. The first night I met my wife, I brought her to sing karaoke with me at Almond and she still saw me again!

3. Stopping off on the Napeague stretch and parking and going to either Lunch/The Lobster Roll or The Clam Bar for a cold beer and some sort of summer fish is something to do. What is better then sharing this delight with the good cheer of best friends? Remember late August nights can get very chilly outdoors on the Napeague stretch between Montauk and Amagansett.

4. Having a Rowdy Hall Hamburger or a Sam’s Pizza in East Hampton Village. What is a Hamptons summer without either of these legendary staples? I still remember the first time I had either. It was in the 1990’s.

5. Walking into the lobby of the historic American Hotel is always a people watching event. Then deciding to eat at the bar or a table close to the bar just to listen to giddiness of first-time visitors is at least a once a summer must. A prize table at the American Hotel is in fact makes for a real Hamptons special night.

6. Finally surrendering to a full day at your favorite Hamptons beach and actually going in the water beyond the waves is a must. Of course most folks do this weekly, however I remember living at Ditch Plains Beach and actually going in the water three times in five years. Those were my busy working throughout the summer years. Getting in the ocean gets tricky as you get older. As a young one I could stay in the ocean for hours but now as a sixty-something person I seem to go in and get out rather quickly although my wife, Cindi, can stand in the surf for hours.

7. Get to see live music at The Surf Lodge (Nancy Atlas every Wednesday sunset). Jettykoon every Thursday sunset at the Montaukett, or the action packed Stephen Talkhouse every night, or wherever your local favorite band is doing an outdoor free concert in a local park.

8. Get to see a live play or musical at Bay Street. Annie Get Your Gun is playing there now and it is really worth the effort! Then afterwards there is all of Sag Harbor to celebrate the ending of summer 2019.

9. How about read that book you bought the first week of summer and have carried around or left by the lamp and haven’t even opened yet? Summer reading has always been a favorite time for me to read multiple books, find the time, select a place, turn off the phone, and crack open that book you have been meaning to read. I suggest you revisit Herman Melville’s Moby Dick; it is the phenomenal writing.

10. I save the best for last. Everyone is a tourist eventually. Many believe the number one tourist attraction in N.Y. State is the Montauk Lighthouse. Every year somehow I park my car in the lot and walk over and pay the fee to enter the sacred historic grounds of the Montauk Lighthouse. However when I climb those narrow lighthouse steps, and look at the historic bricks and portholes on the way up, I go back in time, I can feel the presence of my now deceased dad and mom and hear my now grown and living far away daughters’ voices in my mind. Finally as I climb to squeeze out at top I see that view of the topography that has defined the last 30 years of my life. The magical buffs, the Atlantic Ocean waves breaking on the shore, the fishing boats just visible through the haze, the harbor, the village, the roads and homes of a very sacred place on the tip of Long Island.

Summer’s almost gone, the days seem to roll by faster as you get older but the good times of a summer day in the Hamptons never gets old nor ever will.