Life's A Beach, When You Have One

One thing about the Hamptons and East End is when you have a need to get to a beach, you have amazing choices. I am in Florence, Italy writing this and it is so very hot today. As I was walking along the Arno River I noticed people sunning out on the muddy, slightly sandy banks of that historical river as if they were at Cooper’s Beach in Southampton or Indian Well Beach in East Hampton.

The author plays tourist in Italy. (Courtesy Photo)

It was then that I realized this is where Michelangelo and Raphael went to the beach on summer days after their art lessons. I suppose if they lived in the Hamptons their art might have been different. With every walking turn in this former city-state there is a reminder of times when Cosmo and Lorenzo Medici ruled the major banks of the world. Lavish palaces, marbled churches, and beautiful narrow cobblestone streets lined with three story connected buildings, with orange-red tiled roofs are neat, but on a hot day, the beautiful Atlantic rolling in a wave at a time is something else too.

I remember my daughter Blair’s first driving lesson was to Main Beach in East Hampton on a warm day in early November in 2001. We had the convertible top down and when we reached Main Beach, we stopped to look at the ocean. No way could I teach her to drive in Rome!

Now don’t get me wrong, the Arno River is beautiful and is in many great works of art, way more than all the Hampton Beaches, but the fact is on a hot day, when you think beach, you think ocean or even bay, but not the river bed. By the way, I did not see anyone sailing on the Arno!

The calendar is ticking towards Memorial Day. Time to make sure those beach stickers are current. One last thing, Italy is beautiful in the spring, but here I am writing about the pleasures of the East End of Long Island. Enjoy the 2013 season!

As I am heading to Venice I am thinking my sailboat is almost ready to be out on Gardiners Bay.