The East End was everything. Fine dining, clam shacks, old time saloons and upscale clubs, along with the best beaches in the world. It has the Atlantic Ocean, from east to west, not to mention cottages worth over $100 million on the shores of that ocean. The East End also has world-renowned golf courses like the Maidstone Club and National Golf Links, but most of all it has the summer people.
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Madonna has a horse farm spread on Mitchell Lane in Bridgehampton. (Photo:
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By summer people I mean people who come out and spend their precious free time frolicking about the East End either in their second homes, rented homes, or hotels. Billionaires drive the back roads in both Jeeps and Bentleys along with everyone else. The roads get jammed because almost everyone must take Route 27 once a day to somewhere.
One thing the East End also has is an abundance of “rockstars.” You can run into them all over. You might catch forever Beatle Paul McCartney running into Astro’s Pizza in Amagansett for a “Veggie Pizza,” or Coldplay’s Chris Martin in Sagaponack, sipping wine at Wölffer Estate Vineyard. Last year, many saw Beyonce and Jay-Z running around Eastman Way in East Hampton Village. Sean Combs used to throw his “White Party” in his Hedges Banks Drive home overlooking Gardiner’s Bay, where as J.Lo may still be caught bike riding the back roads in Bridgehampton. Speaking of Bridgehampton and “rockstars,” Madonna herself has the wonderful horse farm spread on Mitchell Lane in Bridgehampton. Where as Jon Bon Jovi seems to be everywhere, as is Billy Joel who loves his motorboats and motorcycles, mostly stationed in Sag Harbor.
Then there is low profile Suzanne Vega, who has been buzzing around Amagansett for over 20 year. Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame is quietly around a lot too and has shown up at the Talkhouse to see his buddy G.E. Smith play. G.E. and his wife Taylor Barton spend lots of time with their kids at Indian Wells Beach.
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Paul McCartney, Jack Nicholson, and Ray Nicholson at last year’s Apollo in The Hamptons “A Night Of Legends” benefit. (Photo: Nicholas Hunt//PatrickMcMullan.com) |
A highlight of my decade plus of living year round in the Hamptons happened on consecutive nights, when on a Saturday night Montauk’s Edie Brickell played Guild Hall and the next evening her husband Paul Simon played a benefit at the Stephen Talkhouse. Speaking of benefits, Jimmy Buffett, who in the summer lives in North Haven but surfs at Ditch Plains Montauk, is always doing one on the East End. His green Sportsmobile that runs on vegetable oil is often parked at Ditch Plains Beach while he surfs. Montauk also hosts very good life long friends Sean Lennon and Rufus Wainwright, who are always around the hamlet.
A former owner (Arthur Schneider) of the Memory Motel once gave me a long interview back in my Montauk Pioneer days. He told me Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones hung out at the Memory Hotel Bar in 1975 because, “It had a pool table, cold beer, and a piano, plus it was near the ocean.” They even wrote a hit song “Memory Motel!” Perhaps they passed the good word around.
