As the sunlit hours of the days are getting noticeably longer, we know soon the warmer weather will follow. As the east end heats up so do expectations for the coming summer season. Slowly the south shore of the east end begins to show the changes that occur every new season. New restaurants that perhaps are replacing one or two old favorites begin to show their signage. There are always a few owners of businesses who have retired and moved on or sold their business and property. When some old folks leave others, new folks, come.
The Hamptons consists of many different unique locations all lined up eastward from Westhampton all the way to Montauk Point. Unless you are one of the founding families you eventually have to learn the ways of the Hamptons. This week’s column contains a few stories of my fun of discovering the ways of Hamptons life.
When I used to go to Montauk fishing in the 1980s with my dad and brothers, I occasionally saw signs that said, “Three Mile Harbor.” I had no idea what that was. Was it a day camp? Was it a former military installation? I did not understand what it was.
In 2003 when by accident I ended up purchasing a sailboat it was first to be sent to the North Fork but it ended up in the marina called “3-mile Harbor Marina.” The very first day that my just purchased boat was lowered into the water I was taken for a tour of 3 Mile Harbor, by the owner of the marina. It was July 1st and it was a sunny day. The fish were jumping, and the birds were flying all over the sky and I just couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. Quite frankly it was in that first hour that I had the epiphany that changed my life.
Before living full-time out east I was working for a large financial institution in NYC. The managing director required white shirts, full suits, and shined black shoes as mandatory in the office even in the summer. When I started living out east, the lifestyle wardrobe change was drastic. Polo shirts, shorts, topsiders became my new uniform. After a short time being a “full-time” substitute teacher, I started doing a part-time job of delivering Dan’s Papers two days a week all over the east end.
Within a month I was writing the odd story for the then Montauk Pioneer. Soon the assignments grew. It was through those assignments I learned about the Hamptons. I did a weekly series called, “The Fifty Traditions of the Hamptons.” Each week I went out and spent time with many of the pioneers of modern east end life, along with meeting some of the founding families.
Eventually, I learned what and where Lazy Point, North Sea Farms, Gosman’s Dock, Tully’s Seafood, Kandy Kitchen and all the other legendary venues were and what made them tick.
I was also assigned two other weekly columns, “Estate of Mind,” and “Giving You The Business,” and slowly but surely, I met the biggest players in both real estate and local business. Those columns ran weekly for two years until new ownership came in replaced the senior editor and moved in another direction. Part of the change that happens over time.
Through writing, I met the woman who is now my wife. She, too, is a successful writer among other things and helped me complete two novels. Her love and my love for her opened my eyes yet again to the beauty of all things east end. Things like the phenomenal sunsets just seemed to have more pizzazz after I met Cindi.
Every new year and new summer season creates new opportunities for everyone on the east end. The influx of change brings new life, new ideas, and new people. Most of the time this is a very good thing. Change is not always welcomed in old historic towns. Some fear the erosion of the very fiber and character of the east end is eroding through yearly change. That every year some part of the magic is lost. On the other hand, every year new folks discover the magic. I did twenty years ago and over time, I learned to love and protect what makes the south fork of the east end so very uniquely special.
