See below for the beginning of this post. The packing up.
Although the trip took three hours more than mapquest or my GPS positioning system said it would, I got here!!!!! Which brings me to a gripe. I know the fastest way to drive to the Hamptons from Pittsburgh is via the Verranzano Bridge... skirting the whole of Manhattan. However both mapquest and my GPS took me via the Jersey turnpike over the George Washington Bridge to the Cross Island Expressway and then to the Long Island Expressway and beyond. First, the accidents on the Pennsylvania Turnpike... morph into stop-and-go via construction on all roads and the toll booths where if you don't have an Easy Pass, you wait in line FOREVER!!!! I'm thinking of getting an Easy Pass for the three times a year I use the turnpike. Grrrrrrr. I was listening to a James Patterson novel for the second time because the first time I didn't finish it and didn't want to start from tape seven knowing I would have forgottenhalf the plot and be wondering what the heck was happening. Meanwhile, I still haven't finished it and since I'm driving home with Steve(hubby) who hasn't heard the first six tapes I may never hear the end. Should I call Jimmy and ask him for a cheat sheet?
The other gripe I have about GPS is that they don't tell you where you are going. Mapquest is printable, so I knew I would be turning onto I ...blah blah and then onto Route x but on the GPS they simply say. Be prepared to turn in 600 feet. Okay. So I will be prepared to turn WHERE? Closer to the turn, I didn't know if I should be in the left lane or right lane.... then boom. 0 feet happens 5 feet after the turn!!!!! I really understand the commercials where the poor guy is following his GPS which says to TURN... so he does..... in 500 feet. I felt the same... not knowing where I was going and why. If I hadn't typed out my mapquest directions I would have been very worried. But, this says something about trust. Here I am in a car where I've paid ??? for this GPS system and I don't trust it will get me to where I need to be. Hmmmmm. Does that say something about me? Or does it say something about technology or trust?
Daughter Lauren and Son-in-law
Patrick arrived just a few hours later and we proceeded to have one of a series of Fiests. Night one was caviar and Champagne followed by steak on the grill with fresh corn on the cob and tomatoe mozzarella salad.
So I must digress again to talk about the Long Island produce. New Jersey used to be known as the "garden state" until development overwhelmed the farmer's land and prices became too tempting for the farmers to hold out. Not so the Hamptons. Farmers...mostly the Halsey family are true to the land, their heritage and farming. The new generation is into organic farming and rabidly so. Thank the Lord. There is no better dessert than an ear of Long Island August corn. I eat it raw. My friends joke about letting me loose in a cornfield to pick and munch to my delight. What they don't know is that I've done it. Great munching except for the creatures that live in the fields along with the corn. Snakes, moles and voles are apt to ruin a good appetite. So I've given into the farm stand where I pay a ridiculous price for a bit of heaven. Last night an ear of corn at my favorite stand was $.50 But, hey, it's less than caviar and tastes just as good. But with that goes a local versus summer resident tug of war. Seen here in a local wine shop which clearly benefits from the Wall Street Titans who are their clients and the "locals" who resent the brash/crass and offensive intrusion of cell phone conversations whenever and wherever they please. BUT-- Magnums of Veuve Cliquot... Impress Your Friends?
A new passion: Mozzarella. As you know, Steve and I just got back from the Amalfi Coast where the Buffala Mozzarela was divino. Truly. So I wasn't expecitng to enjoy the same until another trip to Amalfi. Wrong. My buddy Molly has made friends with an Italian vendor at Cavaniola's in Sag Harbour who imports the same incredibly fresh Buffala. But don't get too excited because it is an insiders 'who you know". The Buffala comes in on a certain day and is promised like a bride to only those special customers who have ordered in advance. God love the Hamptons.
Tomatoes. It's all in the soil. End of story. I've grown tomatoes at home. Not the same sweetness as the Long Island crop. If I die, it will be tomatoe/mozzarela/corn overload.
And so it goes in the Hamptons. If you want a pie, stop at exit 70 and go to Breymere Bakery. You will write me thank you letters for this tip.
Second night was a Lobster/corn on the cob and tomatoe mozzarella fiest. You will notice a similarity here. All main courses in the Hamptons are accompanied by corn and tomatoe/mozzarella. At least my dinners. :) When the kids were little we'd cook our own lobsters, bringing them home live for lobster races across the kitchen floor. But after a few years of this and then plopping them into the boiling water, the screaming got to me. I'm not making this up... wouldn't you scream if someone ploped you into boiling water? Ewwwwww. Not glam. Now we call the Seafood Shop, order the sizes we want and pick them up right before dinner. Sooooo much more Glam. The Seafood Shop also has the most beautiful array of fresh fish, local and imported.
Life aside from eating is tough out here. There's pool sitting, beach sitting and shopping. And of course reading. Doesn't this look tough?