Day Trippin'

Funny how you can take off from Manhattan, drive just a couple hours in opposite directions, and land upon such disparate geography. Go one way and see stunning mountain ranges with craggy cliffs and dense forests (see: Shawanthon). Go another direction and come upon flat roads hugging endless shorelines overlooking a glassy Atlantic Ocean. That's just what Mark and I happened upon when we visited the Hamptons on Tuesday. Taking advantage of his day off (and my flexible schedule!) we loaded up the X and headed east, eventually settling on an isolated stretch of sand in Southampton Village. There, we saw how the fabulous live--elaborate multi-chimneyed estates with finely manicured lawns, each with the ubiquitous Lexus, Benz, BMW, or Jag parked out front. In back: finely-appointed patios--with pools, of course!--plus unbeatable views of the ocean. Hard to believe that these are, for the most part, just vacation homes. (Although I think one of the homes belonged to Christie Brinkley, who happens to be a fulltime Southampton resident).

After an afternoon of sun-soaking, we drove east through Bridgehampton and Easthampton (catching a quick sighting of George Stephanopoulos, on a run, along the route) before settling on Lobster Roll for dinner. There, we satiated our cravings for seafood with delicious pecan-crusted flounder and crabcakes. Then we continued our journey all the way to the end of the island in Montauk (where Karl famously won a triathlon last month) where we watched the sun set over the Long Island Sound. After a quick ice cream run at Cold Stone, we enjoyed a traffic-free trip back into the city and returned to Christopher Street by 10:45 p.m.