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Published: February 4th 2012
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Just another one of our short entries since there really is not that much to say about these latest couple trips except that we were able to cross off a couple things from our books. The tip of Long Island is only a couple hours from us. We've made a couple trips out to this part of the state for various reasons.
The reason for our first visit was – needless to say – another east coast festival. The MATTITUCK STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL. We sat in traffic for hours to get to the tip of Long Island. The summer months is not a fun time in the Hampton’s - driving wise anyway. The roads are crowded and it takes forever to get to places. The tip of Long Island is divided into two “forks” which are very different from each other. The bay side is known as the NORTH FORK- this is where we were heading for the festival. The ocean side is known as the Hampton’s. The two sides could not be more different.
The North Fork is very agricultural with a very slow pace to life. Towns tend to be smaller with farms and vineyards all around you.
Strawberry Festival
Drove 5 hours round-trip for this The strawberry festival was once again what we would call a carnival. They do sell strawberries, but it is over in a corner somewhere where no one knows about it. Other than that it was the usual stuff – bands, stands, food and rides. It was a long 5 hour round-trip drive for some strawberry-shortbread and chocolate covered strawberries. I guess it is for a good cause so it is what it is. The area is very low-key and seems perfect for just a very relaxing weekend. Traffic on this side does not seem to be that bad since this definitely is the less-touristy of the 2 parts. We also made a separate trip out for a couple days after Christmas. This was a really surprising trip. We thought that everything would be closed (which it was for the most part since this area completely shut down after Labor Day), but surprisingly most, if not all, of the vineyards were open. We started out in CUTCHOGUE and made our way around the vineyards. It was extremely enjoyable because there were very few people at the vineyards so it was just enjoyable to take our time and take in the wines
Montauk
Little path up to the lighthouse and atmosphere. Once again we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the wines. We thought this is a very upstart area for wines (which it probably is) so we did not expect much from the wines, but they were really good and we acquired a couple bottles for our personal collection. We started out at BEDELL CELLARS WINERY (really pretty tasting room), made our way to PELLIGRINI VINEYARDS WINERY (walked around the empty vineyards all by ourselves with not another soul in sight) and finished off the day at CASTELLO DI BORGHESE/HARGARVE VINEYARDS. Definitely highly recommendable to do a wine tour of this area.
The Hampton’s on the other hand is a completely different story. Glitz, glamour, money and fast cars are the order of the day. I use to go there every summer during my college years to teach tennis. It is just a completely different world. The money and the people are “not real” as we say. The stories I can tell will blow your mind. People have more money than they would ever know what to do with and most of them act that way too. We did a separate trip for the Hampton’s so
that Nikkie could see the world I use to live in. The drive was a lot easier since it was after the summer months. I know the backroads pretty well so getting around was not too bad. You just have to stare in amazement at some of the properties. We headed straight for Sag Harbor. A small little town that’s not as “uptight” as Easthampton or Southampton. We walked around and walked into a couple of the stores. Breakfast was at Bagel Buoy. The lox and cream cheese bagel was really good.
Next we headed over to Montauk and crossed through some of the beautiful FARMLANDS that the Hampton’s are known for. We love this place because of the fresh produce you can buy at the little farm stands. Flowers in abundance, corn, tomatoes, cherries, jams, strawberries, etc. It does not always come cheap but it is good. We made our way through Amagansett to MONTAUK. Montauk is on the very, very tip of the Hampton’s so most people don’t really ever go this far since a) it is quite the drive and b) it’s an older part of the Hampton’s. It’s still a pretty big fishing port so
Montauk
View of the Atlantic from Montauk the fish is always fresh. We made our way to the MONTAUK POINT LIGHTHOUSE (lighthouses is our new thing). Parking alone is $10 and then it is another $10 to get onto the lighthouse grounds – so a complete rip-off. Our justification is that we are supporting a good cause with all these entry fees (hopefully). There is no other parking and the lighthouse is about a 4-5 mile drive from town so you may just have to bite the bullet on this one. The lighthouse itself is beautiful and there is a nice beach where you can walk around the lighthouse and see everyone do their fishing from the breakwater rocks. In Montauk we went to GOSMAN'S DOCK CLAM BAR for a couple appetizers (Beet salad, Oysters, chowder). The food was ok and it is a nice spot for a hot summer day since it is a complex of buildings with the restaurants and then a bunch of other smaller shops/buildings.
Well we crossed off 2 things in our books including Norfolk and Montauk.
So 117 things down and 5,208 left.
From the Forks
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