The Hamptons

We slept in and left Southampton at about 11:00 this morning. Instead of taking the most direct route back to the car rental, we drove along the north side of Long Island toward Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, part of the National Park Service. Sagamore Hill was the summer home of Theodore Roosevelt. We walked around the property and visited some of the outbuildings, along with the exterior of the home and mansion. We also visited a second home Roosevelt built that now serves as the museum and visitor center. Unfortunately, reservations are required to tour the inside of the mansion. We did peek through a few windows, though, and used our imagination. We then made our way back to the car rental return. Traffic heading into NYC leaves much to be desired, as you might imagine, but everything went smoothly. From there, we took an Uber. I got dropped off at my hotel near the airport, while Mel continued on to his grandmother’s house. I checked in and rested for about 30 minutes. DJ’s...

I couldn’t help but think of one of George Costanza‘s most famous lines from Seinfeld. After yesterday‘s slightly inclement weather today was very nice. Although at the lighthouse I visited it was cloudy, everywhere west of that point was not. The temperature was just above 60° but no wind and a lot of sun made it feel very nice and comfortable. I slept for 10 solid hours last night, which was great because I needed it. And I’m trying to stay on California time. I headed out at 11 o’clock this morning and headed towards the easternmost end of Long Island. I really wonder what it would be like here in the summertime, high season. Most of the speed limit, except for a small portion, was no more than 40 miles an hour, and there aren’t many roads that go around the towns so it gets pretty congested. It took an hour and a half to go 36 miles. But it was a lovely 36 miles. Don’t get me wrong. Montauk point at the end of Long Island is the location of the fourth oldest lighthouse in the Unite...

I arrived at JFK at 7:00 local time this morning. After two fairly unremarkable flights starting in Fresno, everything went smoothly — except for the fact that I really don’t sleep well sitting upright. That’s definitely not my forte. It was fairly easy to navigate my way to the rental car center. After picking up the car, I headed east on Long Island. I did make one stop at Walgreens to grab a few toiletries I needed. The drive was about two hours. I booked an older but nice hotel near the town of Southampton. As I learned while researching before this trip, the “Hamptons” are made up of several towns on the eastern end of Long Island, many of which end in “Hampton.” It’s quite the resort destination, especially during the summer, and if you happen to live here, it seems like you probably need to be pretty bougie. I was able to check into my hotel at 11:00 AM when I arrived and immediately rested for a while. I don’t think I actually slept, but I did manage to relax a bit. Afterwar...