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Living The High Life

Pictured is Montauk Point Light. Photos by Melinda Centi

To many New York City natives, when summer hits, the weekends are spent out of town. For some, that means going “out east” to the Hamptons, located on Long Island’s South Fork. It is a string of seaside communities marked as a seasonal residence for the affluent, peppered with sandy beaches, high-end restaurants and designer boutiques. My friend Shannon and I had talked about spending a weekend in the Hamptons, curious to see if it lived up to the hype that’s been attracting the elite to this island since “The Great Gatsby.”

To get there, I had to drive seven hours to meet up with my friend who resided in Queens, New York. I set my GPS Waze Navigation (programmed to Boy Band voice directions, because I honestly didn’t know how to change the settings at that point) and was ready to take on the open road.

Throughout all of my travels, I have never driven a vehicle into “the city” and I can confidently say I will never do so again. I had given myself a pep-talk prior to my departure, ready for the NYC traffic, knowing it would be stressful. What I didn’t realize was how truly terrifying it would be until I hit the George Washington Bridge at rush hour on a Friday. My only companion was my GPS Boy Band singing directions to “keep ri-ight” while I yelled a few choice profanities, getting cut off and nearly side-swiped by every impatient New York driver that could inch themselves closer to the finish line. The only solace I found was taking in the gorgeous view of the city skyline as I waited for a lane to open up on the shaky bridge I was ready to be off.

The adventure continued as I still had to get over the JFK Bridge and into Queens. I didn’t realize how many streets in Astoria happened to be one way and numbered the same in a row. The Waze navigation began to get confused and just kept singing me into circles. I was looking for 23rd Street, only to discover there’s also a 23rd Avenue and 23rd Road. To top things off, there was a street carnival happening at the time, so traffic and parking was even more crowded than usual. Shannon ended up finding me in traffic so she could hop in the car and be my navigation. After an hour of looking for parking, we finally found a spot four blocks away from her apartment where I rested my car for the night.

The next morning, we packed our beachwear, floppy hats and fake posh attitudes and ventured east so we could see how the other half lives. Apparently every other Manhattanite had the same idea and met us along the unavoidable two-lane Montauk highway, creating an insane afternoon of gridlock and road rage. Two hours later, we had finally arrived and it was exactly how I’d pictured The Hamptons — pretentious, yet mesmerizing. Once you get past the hedge covered mansions and fancy boat shoe-wearing locals, the place was pretty incredible.

Pictured is Hook Windmill.

Our first stop was Main Beach, but we were sadly disappointed when they wanted to charge us $30 just to park our car. Luckily I saw a sign for free 15-minute parking which must have been implemented for the lower class like us who just wanted a brief taste of the sweet life. We waited our turn, snatched a parking spot as it opened up, and ran down the sandy coastline before we had to run back to my car as the clock ran out. Luckily we found the free beach in Montauk later that day, restoring our faith in this stuffy island and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the sun.

We were all about the low-key beach getaway, seafood shacks and quirky shops scattered throughout the town. There were shingled windmills, sandy dunes along the beaches and the iconic Montauk Point Light — the only lighthouse at the easternmost point of Long Island and the fourth oldest active lighthouse in the United States. For a moment, I imagined the magnitude of the beam of light shining out across the ocean, signaling ships ashore as I stood there in awe of this historical landmark.

We ended the night with a fish fry at The Lobster Roll before heading back to reality and the dreaded traffic of the city. It was a great day trip and lived up to all the expectations we had of the Hamptons. If I wanted to max out my credit card, I would have booked a cottage for the entire weekend, but it was nice just getting a brief feel of the posh life for a day and a fun experience with my dear friend I don’t get to see enough anymore.

I have already put the dreaded memory of the NYC traffic in my subconscious and will happily return via any other mode of transportation that doesn’t require me sitting behind the wheel. I am glad I went away for the weekend to step outside of my comfort zone and see something different. I hope others are encouraged to do the same. There’s a lot of world out there to see, just waiting for us to discover and it helps to have a friend along the journey, or at least a Boy Band singing GPS to guide your way.

My 15 minutes of Main Beach.

Shannon and I living the high life.

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