Fletcher921

What is a fun way to spend just one evening and one day in this area?? We are going with another couple in September and our husbands are golfing one day at Maidstone. Ideas?? Things to see? Great shopping? Restaurants for lunch - dinner?? We are staying at either Mill House or Maidstone Arms - up in the air...

Thanks!! Babs

Scarlett

You can spend all day shopping and eating and go to a movie.
There will still be plenty that you won't have time to do.
I haven't been out this year so I will leave it to others to give names of the latest eateries..
Have fun, it is beautiful out there~

Ryan

Southampton and Easthampton both have plenty of shops and restaurants. You won't be bored.

If you want to do something a bit different, you can always drive over to the North Fork and tour some of the wineries around Riverhead. (Or you can just hit the Tanger outlet mall.)

JohnD

If your up for a scenic drive you could head out towards Montauk and check out Gosman's Dock they have a 1 hour boat tour of the harbor and excellent waterfront dining choices, shopping is limited and prices are high though.
You may also consider a visit to the lighthouse at Montauk Point, the climb to the top is a workout though!
Here is a link to montauk attractions:
http://www.onmontauk.com/html/attractions.asp

mclaurie

Babs, it depends on when in Sept. & what day of the week you're coming. After Labor Day some of the shops in East Hampton are not open every day (Tues & Wed are popular closing days).

If you want to stay in East Hampton where the golf club & both Inns are located, the Maidstone Arms actually has one of the nicest lunches. The dining room is very pretty with a New England feel but not dark. For a more casual lunch, the Blue Parrot is tex/mex (I think they're open for lunch) & is located in the parking lot behind Main St.

If you want to venture out of East Hampton village, head west on 27 & a few miles outside of town after you make the turn past the pond is Nichols, a very casual place with outside & inside tables. Decent salads, sandwiches etc. Their mussels are good.

Or...head to Bridgehampton where you can have a good lunch at either Bobby Vans or World Pie (very eclectic menu).

Don't know what your definition of "great shopping" is. There are no bargains (apart from possible sales at that time of year) unless you go to the Tanger Mall in Riverhead which is not my idea of an outing in the Hamptons.

For boutique shopping, East Hampton has lots of clothing shops but many are also in the city (like Scoop, Calypso). There's a nice handbag/accessories shop called Daryl Westfall on Main St. & Shoe Inn near the movie theater has nice things. Mecox Gardens on Newtown Lane (the other "main" street that runs perpendicular to Main St.) has lovely & unusual home decor items. There's also a fun, funky home store called Inside Out across from the EH train station that's easy to miss if you don't know it's there.

Bridgehampton has more antique shops & home decor places (English Country Antiques is in a huge barn just north of 27 before the big shopping mall in Bridgehampton.)

Sag Harbor is lovely & the main street ends on the water (bay). The American Hotel is very quaint & has a lovely front porch for dining but may not be open for weekday lunch in Sept. (They're probably open for dinner. Very pricey & somewhat formal but good).

Other dinner choices-the 2 "hot" places in East Hampton are Nick & Toni's where the Hollywood crowd hangs out in the summer and Della Femina. Both are Italian. The 1770 House is also supposed to be excellent (I haven't been since they reopened). All pricey with the 1770 House being the most pricey.

For a water view without venturing to Montauk, the Beacon in Sag Harbor is excellent (but may be closed), East Hampton Pointe is up 3 Mile Harbor (they may be open for lunch). Very nice spot with an outdoor dining deck.

Let me know if you want more info on anything.

mclaurie

PS If you want to do wine tasting, no need to travel to the North Fork. Wolffer Vineyards in Sagaponack (just east of Bridgehampton), Channing Daughters in Bridgehampton & Duck Walk vineyards in Water Mill should all be open for tastings.

ARKANSASNURSE

One word MONTAUK. Lived there as a child get back when I can....if you make it to Gosman's have lunch on the open porch. Say hello to Sam, the head chef. On a beautiful September day just sit on the rocks and watch the sea.

LordBalfor

Babs - FYI:

The Mill House is on a real pretty street a stones' throw from the trendy shops of Main Street and New Town Lane. We were just there in June, checking out the old homestead. I used to live a couple of houses down from the Mill House, in what is now a house containing real estate offices (on the ground floor) and psychologists offices on the 2nd & 3rd floors (where we used to live - not sure if there's a hidden meaning there). Strange to think of a shrink analysing folks in my old bedroom.

Anyway, it was a nice visit. I hadn't been back since 1973 (when I graduated from East Hampton High School). Nice to see the town is even prettier than it was back then. Not too surprising though - East Hampton never changes that much, too many folks with big money like it just the way it is.

Enjoy East Hampton. It is a nice town to visit, but be sure and bring cash (lots of it).

Ken

bennie

Just got back from our first weekend ever in the Hamptons. Ate at Lobster Roll Lunch - a seafood place on the road out to Montauck. It was very good - extremely casual. Also ate at Spinmakers (sp?) in Sag Harbor. We enjoyed that very much. No water view but still nice with a piano player providing live music. Food was very good. Did some shopping in East Hampton - nothing that exciting to me but I'm not a fashionista by any stretch of the imagination. Enjoy yourselves.

Calamari

What is there to do with kids there? Any good places to stay?

mclaurie

Calamari, it depends on when (for kids). Right now, the Hampton Classic Horse show started yesterday & goes through next weekend. They have a petting zoo, pony rides etc. in addition to watching adults (& kids) compete in jumping, riding etc. Next weekend is the Shinnecock Indian Powwow-an annual Labor Day event. On any given weekend during the summer there are fairs, festivals, kite flying events etc. etc.

As for accomodation, there are Inns, B & Bs & motels. Just depends on what town you want.

mrt

We stayed in South Hampton. We took a nice drive to Montauck and walked around and climbed the lighthouse. On the way back we stopped and ate at Lobster Roll Lunch - a seafood place on the road out to Montauck. It was very good - extremely casual and moderately priced. Get a table outside if the weather permits.

Scarlett

Oh la, I miss lunches at Lunch/Lobster Roll on the highway! And ice cream for dessert at Gosmans or dinner at the Dock at Gosmans.
Shagwon Restaurant in Montauk, right in the middle of town is good, casual (the entire town is casual!) and breakfast bought fresh at the Amagansett Farmers Market and enjoyed on a bench while reading the local papers.
I think I am going in September, to get a bit of a Hamptons fix myself. I haven't seen the NY Ocean in a whole year

bonlou30

I insisted that on my last visit to New York I wanted to see "The Hamptons". I'm so glad that we went. Because we were going up for only the afternoon we were advised to head for Southampton as it was the closest. We drove up on Friday, beating the crowd by several hours and immediately were drawn to the beach area after driving by the front hedges of several large homes. After parking in probably an area we shouldn't have we had the most glorious walk on the beach enjoying the view of the water as well as a good look at the actual homes behind the trees. Unfortunately we were not dressed properly for a beach walk and were hot and sweaty as we headed back to the main part of town to go for lunch. Upon seeing a young girl with a lemonade stand in front of a large estate on our way back we just had to stop- out of sheer thirst and support for free enterprise. What followed was a conversation with her Mother that changed the course of our day. She kindly steered us to visiting Sag Harbour (after recommending a great lunch spot in Southampton). She said if we didn't go there we would never know what The Hamptons were like before the explosion of multi-million dollar homes. She was right. We went, we saw, we loved. A quaint town with a wonderful mixture of people enjoying the charm of a relatively unspoiled town. A harbour with beautiful boats. Hope you love the Hamptons as much as I did.

Scarlett

Sag Harbor is wonderful, we go to that old movie house and see Art house movies and then dinner in town.
If you really want to fall in love with a place, take the ferry to Shelter Island~sigh~