Need Sand to Fill Your Summer Bucket List? Here it Is
There are 31 days until Labor Day, which means that summer’s light is fleeting. But if you’re a glass-half-full kind of person, that a solid month of Hamptonsy Hamptons adventures to be had. What will you accomplish each day before Tumbleweed Tuesday hits? Be sure to check these items off your bucket list before summer fades away…
1. Grab an ice cream cone. But not just any cone. The quintessential Sag Harbor ice cream experience is Big Olaf’s. It’s been down on the wharf for decades—it’s the fabled ice creamery where novelist Colson Whitehead’s protagonist in Sag Harbor spends a summer burning his fingers while making waffle cones. To this day there’s a little Plexiglass station set up in the front where you can delight in watching teenagers singe their fingertips for the sake of waffle conery. Get a small peanut butter waffle cone dipped in Reese’s pieces and go with it to a nearby bench to watch the sunset as you lick your way to a blissful sugar high.
2. Try skishing off Georgica. This new extreme sport puts fishermen in the water with their prey, wearing fins and carrying a rod and reel.
3. Visit the LongHouse Reserve.
4. Go for a bike ride around Shelter Island. Enjoy the beauty of a place with no stoplights.
5. Bike to Montauk, exploring the back roads for a Southampton-to-Montauk ride.
6. Go to East Hampton Point for reggae night.
7. Go to La Plage Sundays at Navy Beach for Winston Irie in Montauk.
8. Try a yoga class at PURE yoga in East Hampton.
9. Cruise to tunes from the DansPapers.com 100 Songs of Summer playlist.
10. Head to the Pollock-Krasner House in Springs with your kids for a drip-painting class—and don’t miss the chance to stand on the actual paint-covered studio floor where Jackson Pollock dripped his way into history.
11. Go to Bay Burger in Sag Harbor for a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, fries and tots.
12. Skydive in Calverton—and fork out the extra dough for a video to relive the moment.
13. Don’t miss the crazy fun of the Hampton Classic. It’s the best for celebrity spotting, and you’ll see the most beautiful and talented horses this country has to offer.
14. Go boating in Sag Harbor to see a whole different view of the Hamptons!
15. Watch the sunrise from a lifeguard stand
16. Shark dive! Get into a cage with a local charter and drop into a chum slick amid the denizens of the deep.
17. Attend Dan’s Papers Kite Fly August 4.
18. See A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Bay Street, August 6–September 1.
19. Get inducted into the Guinness 100 Club with 100 pints at Buckley’s in Hampton Bays…maybe not all in one day, of course. Over a long weekend, perhaps?
20. Hit up one of the farmers markets and create a meal that is truly local. Also: Learn to grill, if you haven’t already!
21. Spend an entire day outside. Sunrise, run to the beach, nap in the sand, attend an outdoor concert…wear sunscreen, bear with the bugs…this won’t be possible in a few weeks.
22. Try your hand at stand up paddle surfing. (Maybe watch a YouTube video before attempting this.)
23. East as many lobster rolls as you can get your hands on. Bonus points if the meat comes straight from Montauk.
24. Slow to 35 mph heading East as Sunrise Highway becomes CR-39. Go ahead. Try it. You’ll be the first one.
25. Run through a pack of seagulls.
26. Go to bed earlier so you can wake up and seize the day.
27. Turn the AC off for a night. Pick a coolish one, open the windows, and fall asleep to the symphony of crickets.
28. Ride Hamptons Free Ride to the beach. Even if you have a sticker. Doesn’t it seem fun to cruise around in those little electric vehicles?
29. Stop at Goldberg’s for bagels and Hampton Coffee for an iced latte on your way out here, and enjoy your East End bounty at the beach.
30. Start a pickup game of Ultimate Frisbee or touch football on the beach. Diving for the ball or Frisbee is encouraged.
31. Hit up your favorite winery for their live music series, grab yourself a glass of red, white or rosé and toast the magic of another fabulous East End summer.
What’s on your personal East End bucket list for the rest of Summer 2013? Let us know in the comments below!