Browse: September 2007

For once, many people were actually happy to see so many cars traversing the back roads of the Hamptons during the weekend. Why? Because it was the annual Bridgehampton Road Rally, and the weather could not have been more perfect. Join Alison Chace from start to pit stop to finish.

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Years ago—back in the days before traffic jams—the Hamptons were a car racing hot bed. In 1915 local firemen held the first road races as part of their annual summer carnival. Forty years later, European racers arrived and challenged themselves on the streets around Bridgehampton, often reaching speeds of 100 mph. Then, in the mid-50's, The Bridge race track opened North of the Highway in Bridgehampton and it featured some of the world's best racers including Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney and Richard Petty. Those days are long gone, but every fall the Bridgehampton Historical Society celebrates our racing past with the Bridgehampton Road Rally.

You won't see any cars hit 100 mph during this weekend's road rally, which is open to any car from the Summer of Love ('69) or older, but speed is not the challenge, accuracy is. Each of the cars will have a driver and navigator, and racers must get from one check point to the next in a specific amount of time. Getting lost, breaking down and driving too fast are all the challenges to overcome...that, and avoiding traffic.

The Rally begins at the Bridgehampton Historical Society and thay have more information on the Bridgehampton Road Rally web site. To see more event coverage like this, check out the Porsche Performance Series for additional video and interviews.

Dining in the Hamptons amidst the crowds of summer can be a taxing proposition. That's assuming you can even get a table. But after the crowds have receded (we're resisting the urge to say "like the outgoing tide"), the restaurants take a deep breath and roll out the off-season specials. Good restaurants, great deals: it's almost enough to take your mind off the spectre of having to rake your lawn in the weeks ahead.

Almond

Welcome to our first Earth Bytes. Every Tuesday we'll offer up one easy way to be a little more eco-friendly. Today's hot tip? Composting.

Forget paper or plastic, the right answer is neither. Reusable totes are the best thing to happen to grocery stores since sliced bread. Here's the Earth Bytes lowdown:

• It takes 1,000 years for a single plastic grocery bag to decompose.
• We use 100 billion plastic grocery bags every year.
• Replacing plastic bags with canvas or nylon totes saves about 12 million barrels of oil a year.

It's now official: Grey Gardens has metastasized and is about to be presented in every form of media currently known to man.

In 1976, brothers Albert and David Maysles made a documentary about Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter—who was also named Edith. The pair lived in a rundown house on Georgica Pond called Grey Gardens with fifty odd cats, racoons and in general squalor and the film caused quite a sensation when it was released because the Edies (as they were known) were related to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. That's where it all began.

Thirty years later, the documentary was adapted into a Broadway musical starring Christine Ebersole (called Grey Gardens, natch) and it went on to win the Tony Award.

Enter Albert Maysles for round two. He came back to make another documentary (this one is titled: Grey Gardens: From East Hampton to Broadway) and it will premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival. You might be able garner from the title that the documentary is about the process of translating Grey Gardens from a documentary into a musical.

Naturally, the next logical step here was to make a movie of Grey Gardens, which is exactly what HBO intends to do. The film will star Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange and the word is that it will be based on the documentary rather than the musical. So probably very little singing from Drew.

No word on when Grey Gardens the video game is hitting shelves.

Somewhere in the Hamptons (and we're not saying where because even the owner of the establishment won't say where) is a spot called The Dock. It's slightly off-kilter, which is exactly the way it should be, considering where this spot is and the folks who frequent it (let's just say you shouldn't be surprised if you see a motorcycle-riding dog and his viking helmet-clad owner belly up at the bar).

That said, it's exactly the kind of place that you could expect to find local-rocker and East End Legend host Nancy Atlas. She learns the rules (and they're strict rules) and gets the inside scoop on one of Hamptons funkier spots.

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OK, fine, so we didn't take the top spot in the nation like we did two years ago when Sagaponack earned the honor of being the country's most expensive zip code. But we didn't do too badly either.

Each year, when Forbes.com ranks the Most Expensive Zip Codes in the U.S., we're always hoping to see 119__ at the top of the list. But this year we had to settle for 2 spots in the top ten: Amaganset (11930) took 5th place with Water Mill (11932) right behind in 6th place. Bridgehampton held 14th place, Quogue 46th and Wainscott also made the top 100 coming in at 63. All in all, not a bad showing.

And, as a nice side note, our brothers in arms in a few of the other Plum markets did well too. Miami Beach tied for number one in the nation with Alpine, New Jersey and Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard also scored top 100 finishes. Fear not, we'll be back on top next year.

If the Hamptons belong to the Empire State, why does it seem that the farther east you head the more Boston Red Sox caps you see? Fortunately, people out here on the East End tend to be more relaxed and laid back than a surly fan at Yankees Stadium or Fenway Park, so we're not encouraging any competitive brawls by asking the question. Still, considering the fact that while out here you can spot someone sporting a hat of either team may require some explanations.

For starters, we know that Hall of Famer Carl "Sideburns" Yastrzemski grew up in Bridgehampton.

We also know that while our airwaves pick up ESPN 1050 AM's Yankees coverage or Michael Kay's play-by-play for the Bronx Bombers on CBS Radio 880 AM, Providence's WCTK 98.1 FM and FNX 103.7 FM broadcast Sox games and updates into our range of frequency as well.

At the peak of summer, anyone can tell you that there are a multitude of Irish in Montauk, and if you are ever around for The End's St. Patty's Day Parade, you'd see the numbers are still large. Combine that with your knowledge of the Irish in Boston (the Celtics, Scorsese's The Departed, etc), a connection begins to reveal itself.

By online map driving directions, it's over 160 miles from Fenway Park to Montauk (including the ferry trip over from Connecticut and through Shelter Island). Meanwhile, Yankees Stadium is just over 115 miles from Montauk. However, by the crow's fly both stadiums are just under 100 miles from Montauk, so there is an odd similiarity in geography.

So the question remains, literally and figuratively speaking, which team is closer to the heart of the Hamptons?

Sag Harbor has always been its own entity in the Hamptons. It's the only village in which part of the geography is in East Hampton Town (about 2/5) and the other half in Southampton Town (the other 3/5), and yet it's only two square miles in size.

Originally known as Sagaponack Harbor or the Harbor of Sagg, its settlement began in 1707 before witnessing its first Bill of Lading in 1730. Since then the village has experienced layer-upon-layer of history from its thriving whaling industry to being the first village east of Brooklyn to have gaslights (back in 1859) as well as home to the first Fire Department in New York established by Chapter 58 of the Laws of New York in 1803.

Amidst a long list of commemorating events this year, the village is celebrating this weekend with its annual Harborfest.

Be it alone, with the fam, with a significant other, or a group of buddies, a Sag Harbor experience is one you should not miss, especially considering its history.

Have a favorite Sag Harbor moment? Please share with us.

Post Labor Day blues? Buck up little camper. September is where it's at:

Number of Parking Stickers Needed for the Beach:

The number of stories to tell in the Hamptons over the course of just one summer mirrors that of the number of people who bathed at Main Beach during the same period of time, or even the grains of sand beneath them. The point remains that recapping all things big and small from Memorial Day to Labor Day would take a lot of words– too many for the Internet even. Thank God for hyperlinks.

Think you saw plenty of chic and luxurious cars over the past few months? Bet you it's nothing compared to the sights of the annual Hamptons Concours d'Elegance. Classic Porsches and more were on the road, on the grass, and on display as Carson Kressley and others braved the rains one day and celebrated in the sun the next.

Fireworks were seen everywhere in late June for the Southampton Fresh Air Home (just a month after their annual D-D-D gala). As for early July, there were plenty in Sag Harbor, Amagansett and Shelter Island. It would have been some nice to see some that the previously mentioned beach, but some plovers had to push it off until Labor Day weekend.

And speaking of beaches (because it never gets old to talk about beaches), the Surfrider Foundation celebrated International Surfing Day in clever and touching fashion at Sagg Main Beach. We found our own special junction at The Cut, drum circles at Crescent Beach, and saw sand in art form in East Hampton.

Oh yeah, art. There's a lot of that out here too, even without the sand. Just ask the Artist Alliance of East Hampton or developers of the internationally renowned Scope Art Fair.

When we weren't out checking out these scenes, we were giving you our personals tips, from what hats to wear at the Hampton Classic, what to wear at polo while you manage to follow the game, what someone's license plate says about them, how to be ready for summer traffic, how to behave at the bar. We even, at the risk of losing eating and drinking space, shared some of our favorite drinks, treasured sandwiches and bites, as well as were to get a good deal or freeload.

We were also quite fortunate to get close up tales of true Hamptonites: from the editor who shaved his head to the talented students and creative inventors.

Summer's over, but there are plenty more stories to tell. Don't be too shy to share some with us yourself.

Sophie dominated August Dog's of the Month competition thanks to her classic canine flair and some smart marketing by her owner Ryan.

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Question: What's wrong with September?

In no particular order, here comes the video...

All anyone could talk about at the beginning of the summer was the Social Concert Series and the tickets that cost $15,000 for five concerts. Bryan Boyhan went to the first concert—Prince, no less—and...he actually had a good time.

Chris got totally tongue tied by supermodel Selita Ebanks while Olivia got giggly with model/polo player Nacho Figureas.

We likes to party—and so does Russell Simmons. The man must have thrown, hosted or been at 217 parties this summer. Checkout his annual Art for Life benefit where Olivia chatted up Forrest Whitaker. Olivia also talked to Russell about his new book. Basically, Olivia and Russell hung out all summer.

While all about you are losing their heads, try a little fishing. There's something calming about waiting for the bite.

Just a couple miles away is this little island called Block Island. They used to send criminals there. So we sent Plum's John Birdsong. To be nice, we gave him a video camera. Which he used to shoot a lot of video of sailboats during Block Island Race Week. It was good stuff so we let him come back to the Hamptons.

You know what's cool? Opening a bottle of champagne with a giant knife.

Chris got all the good assignments. Especially when he got to hang out with the Beatles in India. (Full disclosure: that's a total lie. He didn't get to hang out with the Beatles in India. But he did interview a guy who hung out with the Beatles in India.)

Who knew socialites could surf? We had no idea and even after we were told they can surf we didn't believe it. Then we watched this video. And we learned that Fabiola Beracasa can wakeboard too. Will wonders never cease?

It wasn't all fun and games. Every once in awhile we tackled a few weighty matters. Like when former Editor in Chief of Time Inc., Norman Pearlstine came on to talk about the current state of journalism. Serious stuff. And just for the record, Carl Bernstein is no lightweight either.

Those crazy kids, what will they think of next? Not content to lay on a surfboard and paddle with their hands, now they want to stand on a surfboard and use a canoe paddle. Next thing you know, they'll be riding surfboards attached to kites.

Against all odds, Drew found poetry in pastry. The Gentle Donut, his tribute to the artery clogging magic of the fresh donut brought tears to our eyes and the comfort of assured future business to cardiac specialists everywhere.

Who will win? Artists? Writers? Neither? Both? Like a night at the opera, this year's Artists Writers Game was too much drama. But it was all for a good cause so try and suffer through Mort Zuckerman's pitching and Christie Brinkley's batting and place your bets.

Judith Miller did not start the War in Iraq.

Plum went to the dogs this summer—literally. Dog of the Month was the contest to win and we had two very deserving winners complemented by two hilarious "Dogumentaries." We're still trying to figure out if Amber is a dog or a diva and we know that Sophie proves the maxim that a dog is a man's best friend.

Say it with me girls, Super Saturday 10! Shop til you drop. Olivia talked to everyone from the Giulianis to Beth Ostrosky. Then she bought presents for all of her coworkers at Plum...or she should have.

Formula for TV magic: 1 Intern + 1 Camera + 1 Microphone + Hundreds of Odd Questions= Man on the Street. That's all it takes. And we were able to answer tough questions like, If you were a firework, what kind would you be? And, What is Fashion? Or, Do you wish you knew magic like Harry Potter?

Just give Michael Moore a mic and he'll give you an interview.

Sometimes in the Hamptons there are too many houses. If you're rich enough, you just give the extra houses on your property away. That's what happened here.

Interns: sometimes they talk to horses.