Day 1:
An eight hour car ride and three coffee breaks lead us to the Manhattan bridge, the path into the concrete jungle. Being my first time in New York City, everything out my window had me captivated, pulling out my iPhone, snapping on my Puzlook case, ready to capture every moment that was soon to take place.
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Day 2 & 3
Ready to dive in to the experiences of a Manhattanite wannabe, trying to look as cool as possible in Nike runners, we left our Pod hotel and started the day. Looking down the stretch of 5th ave past the swarms of people from all across the world to window displays at Bergdorfs, and the height of the surrounding buildings it is hard not to get swept up in the buzz of the city.
The changing scenary from Midtown to West Village brought on another atmosphere of the young and the trying. Dinner and drinks in the Meatpacking District, shopping in Soho, and a walk across the Brooklyn bridge you feel emersed in what draws people in and not want to leave.
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Day 4:
Being a New Yorker is busy, being a New York tourist- it’s exhausting. The hustle of the city (shopping, eating, and walking) there is only one antidote for pure diversion and that is the beach.
We left the city east bound in the middle of the day on Sunday. We had no idea traffic would be so heavy at such a time but when dealing with a city of 20 million people anything is possible. After roughly 3 hours of driving we arrived at our 1960s era beach motel, which was perfect for us. Nothing extravagant but not too shabby either. After quickly unpacking our bags we were eager to explore the beach, town and the famous surf lodge. We knew that Sunday nights were busy at the surf lodge but didn’t realize it was actually the busiest night of the entire week. A live preformance by Donovan Frankenreiter and NYC’s whos who packed the lodge to capacity and unfortunately kept us out that night. We learned a lesson about the Lodge’s immense popularity.
Montauk has always the allure of NYC’s rich and famous (Stanely Kubrick) but seen as being a little too far and a little too blue collar to attract the young and beautiful east of the Hamptons. This all began to change roughly 30 years ago when surfers realized Montauk had the best surf conditions on Long Island. This lead to the Surf Lodge which played a major role in the transformation of the area. All of a sudden Montauk became cool, affordable and of course accessible by train. It was the perfect storm for an explosion of popularity.
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Gurneys Hotel and Resort: After a walk down the beach, a margarita refuel was much needed. The beach front of Gurneys was truly “new Montauk luxury,” with white and yellow umbrella cabana beds lining the restaurant deck. It had the cool young money feel, with exquisite grouper sandwiches.
Ruschmeyer: Just down the road from the Montauk train station, the Ruschmeyer is a small cabin style motel. Walking through to the outside dining area known as the “Magic Garden,” the name truly does it justice. Communal style picnic tables with large white umbrellas and floating latterns throughout the tree’s. The dissappointment of not making it into a Surf Lodge Sunday funday was quickly revamped with the Sunday Seafood Boil for Two; one whole lobster, little neck clams, mussels, red potatoes, andouille sausage, and a bucket of Montauk Summer Ale’s- which was soon to be the liquid diet for the week.
Duryea’s Lobster Deck: Quite literally a deck, and the greatest lobster roll I will ever consume.
South Edison: The last evening in Montauk after a day of the beach at Ditch Plains and to the tip of the lighthouse, we capped off with dinner at South Edison, a cozy restaurant with a classic east coast beach house feel. Having to make the most of the last East coast dinner, warming up with a few glasses of Sancerre, we went course after course of menu items; Atlantic mussels, lobster buns, street corn, sashimi. It was a truly delicious date spot.
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Montauk is truly a gem that New Yorkers are lucky to have, and as an Ottawa local, this has been an unforgettable week. I will have the experiences and hundreds of photo’s to remember it by until next time.
-Brianne Donaldson
