MONTAUK 2010

Last August Nathan and I discovered a small town on the northern most point of Long Island called Montauk.  Past the pretentiousness of the Hamptons, Montauk is the working man's beach town with a surf culture that reminded us of our sunny summers in Cali.  We spent a long weekend there last year however, so did Hurricane Bill, bringing stormy weather to the beach town.  I also happened to forget my suitcase that trip (who does that, right?), so out getaway was less than ideal.  This year we decided to try again and planned for our first family vacation con bambino. The hotel we stayed at last year was strategically located at Ditch Plains, the premier surf spot in Montauk.  Unfortunately it was sold out for the summer, so I searched Craig's List for a potential rental.  I came across one that looked promising and risking potential Craig's List fraud sent the owner our deposit check.  Sure enough, the owner was good to his word and when we arrived to the condo, the key was under the mat, clean sheets on the bed, enough towels to dry an army, and a decorative motif of lighthouses (East Coasters love their lighthouses!).   The condo was situated just over the dunes from the ocean with a nice wooden deck overlooking a sprawling green lawn and a heated pool.  From our deck we watched the neighbor kids play tag and in the evenings catch fireflies.  It was definitely a spot that families return to year after year reminding me of vacations to Balboa with the Fiore's as a kid.

We slid right back into the beach culture, enjoying the simple things that used to be part of our everyday life in Newport.  We barbecued each night - taking in the smell of the coals heating up and later the food cooking.  I took the opportunity each afternoon to go for a run on the beach, loving the feeling of the cool ocean breeze and watching the setting sun cast a silver sheet over the ocean.  I had forgotten about the extra workout you get only-on-the-sand and how you use those special muscles to launch from each sinking step, not to mention the necessary sprints around the white foam water of the rising tide.  We walked into town for ice cream cones from the fudge shop and ate chowder on the docks.  We also snuck in one really long session of extreme Smashball while Annie E. watched from the shade.  She sat totally alert in her chair, loving the clack of the ball hitting the rackets and seeing her parents run around like wild animals. In the evenings pulled on long sleeves (a first for the summer), sipped chardonnay on the deck and played highly competitive games of Scrabble.

Aside from all our activities, it was just nice to be together and hang with our girl.  She is getting so big and is noticing everything around her.  She loves to try to stand on her newly chunky legs while we support her under the arms and sitting "like a big girl" with her dad.  Her hands are now constantly flailing for her mouth and the drool along with bubble blowing has begun.  Her hair is filling in in the front and appears to be coming in blondish and slightly curly.  We are both curious to see how her hair will end up in the long run.  Her toothless smiles that are more frequent every day lead me to believe she is a happy baby and we are loving watching her discover the world.  Here are few pics from our Montauk adventure...