What I did on my summer vacation
Sittin’ here watching the Home Run Derby, which puts me just enough back into a vacation state of mind, thinking about my time away with my wife last week. There’s something magical about her family’s second house in East Hampton, NY. It’s not the la dee da Hamptons—instead it’s a small house whose basement once flooded within two feet of the ground floor, in the kind of neighborhood where all the year-rounders have a little bit of yard and aren’t embarrassed to change their own oil in their own driveways.
It’s my wife’s favorite place in the world. And I love it more every time I go. I love that her folks get out there before we do and set up cheezy 4th of July decorations. I love taking the Cross Sound Ferry between Connecticut and the North Fork…
…and then driving onto two little barges to get the South Fork. I love getting there and immediately grilling something. I love the beach (though not so much the cold water)…
…And I love waking up and having no clue what I’ll do that day, and then doing something and having a great time.
Oh, AND I LOVE TO EAT. On the 4th of July, my mother-in-law, father-in-law, my wife’s cousin and his girlfriend and his mom and dad, they all came over and BBQ’d. And I ate the following:
- 3 ribs
- 1 cheeseburger
- 1 hot dog
- 3 ears, corn on the cob
- 1 tomato, sliced
- Bread, various
- 1 slice, blueberry pie with ice cream
It was gooood.
We also had the pleasure, towards the end of the week, of having our friends Katie and Joe join us, along with their six-month-old son Nico.
I took lots of pictures and videos, and now I can say that the “sounds of vacation” officially include—all in 8 seconds—the voice of my father-in-law, Gatsby shaking her collar, my wife’s laughter, and the distinct sound of my wife grunting as Gatsby jumps into her:
I also captured what I call “vacation par excellence”: Gatsby passed out in the sun and my father-in-law passed out in a hammock:
And lastly, there’s my pup’s pawprints from her first ever trip to the beach. It’s worth clicking on it and viewing the large size—the beach is there. Here’s to summer vacationers everywhere. See you out East next year.
