A House In The Hamptons Is Like Having A Lake House

If you tell someone that you are going your mother’s house in Westhampton, you usually get asked if you are going to “The Hamptons”.  As in where the rich and famous spend their summers. It is true that there is a lot of stupid money, and stupid people, in the Hamptons during the summer. However, there are lots of normal, very nice people there as well. And yes, you might have seen Shaquille O.Neil eating an ice cream cone in Bridgehampton last week.

I try to explain to my friends in Memphis that having a house in the Hamptons is a lot like having a lake house in Iuka Mississippi. The more you try to explain this, the worse it gets. Then I try to explain that my mom lives in Westhampton which is the “Poor man’s Hampton”.

The story that I think categorizes this fact the best is told by Ina Gartner the Barefoot Contessa. Ina opened her first Barefoot Contessa shop in Westhampton. After a few years she decided to move to Easthampton. Early on in Easthampton she noticed a customer hemming and hawing over her Lobster Salad. Her initial reaction was that her (then) price of $40 per pound was too high. She asked the man if she could help him and he said: I am just not sure if I need 5 or 8 pounds. She knew then that she was in the right Hampton. There is lots of stupid money in Easthampton.

So maybe you can’t buy $40/lb. lobster salad in Iuka Mississippi. My buddy has a  lake house in Iuka and he loves the practice where when you come to a four way stop in the road, drivers exchange finger waves by raising their index finger off the steering wheel. In New York a finger wave usually involves the middle finger, but that is different story.

Another, itty bitty difference between Iuka and Westhampton is the weather. As I write this, it is a bright sunny July day and the temperature is 75 degrees with a cool breeze off the bay in Westhampton. It takes pretty good air-conditioning to get to 75 degrees at mid-day in July in Iuka. OK, so maybe there is a difference.

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

Dinner under the arbor in Westhampton

Brian and Lauren enjoying a cool breeze on Moriches Bay.