WATERSIDE WEDNESDAY: The Hamptons

I just got back from the beach late last night. Sharing photos from The Hamptons seemed like a perfect Waterside Wednesday post.

It was a great trip. I hawked my book, relaxed with friends, and ate scrumptious beach food.

We stayed in Amagansett (one of the towns on the south fork of Long Island, New York that is collectively called The Hamptons) at a former sea captain's house owned by my husband's best friend (since age three) and his wonderful wife Ashley.

Their home features gorgeous original details such as this carved newel post.

The house is located two blocks from the beach and a few blocks from the town's main street. Since I live where you need a car to go anywhere, it was a treat to be able to walk anywhere I wanted to go.

Most of the houses in Amagansett are covered in weathered wood shingles. It's hard to tell the historic cottages from newly built homes, because many humble dwellings have been added on to and remodeled through the years.
Many of the really huge oceanfront mansions, owned by the rich and famous, are hidden behind gates or tall hedges.
Originally a farming community, all but a few of the remaining barns are now guest houses.
Thanks to Hurricane Bill, the beaches were off limits to swimmers.
But our visit was far from a washout.
Ashley and I went shoe shopping! We each bought several deeply discounted pairs. These Progetti pumps came home with ME.
But women cannot live by shoes alone, so we also stopped to shop the end-of-season sales at Roberta Freymann (for cotton print beach kurtas), Purl By The Sea, a terrific yarn shop that is unfortunately closing in a few weeks, and Haven, Montauk's cool coastal home decor emporium.

Here's a peek at the beach glass candle cups I found there.

I'll be featuring more photos of the shop and owner Kathi Cogen's bright and breezy decorating tips on my Waterside Styles website next week.

On Saturday night we had dinner at The Laundry in East Hampton. Despite it being a hang out for the rich and famous, the only stars we sighted as I munched on their fabulous panko crusted crab cakes were the ones in the sky. They were highly visible from our table on the back porch.

On Sunday we had lunch at the Hampton Chutney Company. They specialize in dosas. These are large rolled crepes stuffed with the filling of your choice. But the real scoop was who sat about 20 inches from me at an adjacent picnic table...Paul McCartney.

Our friends said they run into him all the time. I was at the right end of our table and he was at the left one of his.

He looks fabulous, even close up. I need to know who his colorist is. It's the first thing you notice… his fab hair, then his boyish grin. No photo, alas. It would have been rude.

In the Hamptons, Paul is just one of the guys. He was lunching with his girlfriend Nancy and her teenage son. They planned to go on a post-lunch boat trip but Nancy thought the waves were too rough. Although the harbor looked fairly calm, if Paul had asked my opinion, I would have agreed with Nancy.

*** It's not too late to join Waterside Wednesday and win a little Italian fishie. I will draw one lucky linker on Thursday. Good luck. ***