"Fabulous!"

I'm a big Ina Garten fan.  If you've watched her show for any length of time, you know she lurves her some Hamptons.  (Where she lives)  It's also a celebrity enclave for the likes of Spielberg, Martha Stewart, and many others.  So when seeing what was close to Martha's Vineyard, I thought it could be fun to see what all the fuss was about.

Our first full day was going to the end of Long Island to Montauk Lighthouse.

We are suckers for lighthouses and this one did not disappoint.  Matter of fact, when we were leaving, it's beauty brought me to tears.  It's just one of those classic lighthouses that are just what you picture when you think of the word.  We went up the spiral staircase to the top and got a nice peek out at the waves.  It was commissioned by George Washington and there were 300 feet of land around it when it was built but now there is only 100.  I can't even imagine the job of jacking that thing up to move it eventually.  The area around Montauk was certainly our favorite.  It's about a good 45-minute drive from the Hamptons.

On the way back, we would happen to be driving by Ina's house so let's give it a shot...

If I'd taken the bottom pic 1.3 seconds later, I would've gotten a shot of Ina and her friend unloading the trunks of their car from an undoubtedly fabulous day of shopping.  We slowed slightly, long enough to be busted by the friend who smiled and said she had some fans.  Then we felt like creepers and left.  She was dressed casually in a button up shirt, jeans and a vest and since hugging her unsolicited would land me in jail, I settled for the sneak peek and squealed like a sow.  I like to think they were coming back from Citarella with lobsters for their weekend seafood boil or maybe since it was Friday, she was fresh from the butcher with a split chicken to whip up for Jeffrey  (affiliate link) who would be home in a few hours.  How easy was that?

Fresh off our close encounter, we decided to head across the street to Home Sweet Home which is the windmill you may see her show on occasion.  (There are a few windmills across the Hamptons like this including Sag Harbor.)

Beautiful grounds but we didn't go in the museum though it looked lovely.  This was also the backdrop for the 80's movie Deathtrap  (affiliate link) with Christopher Reeves and Michael Caine.

Throughout the trip, we loved driving through fancy neighborhoods, including our own, and looking at the big elaborate homes...

These represent the homes of merely the moderately rich because as you soon learn the motto in the Hamptons is "the richer you are, the higher the hedges."  These homes would only be in the low millions to maybe $20 million.  The ones you can't see?  WAY more.  Like the Something's Gotta Give home sold last year for $42 million.  I'd show you the pic but if you've seen one shrub, you've seen 'em all!

We had a beach house and had fun just shelling and watching the waves.

Of course, we did our share of shopping in places like our own town of Westhampton Beach and Sag Harbor but also a nice stroll around Southampton where you can find everything from seahorse canisters to Fresh Prince socks.

My other favorite stop beside Montauk on Long Island was the Old Westbury Mansion and Gardens.

Cruel Intentions  (affiliate link) fans may recognize it and it's just as beautiful and grand as in the movie.  There are also some creepy ass mannequins in there that I couldn't get away from fast enough.  I'm pretty sure they come to life at night.

Now the gardens?  Well, that was my idea of heaven on Earth.

If you're a fan of guilty pleasure movie Too Wong Foo...Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar  (affiliate link) like I am, then you recognize the back of the home from the final scene in the film.  Wisteria was in bloom and dripping from every corner with its intoxicating scent.  I think I stood under one of the trees for about 10 minutes just smelling the air.  The garden is too vast and wide to cover here so I'll be doing a separate post on it in the future.  If you're in NYC, it's worth the 40-minute drive to this amazing place!

It was a relaxing time but some of the best times we had were just enjoying nature in all of her forms.

On our way back to Tarrytown, we stopped and paid our respects to some people buried in the area.

Billie Burke (Glinda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz), Joan Crawford (who is enjoying a nice resurgence in popularity after the Feud series on FX) and Ed Sullivan (truthfully because he was in the cove right behind Joan.)

Have you ever been to Long Island?

(This post contains affiliate links.  Should you choose to buy through them, I may receive a small commission to help with blog expenses.)

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