Montauk Trip Next Week

Yesterday morning, my father was working from home and decided to take a break. My mother and I offered to take him to Madison Square Park where he could spend an hour watching me run around the playground. He accepted immediately.

On our way crossing 5th Avenue, we noticed there was a white van blocking traffic with light grey smoke. As we looked closer, my father noticed there was a small fire below the van, so he hurried us away from the scene going further into the park. Then we heard it.

BOOM! The smoke turned much darker and the fire had now spread to engulf the entire van. The fire engines could be heard in the distance, getting louder and louder each second.

So as we head into August, we took the exploding van as a sign that we've been stuck in NYC too long. It's time to head out of the city and enjoy the summer weather and free time.

Montauk
Next week, we're going to take Wed-Fri and head "out East" (the snobbish way to say the Hamptons). We're not going to the Hamptons, actually, but rather spend a few days enjoying Montauk, a former fishing town-turned yuppie scene at the far tip of Long Island. Given it's during the workweek, we're hoping it will be less crowded and that I can enjoy a few buttery lobster rolls without the judging eyes of over-coddled gluten-free Manhattan babies.


There's a few options to get out there, but we're going to drive. My grandmother is willing to trade her car for the few days in exchange for staying at our NYC apartment, so she'll drive here Wednesday morning and we'll trade our set of keys for hers. I know Manhattan people love their long summer weekends, but hopefully traffic won't be too bad in the middle of the week.

While we're spending the day in Montauk, my father couldn't pass up the opportunity to save money and use his Hyatt Gold Passport points to stay at a "nearby" Hyatt Place Riverhead (right where the fork splits, about an hour drive from MTK).

For only 8,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points per night, we had a free & comfortable place to sleep (instead of paying $245/night with taxes). That's over 3.0 cents/pt of value, saving us $490 for our 2 night stay!

Sure, it's not the most luxurious/cool place to stay, but Hyatt Places are clean and functional (strong wifi, free breakfasts). Besides my father wasn't a fan of doing those 20-person Hampton House shares anymore. He was way past the age where he'd be interested in sleeping on the floor, sharing a room with 3 drunk people. Plus, I'm not sure those house shares are really that lapchild friendly.

This trip will be the first time I've visited Montauk, so if anyone has any suggestions on what an overly energetic 20 month old can do (or local places my parents should eat), please comment!

Now...the bigger question. Which shoes do I bring?