East Hampton: Part 3 - Main Beach

After we drooled over the outrageous mansions and creeped on creepy tombstones in the town of East Hampton on Memorial Day, we eventually ended up at the reason why most people escape to the Hamptons: the beach. It was really warm when we were walking through town, but it was at least ten degrees cooler once we reached the coast. I finally understood why so many New Yorkers flee the humid squalor of the city in the summer months for the breezy shores of the Hamptons, and I'm not even a beach person.

We were starving and I began to get worried that there wouldn't be any restaurants — especially because I promised Jim that there would be — but luckily the Chowder Bowl appeared and saved our friendship with burgers that were better than beach shack burgers should ever be. I also got a half lemonade / half cherry slush that was pretty much perfect, and fries that came in a cup that declared that it was "snack 'n time."

The Main Beach is a public beach, so there was no admission fee, and it was one of the prettiest, cleanest and most peaceful beaches I've ever been to. There were more ridiculously large, beautiful houses overlooking the ocean to gawk at, and the beach itself was suspiciously devoid of trash. Jim and I sat and watched the waves, trying to name all of the "rich people" trash that we might find instead of the band-aids, condoms and packets of ramen seasoning that you find on commoner beaches like Coney Island. Unfortunately, we came up short in the gold bar department, but we did find some slightly less lucrative treasures.

I found a handful of sea glass, some beautiful shells and — jackpot alert — three intact vertebrae (!). Surprisingly, it was my first time ever finding and keeping bones, although now that I think about it I don't know why it took me so long to begin a bone collection. I have no idea what animal the bones are originally from, and if anyone can tell me I'd very much appreciate your guesses. I think I may have stuck out a bit, dressed in all black as I photographed my vertebrae stash, but I couldn't have been happier.