Montauk. October 6th and 7th, 2020. Gurney's.
We took this trip back in October 2020. It was our first trip during Covid and came at a time when positivity rates were pretty low. We were still pretty nervous though so we took as many precautions as possible (including looking for a hotel where we could access our room without needing to go into a building) and didn’t do any indoor dining.
October 6th, 2020
We haven’t traveled anywhere since January (when Tzvi and I took our solo babymoon to Philly) and with positivity trending downward, it seemed like it was finally a good time to get away for a night.
Poor Madeleine. When Hallie was six months old, we took her to the Atlantis in the Bahamas for a week. Madeleine is almost six months old and the best she can get is one night in Montauk. Oh well, at least we can give her that.
We loaded the car and made it out around 10 am. When I say we loaded the car, I literally mean we loaded it with as much stuff as we possible could. We stuck Malka in the third row and filled every inch of trunk and floor space with bags.
We drove straight to Easthampton, which took a little under two hours. We parked and got lunch at a place called the Golden Pear Cafe, and then ate at a table outside the restaurant. Tzvi and I both had tuna sandwiches and Hallie had a bagel with cream cheese. The food was fine - we weren’t being too picky given the circumstances, though I’m not sure why this place is considered a Hamptons institution.
After lunch we walked around Easthampton a bit. I would say mask compliance was near 100%, which is about 85% better than the Five Towns. We stopped in at Jcrew, Dylans Candy Bar and a cute bookstore where Hallie got an Eloise book and Madeleine got a book with a finger puppet of a fox. Then we went to an ice cream shop called Scoop Du Jour where we all got ice cream.
From there we drove about a half hour to Montauk (which is basically the end of Long Island) and finally arrived at Gurney’s. We chose Gurney’s because it seemed like they were doing things well and it was all pretty Covid safe. We checked in and then went to our room, which was accessed from outside. Our room was a two-bedroom suite with a balcony overlooking the ocean. We took the master suite, Malka got the second bedroom, and Hallie and Madeleine shared the living room. The room was beautiful and the view was great.
We walked down to the beach and Hallie ran barefoot in the sand, but it was pretty cold and windy. After Hallie tired out we went back to the room and changed for dinner. We bathed Madeleine in the sink (because it was just easier). I think she was just happy to be away in a new place.
Dinner was a little complicated. Gurney’s has a branch of Scarpetta (with outdoor seating), and even though it’s an Italian restaurant, they don’t have pizza. However, the hotel bar does have pizza, but you can’t get that pizza at Scarpetta. So, since Hallie won’t really eat anything other than pizza, Tzvi took Hallie down to the bar early and got her a pizza, which she ate next to the outdoor fire pit.
Then we went to Scarpetta and ate dinner while Hallie watched Sesame Street on the iPad. It was pretty cold, but still nice to be out to dinner. We shared a few appetizers, including the Hot and Cold Brussels Sprouts, the Roasted Cauliflower and the Rosemary Lentils. For mains, we both got spaghetti, which is always the best thing at Scarpetta.
After dinner we went back to the room and put the girls to bed. We had planned on going back out for a drink, but by the time we were ready to go, Malka had fallen asleep and no matter how much we knocked she didn’t wake up. We felt weird just leaving the girls in the room without letting Malka know what was going on, so I decided to try to get drinks to bring back to the room. I went to the bar, and they first told me I would need to order food (since the New York state rule requires anyone getting a drink at a bar also order food), but then they said that since Tzvi had been there earlier and got Hallie the pizza, it was fine and she could give us a drink. But then it turned out that we had spent so long knocking on Malka’s door, the bartended was gone and it was too late to get a drink. Oh well. We ended up sitting out on the balcony watching the waves.
Nice night.
October 7th, 2020
We woke up early - or rather, the girls woke us up early - and we laid in bed for a while. Eventually we ordered room service breakfast, which came packaged like to go food in a paper bag, and everything in plastic containers with plastic cutlery. They didn’t set anyhtig up for us - just dropped the bag at the door (completely contactless). It was definitely a change from typical room service.
We set up breakfast on the terrace. It was really nice. Hallie had pancakes and Tzvi and I both had avocado toast. It was really good, but after a few bites Tzvi found something in his container that we determined was definitely a peanut. We called room service and they apologized for almost killing my husband and said they would take it off the bill. Tzvi was freaking out a little but he was fine (I don’t think he actually ate anything he shouldn’t have).
After breakfast Tzvi took Hallie down to the beach so she could run around some more. I packed up, and around 11am we said goodbye to the hotel, got in the car and started driving. For some reason the Waze took us on a scenic tour of all of the Hamptons. It definitely felt like it took longer going than coming.
We made a stop at a pumpkin patch that had a great play area for kids and Hallie had a great time running around and climbing on everything. The pumpkin picking was just eh, but how many pumpkins do you really need?
Before getting back on the highway we made a quick stop at a chain bagel store called Goldberg’s Bagels (which may as well have just been called “Jews Eat Bagels”) and got tuna bagels. Then we were back on the road. There was a bit of traffic, but Madeleine slept for a lot of it and Hallie watched Sesame Street on the iPad.
Good trip. It was nice to get away, even if just for a night.
