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Beach House Spectacular: Maine-ly Lobster

August 4, 2006 at 9:31 AM | 0 Comments



Lobster Roll round-up! Before we go any further, we'd like to state for the record that we like our lobster roll cold and with mayo. Want to have it with warm butter? That's for when you do the work yourself and eat the lobster with your hands. Feel free to comment to the contrary, but it will be very difficult to disabuse us of this notion.

Nonetheless, the New York Times Escapes section has seen it fit to go up the coast of Maine in search of lobster roll goodness. In addition to the never-ending debate over how it should be served, they manage to find some interesting spots.

One of note was Red's Eats, in Wiscasset. Open since 1938, they serve the roll with mayo and warm butter on the side, allowing diners to pick their poison. It sounds tasty, even if they are sidestepping the issue. Another tasty locale is Shaw's, in New Harbor, near Darmiscotta. It's far larger than the average clam shack, with a huge (buggy) outdoor deck, but it's still one of the prettiest places to sample a lobster roll in Maine. And they serve it with mayo--the right way.

[Image via Sophie's Mind/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   On a Roll, for Lobster [NYT]
·   Maine Beach Houses [Jaunted]

Beach House Spectacular: One Ocean View

August 1, 2006 at 12:51 PM | 0 Comments



Click here to go straight to the Long Island Beach Houses Map

File this one in the Things We Do For You category: Here's a recap of last night's One Ocean View. OOV is a short reality TV series by the same production team that does the Real World. In it, a bunch of heavily waxed singles spend the summer in Fire Island (mostly weekends, as some are working New Yorkers) and do all the things one would expect from reality TV housemates. The show is kind enough to give one line descriptions for the cast members, and we'll do the same:

Miki and Rhada: Twins that own an organic pizza shop in New York City. Tastefully crunchy.

Mary--A handbag designer that lives in both New York and L.A. She's got L.A. attitude and New York looks. Uh oh.

Lisa--The "shy" one, who is also a "dancer". A shy dancer, we assume.

KJ--Originally from North Jersey, he owns a gym. Guido.

John--Described as the romantic one, he's a broker of some kind. Sensitive Guido.

Usman--Ethnic and horny, much like if Fez from That 70's Show was a wealthy lawyer. Metro Guido.

Zach and Lauren--Formerly a couple, Lauren is keeping Zach on the hook (she was his only girlfriend) while she sluts around with other men. He's a delusional Guido, she's mostly evil.

more ›

Beach House Spectacular: Links

July 21, 2006 at 3:50 PM | 0 Comments

From Maine:
Best Maine Chow [Worchester Telegram]
Best Blueberries in Years [Boston.com]
Maine Snorkel Challenge [Maine Today]

From New Jersey:
Best Jersey Shore Chow [nj.com]
Best Boardwalk on the Shore [NYT]
Hot and Cold at the Shore [APP]

From Long Island:
Where to Park Your Yacht [NYDN]
Harry Potter in the Hamptons [Times of London]
B&B on the Sea [News 10]

Beach House Spectacular: Mainline Maine

July 21, 2006 at 10:09 AM | 0 Comments



Rosecrans Baldwin over at the Morning News has an excellent essay today on how to tell if you're on vacation in Maine. Thanks to the ever-expanding technological envelope (and the increasing availability of good wine) it can be hard to know when you're finally in Vacationland proper. There are, however, ways to tell. Here's one:

Crystal Meth is easier to obtain in rural Maine than it is back home. So are crystals, and posters of wolves kissing dolphins in outer space.
Forget anything with a lobster on it; the next time we hit Bar Harbor, we want wolves kissing dolphins. Can we get that airbrushed on the side of a van?

[Image via FJCsar/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   The Maine Attraction [TMN]

Beach House Spectacular: Fire Island Nickel and Dime

July 14, 2006 at 9:40 AM | 0 Comments



Click here to go straight to the Long Island Beach Houses Map

How many happy couples dream of the day when they can have their wedding on a beach? Sure, it can be a logistical nightmare, but think of the memories! And, of course, those gorgeous photos of the smiling newlyweds.

But wait--if you have your wedding photos taken on a beach in the Fire Island National Seashore on Long Island, you'll have to pay another $100 to $300 to the Parks Department for the privilege. For their part, they claim it is to control the flow of large groups moving through, and the funds do go to maintaining the seashore. Still, local photogs have a point:

"We're not crawling all over the dunes," said Bob Ruymen, co-owner of Visual Concepts in Islip. "I'm probably more careful than park visitors who throw their junk around."
Jeez, Bob, get in the wedding spirit--a bouquet isn't junk.

[Image via SpunkyMonkey/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Fire Island for a Fee [Newsday]
·   Long Island Beach Houses [Jaunted]

Beach House Spectacular: Links

July 7, 2006 at 2:17 PM | 0 Comments

From Maine:
· A man talks about his walk to a Maine beach [Magic City Morning Star]
· Too many tourists can ruin the fun [Morning Sentinel]
· Maine beaches that allow your best friend [Dog Friendly Beach Guide]

From Long Island:
· Party pics from the Hamptons [Hamptons Magazine]
· Wilmer Valderrama Hits Up Stereo, Place Officially "Over" [TMZ]
· People finally realize that its ridiculous to pay $1,000 for a summer share where you sleep on the floor [NY Times]

From the Jersey Shore:
· More bad smells hit the Jersey Shore and its not just Drakkar Noir [NBC10]
· Europeans are visiting Cape May [Press of Atlantic City]
· Park Model RVs sure to make Jersey Shore classier [Courier Post Online]

Beach House Spectacular: Jersey's Dirty Waters

June 28, 2006 at 5:47 PM | 0 Comments

Click here for Chasing Jersey Shore Beach Houses map.

When the rain comes down like it has been on the East Coast, the ocean is likely to get a dump of sewage and other stormwater run-off. But it wouldn't be a Jersey Shore Summer if the beaches weren't closed because of excess fecal matter or elevated bacteria levels. (To be fair, this happens quite a lot in California too.)

You can check which beaches are closed at NJ Beaches. Today's report says:

Brown and York Avenue beaches in Spring Lake and The Terrace beach in Sea Girt are closed today as a precaution due to recent rainfall and the resulting stormwater discharge from Wreck Pond. All other lifeguarded ocean beaches are open.

If you want to learn more about what's in the water ("Know before you go") then Earth 911 is the official beach and water monitoring service for the Jersey Shore. There's even a nifty Google Mash-Up (pictured) for each monitoring station so you should always be informed.

Beach House Spectacular: Links

June 23, 2006 at 1:25 PM | 0 Comments

From Maine:
Lose Moose Terrorizs Portland [FN]
Sand Sculpture Competition This Weekend [HULN]
Teen Lobsterman? [WCSH]

From the Jersey Shore:
Shrore Gets Utz Potato Chip Mansion [1010]
Jersey Shore is in Pennsylvania? [APP]
Tiffany's Means Martinis, right? [APP]

From Long Island:
Lack of Reality on Fire Island [NYM]
Best Summer Cocktails [NYT]
Real Estate Intrigue, Hamptons-Style [Star]

Beach House Spectacular: Forks on the Forks

June 23, 2006 at 8:27 AM | 0 Comments



Click here to go straight to the Long Island Beach Houses Map

More Hamptons dish! Or, rather, dishes--Newsday has served up a tasty overview of food options, both new and old, on Long Island. Mainstay Della Femina in East Hampton gets called "old-fashioned food with presence"; of course, even Alan Richman liked it Della Femina, grumbling that his only concern was how hard it is to get a choice table there on a Saturday night.

Sag Harbor, meanwhile, is welcoming a little spice into their restaurant lives with Mumbo Gumbo, a Cajun barbeque joint. In addition to fried chicken and po'boys, they'll also serve 10 different types of gumbo. It's certainly a far cry from cucumber sandwiches.

Our favorite description, though, is of perennial hotspot Nick & Toni's, also in East Hampton. Their food is also meant to be fresh and delicious, but you can rest assured that you'll need to be somebody if you want to get a nice seat at a place that even Newsday describes as "very Hamptonsesque". Touché.

[Image via Brian Wilson/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Digging In Out East [Neswday]
·   Long Island Beach Houses [Jaunted]

'Da Borgata Opens Up 'Da Poka' Room

June 21, 2006 at 1:27 PM | 0 Comments

Click here for Chasing Jersey Shore Beach Houses map.

When you get sick of laying on the beach, riding bikes, fishing and other outdoorsy types of activities, make your way down to the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City.

Shockingly, it's not owned by Donald Trump. The hotel's casino is unveiling the largest poker room in AC on June 30. The joint will have 85 tables packed into a 21,500-square-foot room. Also included are:

An eighteen-table High Limit Room offering food service; a nine-table tournament area offering bleacher seating for tournament viewing that can be partitioned off as a "reserved" poker area, and a 58-table Main Poker Room offering live poker action outfitted with plasma televisions. As an added convenience, a safe deposit box room is provided by Borgata for poker customers.

You know to keep your frozen heads safe while you play a round or two.

All the usual games like Texas Hold'em, Seven-Card Stud and Omaha will be played. And to celebrate the poker room, the Borgata is hosting a series of events throughout the summer including the Holiday Weekend Poker tournament from June 30 to July 4 that has a $50 prize pool guaranteed.

Related Stories:
· Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa Ups the Ante: Largest Poker Room in Atlantic City to Debut on June 30 [Sys-Con]
· 'Da Borgata [HotelChatter]

Beach House Spectacular: Hamptons Gold-Diggers

June 16, 2006 at 10:16 AM | 0 Comments



Click here to go straight to the Long Island Beach Houses Map

The Hamptons was crowded with far more strident women than usual this past weekend. They had one main difference from the usual summer resident--these women wanted to be rich and famous, instead of, you know, being that way already.

The women were in the Hamptons to audition for ABC television show The Bachelor. This season's hunk is Lorenzo Borghese, a gin-u-wine Italian prince, and will be filmed in Rome. Because Rome and Southampton are quite similar, wouldn't you say?

Meanwhile, Long Island is reality TV central this summer. Between the Bachelor and filming in Fire Island, there will be a wealth of cameras on the beach. Of course, if you live in the Hamptons in the summer, you already know all about manufactured reality.

Related Stories:
·   Reporters Seek Prince [NYO]
·   Long Island Beach Houses [Jaunted]

Beach House Spectacular: Just Beachy, Thanks

June 9, 2006 at 10:35 AM | 0 Comments



Click here to go straight to the Long Island Beach Houses Map

Money can buy you a lot of things, but it can't buy your love. Or a parking space, apparently. Yup, you've missed your chance to get one of the 2,600 nonresident parking permits for the many quality beaches in the Village of East Hampton--and their beaches are considered the best in the Hamptons.

Sorry, machers and power brokers, wheelers and dealers, and hot shots of all stripes; you'll have to walk, bike, or, horror of horrors, be dropped off. Main Beach allows day permits during the week, but those are the only scraps you'll be tossed. You're SOL otherwise, unless you can prove residence (like Steven Spielberg and Calvin Klein) in the town.

The permits are $250 a pop, and are a policy that the village has been enforcing since 2003. They claim that it's to maintain the pristine natural beauty of the area, and that makes sense to us. Also, it must be pretty entertaining to jerk rich people around--people who pay $75,000 for a summer rental, and then can't get a parking spot. How soon until a back market trade in these stickers crops up on craigslist?

[Image via La Copa Azul/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   The Hamptons Most Coveted Spots [NY Times]
·   Long Island Beach Houses [Jaunted]

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