My Own Cinco De Mayo

I went to Montauk on Friday night with my friend Laura. First, though, I found myself at her mother's early Mother's Day celebration, eating ice cream cake and talking about a reel to reel tape player her father used to have in Vietnam. Then they gave me some free shoes and we put the rubber on the road. Arriving in Tauk at 2 am I was greeted with a stunning view of a shining white moon reflecting over the ocean- a clear direct view out of Laura's window. She is staying rent free in the Panoramic View Hotel this summer as she is a realtor and is showing the property to people who will buy units that are being converted to condos in the fall. The rates are cheap for the summer and the beach there has nice shells. You are all invited!!
Saturday we woke, ate some Goober Grape, went to the beach to chat and gather shells and take some pictures....then we went to do one of my fave things- get some raw bar and drink a little beer. I drank Corona so that was my 5th of May celebration. We ate at Gosman's- with the big windows and water view, scrumptious lobster bisque, steamers with clam broth, and raw clams....good service, etc. Then we picked up her friend Steve at his spot and went to Cyril's- a roadside joint that if you turn your back to the highway feels like a Caribbean beach bar. They were playing Beanie Man (girlie girlie) and had the best, thickest coconut shrimp we'd ever tasted, and delicious fresh oysters. I also got friendly with my neighbor at the bar and he gave me some of his clams with horseradish and hot sauce. I'd never dressed my clams like that before and my body sure reacted to it- at one point the upper left quadrant of my lip began to swell. The conversation went like this: "Billy (the clam profferer), I have to say something to you...I'm just gonna put it out there....my lip is swelling up." Then I made him scrutinize it. Happily it unswelled (deswelled?) shortly thereafter, probably because my body was now more interested in dealing with my stomach afire and my burning throat. I clearly have a limit with the hotclams. Next we shoved off to the Montauket and saw one of the most gorgeous sunsets I have EVER had the pleasure of seeing- pink and purple fire- ahhhh. We decided to head home for an electro nap (disco is dead) (so is electro) and then revive and go to all the nightspots- plan totally aborted by falling asleep and not waking up until the middle of the night when I had insomnia for like 3 1/2 hours. Must be those goddamn hotclams!
Sunday I ate more Goober Grape, went to John's Pancake House for Corncakes, where they really have some very enticing and inventive pancake situations on their menu (i.e. coconut cakes with coconut syrup), and then drove to Easthampton and shopped around. Laura literally bought 1500 dollars worth of trousers for like $11- one of the finest retail victories that has ever been achieved, it's hard to explain how she did it, ask her when you come to Montauk... I also hit the Betsey Johnson Trifecta in J. Crew- the store of opposite design to Betsey's tastes-meaning I saw her, her daughter Lulu, and her granddaughter. My friend Yasmine works directly with Betsey so I thought about approaching her and saying so but I really couldn't see what the next stanza of that conversation would be so I deemed it not worth it and moved on. Finally I got on the train at Hicksville and choo-chooed home to watch the Sopranos in which two people I know had bit parts this week. Congratulations all around! So, best shrimp, best retail victory, best sunset...Montauk, a town of bests!!!

Nicole