Sag Harbor-Like Being on Vacation Every Day of the Year

People tend to wear their travel experiences like golden trinkets on the charm bracelet of life. You often hear, “When I retire, I want to travel more, I want to see the world.” 

 Along with travel, comes the planning, the packing, the preparing-a long to- do list, long lines, waiting, driving, parking, passports, reservations, and worry. And at the end of the journey lives the expression, ‘the best part of travel, is coming home.’

I am a bit of an anxious traveler, always weary of closing my front door and entering the unknown. I think this may have been magnified when I experienced a flight that was not expected to land safely and three hours of crash preparation in the air. I still feel very grateful that I’m here to tell about it. I haven’t closed my door to travel but I open it just an inch at a time and I always look through the peephole first.

I have had years now to recover from this traumatic event and I have taken to the friendly skies many more times, but not without some trepidation. My bucket list is still considerable with places I want to see. Yet, one bit of truth I have come to is this - that living in Sag Harbor is like being on vacation every day of the year. We live in a place of such beauty, it feels as if we‘ve perpetually arrived at a magnificent destination.

There is never a shortage of things to do here, or beautiful things to see, bits of nature to explore, fresh air to breathe in and the sea always a short walk or drive away. Within the same half hour, you can be standing with your feet in the white ocean sand or collecting shells on one of the endless bay beaches. You may be kayaking in a pond or hiking a marked trail through the woods. The lush Greenbelt, biking trails, wildlife preserves, offer endless hours of exploration. Fishing, clamming, crabbing - all within arm’s reach.

Evenings may find you sitting at a fine restaurant, listening to magnificent live music, watching a top-notch theater production, visiting art galleries, eating popcorn at the cinema, visiting quaint shops, or having a picnic and catching a brilliant sunset at Long Beach. There are places of historical interest, the Whaling Museum, the Annie Cooper Boyd House, the Customs House, John Jermain Library and many gripping historic tales to hear told. There are top-notch yoga studios, Pilates, gyms, health food stores, beauty salons-Inns-churches, lectures series and of course world class delis and egg sandwiches.

In Sag Harbor you are visiting a microcosm of the history of our land- Algonquin settlements, the historic homes of whalers, sites of ancient battles, graves of soldiers and patriots, its own industrial revolution. It is and has been a medley of fishermen, factory workers, craftsman, carpenters, contractors, teachers, artists, writers, actors, musicians, entrepreneurs- the struggling and the prosperous-the proud and the disenchanted.

The four seasons keep the landscapes and life itself, fresh and ever-changing-each season with its own harvest of fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood and flowers. We can set our yearly alarm-clocks to the arrival of the world’s best sweet corn, the most delicious cantaloupe, and the taste of local tomatoes that stays with you throughout the year. Grand pumpkin farms, world-class wineries, blossoming potato fields and corn as ‘high as an elephant’s eye’. This surrounding land is lush and beautiful. And when winter knocks on our doors, just enough snow to be reminded of the beauty of every season, curled up with a new novel from the local book store under a warm blanket.

 We share this land of the white-tailed deer, the opossum, raccoon, wild turkey - the osprey, red-tailed hawk, box turtle, hummingbird-fox- squirrels and chipmunks-fireflies, butterflies, dragon- flies.  Our skies are still filled with birdsong and seagull cries-and we’re reminded of the blessing of our wildlife family that lives beside us.

For many, travel is one of the grandest parts of life-educational, inspirational, restful, vital. But for me, I have realized that it’s not so easy to close that front door, because each time I do, I am leaving one of the most beautiful places on earth.

 We have so much for us to be grateful for and so much to protect!