Sure, the drive to the Hamptons in eastern Long Island, 90 miles east of Brooklyn, passes through typical countryside scenery: horse ranches, farmers’ fields, an Indian reserve – Shinnecock, and the like. But here are a few sights that stood out for me on my recent visit.

1. Celebrity estates, e.g. Madonna, Matt Lauer, protected by formidable knife-edge-trimmed hedges 30 feet high.
2. Byways with quaint names like Wood Thrush Road, Bluff Point Road and Jobs Lane. (The latter probably named after one of the first Southampton settlers, Job Sayre. Thank you, Wikipedia!)
3. Deer nibbling at bushes in front yards, two feet from the door.
4. A couple leaving a restaurant terrace, putting their helmets on, climbing onto their motorcycle, and strapping their tiny Yorkie into its little carrier before taking off with a roar and a plume of exhaust. (I hope the Yorkie was wearing doggie earplugs, let alone a doggie helmet.)
5. Ultra-skinny tanned women – probably living on arugula and chicken bones and $3 bottles* of alleged spring water.
6. Farm stands selling new potatoes, raspberries etc. No biggie, except that many such stands are unattended. You are expected to drop money into a box at the posted suggested price! Would this honour system work here? Hmm…
7. Dogs, dogs, and more dogs. Everyone and his dog, has dogs. I don’t know if this is a status symbol (of course they are all purebred), or if the locals are just very lonely. 😉
8. Prices in boutiques requiring the would-be buyer to have an income equivalent to the GDP of a small country.

I might think of more. Or you might have more, if you’ve been there. If so, please feel free to add to my list!

*I admit I bear a grudge toward those $3 bottles… though it is not their fault. I bought one at La Guardia when I was leaving, forgetting that I hadn’t yet gone through security! Result: most of bottle left behind.