Luxe on the Beach: Guide to Family Fun in Southampton NY

A good place to start is the Southampton Inn. The kid friendly hotel has connecting rooms, or a family of four can stay in one room with 2 queen beds. The hotel also has mini fridges for snacks in every room, and cribs and roll-away beds. There’s a pool, of course, and a large grassy area where kids can run around.

Plenty of people stay here without children, too. You can walk or ride bicycles to Southampton Beach, or walk into town. If you go to the beach off season, there is no parking fee. There are plenty of warm, sunny days in September, October and early spring, when you can park without paying $25, and still sit on the soft white sand.

If you like to travel with your family dog, she can stay at Southampton Inn. Dog are only allowed on the beach off season.

The Southampton Inn recently changed its restaurant to the seasonally focused Claude’s. We had a delightful outdoor dinner here. The inside is more formal, with white tablecloths and air conditioning. But on a cool evening, the outdoor patio is the place. You get the same delicious food in a more laid back setting.

You can walk into town from the hotel. There are about 20 restaurants and dozens of shops. Agawam Park has climbing equipment for kids.  If it’s too cold for the playground, there is a game room at the hotel, with board and video games, kid-sized kitchen and art supplies.

Kids can play at the Children’s Museum of the East End. The museum is a couple of miles away, in Bridgehampton, an eternity in season, but under 10 minutes from Southampton in winter. The museum has a windmill, and a mini golf course where you can get your kids ready for their future on the links.

In fall, you can still visit farm stands, or go apple and pumpkin picking nearby. As the corn mazes dry up and the weather gets colder, there are ghost tours of Rogers Mansion, part of the Southampton Historical Museum, and holiday lights along Main Street.

The period rooms in Rogers Mansion, built in 1843 for a whaling captain, let you see what life was like for the monied class years ago.  You can see antique toys, including porcelain dolls, dollhouses, trains, soldiers and mechanical banks.

You can create your own cheer at Wollfer Estate Vineyard which offers Candlelight Fridays October  – April. Kids can drink juice, listen to live music .and nibble on cheese and charcuterie plates while adults sample wine.

The Parrish Art Museum has rotating exhibits of its vast collection of paintings, photographs and sculpture, many by artists who lived and worked in the area. The museum has a cafe and in summer, jazz concerts on the terrace most Friday evenings. Concerts continue indoors in colder weather.

Claude’s has live music on Thursdays and Sundays. over the summer.

You can’t show up in your NYC street car, or a plain vanilla rental. I had an amazing opportunity to drive a Ford Mustang convertible. For a Northerner, a convertible is a true luxury. It can only be driven a few days each year. Yet, as soon as it’s warm and sunny, convertibles populate the streets just like umbrellas pop up on sidewalks on rainy days.

Once you put that top down, you will forget about everything else. But leather heated and cooled seats and a leather wrapped steering wheel are luxurious touches no matter the weather. The Mustang also welcomes you with a pony projection on the ground, much like a Bat signal.

The Mustang I drove had an upgraded navigation system, with voice activated controls. Because you can’t blow your cool in this hot car asking someone for directions.

The Mustang has blind spot monitors, with cross traffic alert.

Is there a back seat? Just kidding. I actually took a spin with my daughter and one of her friends and the friend said she was comfortable. But she wouldn’t want to sit there for a long drive. Guess what? Kids weren’t invited on our getaway!

If you bring a baby, the car has the Latch child safety system.

All you really need is room for a bathing suit, a negligee, and sturdy hair gel. But we were able to fit two suitcases in the surprisingly roomy trunk.

The Mustang is $47,000.