Forget the Hamptons Hype. Go to Springs Instead

Skip the scene and head north of the highway, where artists, baymen, quiet beaches, and family traditions reveal the East End's enduring soul.

SPRINGS, New York — My mom swears her first memory is looking down at her new red shoes on the front step of a weathered saltbox in Springs, New York. Her grandparents bought the modest house in the 1940s so their kids could escape the sticky summers in Queens. Back then, Springs was an East Hampton enclave for bohemians and the OG locals known as Bonackers — a community worlds away from the Hamptons of the popular imagination.

Nowadays, when people talk about the Hamptons, they mean that sliver of shoreline south of Montauk Highway, where real estate ranks among the most expensive in the country and New Yorkers consider it par for the course to spend $120 per pound on lobster salad in the 98 days sandwiched between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

That’s not my Hamptons. My version of the Hamptons lives in Springs and belongs to the baymen who worked the inshore waters — my great-grandfather Joe among them. He raised four kids, then a dozen grandchildren, on slow summer days fishing out on Three Mile Harbor. Development has chipped away at some of the Springs magic in the years since, but the soul of the place remains. Just three miles from East Hampton’s tourist-heavy Main Street is the East End’s wild side, where a perfect day awaits.

Great Mornings

Welcome to the north side of the highway, where the coast meets the country. The roads are bad, and the seafood is free. Remember that infamous New York Post article about $120-per-pound lobster salad? At the Gerard Drive Nature Park Preserve, herring gulls snatch crabs and drop them repeatedly on the pavement to break their shells. It doesn’t get fresher than that. (Still. Let them eat it.)

On the narrowest stretch of the nature walk, you’ll find the calm Accabonac Harbor on one side and the open waters of Gardiners Bay on the other. From here, you can see Gardiners Island – a strange, untouchable piece of East Hampton history. King Charles I of England granted the land in 1639 to Lion Gardiner. For centuries, the Gardiner family played central roles in everything from witch trials to real estate development. The island remains closed to the public, but its presence is a quiet reminder of the eccentric legacy of this coast.

Ashawagh Hall, a charming 1847 schoolhouse, transforms into the Springs Farmers Market on Saturdays and also hosts the Artists of Springs Invitational, a nod to the generations of painters who found sanctuary here, including Pollock, Krasner, and dozens more.

Spending a few hours at Maidstone Park Beach is a balm. The soft waves of Gardiners Bay are gentler than the roar of the Atlantic. It’s a place for collecting shells, reading paperbacks, and spotting herons gliding over the dramatic dunes. Be sure to plan a return visit at sunset. While the Atlantic offers the East End’s famously misty pastels, the sunset in Springs sets the bay ablaze in fiery oranges.

Fun Afternoons

After the beach, explore Springs’ arty side at the Pollock-Krasner House, a quiet and unassuming cradle of American abstract expressionism. Inside, everything remains as it was when Lee Krasner died in 1984, from Jackson Pollock’s jazz records to the paint splatters on the studio floor.

Those splatters are still used to authenticate Pollock’s work today. Nick Petraco, a forensic expert and art fraud investigator, authenticated Pollock’s purported final work by matching polar bear hairs trapped in the paint with a pelt rug from the Pollock-Krasner House.

Just a few minutes away is another unexpected treasure set inside a Renaissance-inspired Palladian structure. The Leiber Collection houses hundreds of the iconic crystal handbags designer Judith Leiber shaped into peacocks, slices of watermelon, and even elephants. It’s delightfully odd and quintessentially Springs.

The late textile designer and weaver Jack Larsen left behind the LongHouse Reserve, a 16-acres property with a sculpture garden and a modernist home modeled after the Shinto Shrine at Ise in Japan. Visit for guided nature walks, sound baths, and tai chi lessons.

When the air warms and the afternoon stretches long, there’s nothing better than being on the water. Paddle Diva offers paddle boards and kayak rentals, as well as clinics, on Three Mile Harbor. Glide out past the eelgrass beds and osprey nests and enjoy the calm waters of the large, protected harbor. Work up an appetite for Springs Pizza and order my favorite, the Bee Sting Pie – sweet, spicy, and slathered in chili honey.

Happy Evenings

As the day fades, head to Bostwick’s on the Harbor for seafood and sunset views. There are no reservations and no dress code, just good food and cold drinks above the docks. Get into the quintessentially Long Island menu: littleneck clams, Peconic oysters, and the famous lobster roll.

End the night at Springs Tavern and Grill, formerly Jungle Pete’s, a circa 1930s bar where Jackson Pollock nursed beers and big ideas up until his fatal crash on Springs Fireplace Road in 1956. Less famously, it’s where my grandparents had their first date on August 12, 1958, my birthday, 31 years before I was born.

However you want to slice it, a trip out east will cost you a pretty penny. But if you’re willing to skip the hype and forge a new path — a bumpy, winding one north of the highway — you’ll find a soulful alternative to the Hamptons seen and derided in the pages of New York Magazine. There’s plenty of natural beauty and history waiting to be discovered in Springs, and now you know where to find it.