My final week of summer vacation started with a hurricane, which turned into a tropical storm, which knocked out power and water at Camp Fern for a few days, yet none of that could stop me from enjoying a gorgeous week in the Hamptons!

On Tuesday morning, Angela got up crazy early to go surfing with Dave. I went for a run to the beach, and when I returned, I saw this. Angela is hardcore!

We still had no power, so I got creative and made breakfast on the grill.

Hurricane McMuffins!

On the ferry, headed toward Shelter Island

Lovely beach in front of the Sunset Beach Hotel

On Wednesday, Nicki and I had dinner at Crow’s Nest in Montauk. This is the view from the restaurant, which feels a little like a treehouse.

Our power finally came back on around 2am Thursday morning, but we still had some amazing produce from the farm stand, perfect for lunch on the deck. Jess made a tomato and cucumber salad. So simple, so delicious.

I grilled corn, zucchini, yellow squash and green beans. Yummy!

On Friday, the rest of the Ferners came back, and we spent the afternoon at Ditch Plains, the Montauk beach most popular with surfers.

Happy hour at Cyril’s

Saturday was family dinner night - we started with Jess’ famous guacamole and Bonduritas (a.k.a. margaritas, or “happy juice”).

Grilled tilapia with mango-avocado salsa, corn and tomato salad with basil, and quinoa with chickpeas and red peppers

Jess, Heather, Angela and I went for casual fun - jukebox, ring game, darts, and plush (pronounced “ploosh”) at Murf’s. Nady and Amy opted to get gussied up and headed to Rushmeyer’s and Talkhouse.

Sunday was our last full day in the Hamptons for the summer. We ended with sunset in Sag Harbor.

And drinks with Nicole, Fernando and other friends at B. Smith’s. And pizza at Conca d’Oro.

Another amazing summer in the Hamptons, so many great stories and good times. See you next year, Camp Fern!

The day after the storm was a gorgeous day - bright, sunny and warm. Angela, Nicki and I walked to the beach to check out the neighborhood and visit the farm stand. The proprietor told me the salt from the ocean spray would have long-term affects on the crops, which made me sad.

When our power went out Sunday night, we discovered our house was on well water. No electricity, no water. So for the next few days, we pulled buckets of water from the pool to rinse dishes and flush the toilet. Showers came courtesy of friends whose houses were on town water. We bought a car charger for our iPhones, and we learned to get around at night by flashlight. We did our best to use up the food in the fridge, and even got creative with the grill. All in all, the storm made Camp Fern living a lot more rustic than we were used to, in fact, a lot more like camping. So much for the glam life in the Hamptons!

There was a giant puddle on the road, about 25 yards from the beach, which was likely a result of the ocean having washed up to the parking lot at some point. We found out later that the sand between Georgica pond and the beach had washed away, and most of the water drained out of the pond we had kayaked on only a few weeks before.

All of the corn at our local farm must have been blown in one direction for a while, because all of the stalks were leaning towards the fence.

After we got back to the house, we did our best to put everything back to normal and clean up the leaves. Breakfast was yogurt with peaches, blueberries and granola, and iced coffee from the previous day’s leftovers.

Montauk was one of the first areas to get power back, so we went to Navy Beach for sunset and dinner. At least I got to try some new restaurants!

By 8am Sunday morning, the hurricane had turned into a tropical storm. We’d lost cable and internet at Camp Fern, but we still had power. There were two small leaks in the living room and the wind was starting to pick up. Over the next eight hours, we watched the wind blow tree parts into the pool and all over the deck, pull down a piece of rotted wood from above the patio, and peel off some siding under the roof overhang. Luckily this was the bulk of the damage for Camp Fern - essentially just a big mess.

Nicki and Jeff came over to play Scattegories and watch movies, and mostly to escape their own cabin fever. Here are a few pics from our afternoon Storm Party, and how Camp Fern looked after the winds calmed. That evening, the sky was perfectly clear, and the stars were amazingly bright. This lovely sight was possibly assisted by the fact that we lost power at 7pm…

What’s a Storm Party without a cheese plate?

Quinoa salad with grilled veggies - a Camp Fern favorite

Dead wood

Tree parts littered the deck

And the pool

The siding under the overhang peeled off and blew into the pool

Luckily our only broken tree fell over the fence

Our driveway was covered with branches, twigs and leaves. Guess the trees got pruned by Irene.

That night, Jeff took the Jitney back to the city, and Nicki spent the night with us in our dark house (her house had lost power earlier in the day). We sat around a kerosene lamp, enjoyed a couple bottles of wine, and polished off leftover blueberry pie. We survived!

This year was a big one for natural disasters in the northeast. There was a tornado last September in Brooklyn, and let’s not forget the blizzard the day after Christmas, followed by record snowfalls throughout the winter. There was a rare east coast earthquake just a week ago, centered in VA but felt all the way up the coast, including in NYC. Fall is typically hurricane season for the Caribbean and southern states, but they usually fade to tropical storms for us. So there was a lot of panic and prep for Hurricane Irene, which seemed headed straight for NY and NJ the last week of August. In Manhattan, there were evacuations from low lying areas like Battery Park City and parts of Brooklyn, a massive rush on grocery stores for water, nonperishables, flashlights, and D batteries, and ultimately a shutdown of public transportation, including the subway and LIRR.

I was due to be at Camp Fern for the last week of the summer, so I decided to take the chance and head east. At least I would enjoy my vacation after the storm blew out, assuming it didn’t blow our house into the ocean. The storm was tracking to arrive late Saturday, so Angela and I had the day to prep. We had a full tank of gas in the truck, bottled water, food, a couple of flashlights, and a full propane tank on the grill. We spent the morning pulling all the deck furniture, potted plants and other loose items inside the house. We ran the dishwasher, showered, filled the bathtub with water, and made a lot of ice. We also located our closest evacuation center, just in case. Here are some pics of what things looked like on hurricane eve at our house, and around nearby East Hampton. If you want to know what Camp Fern normally looks like, here are pics from last summer.

All the patio furniture was moved inside.

Lounge chairs were moved to avoid possibly being blown into the pool.

Clean pool, for now

Potted herbs were brought indoors.

In East Hampton Village, shops and restaurants boarded their windows.

Others taped windows.

Shopping at the Shoe Inn sale was a good distraction.

Back home, we snacked on our traditional cheese plate.

Since Jess wasn’t around, I had to make the guac myself. It wasn’t bad, but definitely wasn’t hers!

Hurricane fish tacos for dinner.

Our friend Dave came over for dinner and a chick flick, and a little storm watch on TV. The latest forecasts predicted the storm would arrive in NJ and NY in the morning, so we called it a night, not knowing what we’d have to deal with the next day.

Despite ominous weather reports, our fourth weekend was amazing. Saturday was an absolutely perfect day - clear blue skies, sunshine and a light ocean breeze. We ended the day at Surf Lodge in Montauk (no celeb sightings this time).

Jess and me

Angela, me and Nady

Ferners: Emily, Angela, Nady, me, Jess, Heather

Jess, Heather, Emily and me (so colorful!)