Fishers Island
My friend Jane has a family summer house on Fishers Island and for the past six or seven summers I have managed to tag along for at least one weekend of good island vibes. Fishers is a beautiful--like breathtaking, are-you-sure-we're-still-in-America beautiful--island in Long Island Sound that is only accessible by boat. It's also country club heaven with a world-famous golf course that I have looked out over while drinking a Rumrunner but have never actually played golf on it. I know where my strengths lie.
Isabella Beach.
Weekends at Fishers typically involve bike rides and long afternoons on one of the island's gorgeous beaches--most of which have an isolated, almost deserted island feel. Evenings consist of epic, boozy dinner parties followed by nights of dancing on the vintage light-up dance floor at the Pequot Inn, the only bar in town. The Pequot's signature drink is the Fishers Island lemonade, the key ingredient of which may be lighter fluid. In short, after one you'll either become an amazing dancer who tells hilarious jokes or you'll be sobbing on the phone to a former fling with whom you feel a sudden urge to reconnect. Consider your mental state before getting too ambitious.
Painted buoys line a picket fence.
There are no hip restaurants, no velvet roped night clubs, and practically no cell phone reception, which makes Fishers the perfect weekend escape for New Yorkers with mile long to-do lists and slammed city schedules. So, if you find yourself acquainted with someone who has a summer house on Fishers, by all means invite yourself for a weekend. Forget manners! How many opportunities will you have to dance on an illuminated dance floor in your life?! (Bar Mitzvahs don't count, 13 year-olds don't have a fully developed appreciation of kitsch). You'll return to the city relaxed and refreshed with a nice tan and perhaps a tiny bit of a rosé-induced headache. And you could even work on your golf game...if you're into that kind of thing.
Looking out at the Atlantic.
Jane biking home with her rummage sale treasure--a floral serving tray from the 1960s she scored for a buck.
A game of backyard corn hole is the perfect way to fill the time between beach and cocktail hour.
