Home Away From Home

                Tall trees billowing in the wind, vibrant sunrises and sunsets, tons of golf courses and vineyards, and an endless supply of water. This is Long Island, New York and my favorite place in United States. You could call it my home away from home. About four years ago I was offered a job to work at a Golf Club in Southampton of Long Island, New York and because I had a wild hair I went for it. Even though it was only for six months of my life-it changed me and I’m forever thankful that I went. Everyone needs that life changing moment in their 20’s and Long Island was mine. It all started with the wine..

                If I hadn’t worked in Southampton I would not have discovered the excellence of wine. The Northfork had many more Vineyards than the Southfork (where Southampton is) but they sure know how to do wine just as well!

 

This is a picture of Long Island. The North Fork is on the left and the South Fork is on the right. As you can see there are only three Wineries on the South Fork.

                But it wasn’t just the wine that made these places memorable. I really enjoyed the Channing Daughter’s Winery because of the sculpture garden. The main piece is an up-rooted tree that is suspended upside down in the middle of the garden.

There is nothing like taking a bottle of wine and sitting in the middle of this big open field of unique sculptures. It’s so peaceful. In fact when one of my brother’s came to visit me I took him there and while we wandered our separate ways in silence I came back to find him napping on a tree. If that doesn’t speak of serenity I don’t know what does. 

                                                                          Serenity.

                However, the art and wine was just one small piece of my experience. There was also golf. When I first arrived I knew absolutely nothing about golf. All I knew is that you could play either 9 or 18 holes and choose to take a cart of walk the course. I had no idea that there was a science on how deep one should plant the grass seeds so that when it came time to mow there would be more options to make the course either a fast or slow play. Or, that the course had to be manicured daily to keep the game interesting. I learned quickly that golf was not just a sport but a business meeting and family gathering. I mostly worked with the upper crust of society (each member had to pay a half million dollars to even join the club) but I sure met a lot of interesting people. These men and women are powerful business people who fight for every dime they’ve ever made, but when it came to golf they were the most relaxed and polite people I had ever met.

                One of the most interesting things about Southampton is that there were three clubs within three miles of each other and most of the members belonged to at least two, sometimes even all three of the clubs. If I had the money I think I would do the same-these clubs are beyond beautiful and filled with history.

This is the back of the club I worked at. This view shows the staircase that leads to the upstairs deck, bar, and dining room along with the downstairs patio that overlooks the course.

This is a club that is literally right next door. I had taken this picture from the back deck of the club that I worked at. This club had been around for quite some time. It looks more like a gargantuan house than a club where you would enjoy food and drinks.

                The whole experience was magical and healing all in one. I started off as a 20 year old kid and returned as a 21 year old confident and happy adult. I learned how to stand up for myself while still being supportive of the people around me. It’s not just the golf, wine, sculptures, and never ending water that changed me, but it was mostly the people. I was the youngest person who worked at the club and I didn’t know a single soul when I started, but these people became not only my friends but also my family. 

Can you see why?

   None of us live in the same state or even the same part of the country, yet we still make time for each other because those six short months changed us all.

                I’m lucky to have tons of relatives that live in New York state, so I’ve made plenty of return visits since I left and every time is as great as the first time. Sometimes traveling is to relax. Sometimes it’s to escape and sometimes it’s to discover. Whatever the reason people find, I know mine is to find that place that makes the “Cheer’s” theme song come true. I want to travel to a place where, “everybody knows your name.”