Water Wine Travel™

Big P went out to the Hamptons last Thursday  to catch up on household chores before the start of the Memorial Day Weekend.  We decided against having two cars on the island.   After I picked the kids up from school on Friday, the three of us headed to the Long Island Railroad Station.  I had been near the station earlier in the day and picked up our off-peak train tickets. (I waited in line but you can use the kiosks in the station.)   It was a real bargain – $18.25 for me and 75 cents per kid.   What wasn’t a bargain was dealing with the throngs of people trying to board the train to the Hamptons at the station in Jamaica, Queens.

I maneuvered my way to the information desk to ask about the track for the Montauk bound train.  The clerk batted her long false eyelashes at me (they had gold tips!) and asked me if I had reserved seats.  I was aghast. “Reserved seating – who knew! I thought that was an urban legend” I replied.   But alas, the European metrosexuals I met in the station knew. Clearly, the  young woman with the yorkie in a carrier knew, because she disappeared in a heartbeat down the track.  I gave her that look that said “C’mon, help a sista out – pluhleeze!”

The clerk told me the last two cars on the Cannonball trains were “reserved.” Yep, a guaranteed seat on the LIRR to the Hamptons. (If you can’t get a reservation, consider boarding the train at  Hunterspoint Avenue in Queens, where it originates. This will make getting a seat a little easier.)  In the end, we were “lucky” to grab a trio of seats in the first car – near the bathroom.  A number of people weren’t so ” lucky “and spent the better part of 2.5 hours sitting on their luggage or on the floor.

Oh,  the price of Hamptons reserve service – $37 pre-board and $43 on board (one-way).  Not standing or sitting on the floor for 2.5 hours – Priceless.