So long sweet summer…

When you live in a resort town, summer can end so abruptly it feels like someone has flipped a switch and shut off the summer goodness in the blink of an eye. There’s that bittersweet celebration of Labor Day weekend, three days filled with all the best B’s (BBQs, beaches, boats, beers, bliss…) and then there’s “the Tueday after.”  Most of us are still high on our end of summer buzz, suntans still shimmering, sundresses and still sandals still on, but as the days of September roll on, the talk of “Fall” and “Apple Picking” and “Pumpkin Spiced EVERYTHING” quickly fill the void of Summer’s sad departure.

Here in Newport, the end of summer literally happens overnight.  And that night – contrary to popular belief – is not Labor Day evening (although there is definitely a noticeably lighter feel to the town as most of the summer people trickle out of town over the following few days), but the real last blast of Summer is actually the Newport International Boat Show which I attended for the first time this year.  The boat community (AKA the “yachties”) show up in their finest Nantucket Red (cough PINK cough) pants to either A) shop for boats (the lucky ones) B) show the boats, clean the boats serve the drinks, etc. or C) (this is where I fit in) marvel at the boats and hope that they let you on a few without an appointment!

It was a beautiful day and we got to go on a few boats and walk the docks and even slurp down a couple free beverage samples (sweet tea vodka!) but for the average boat owning wannabe like myself, the $18 entry fee wasn’t quite worth it.  Especially when you can go next door to the Lobster Bar and buy a round for the same price (which is exactly where we ended up after about an hour or so of ooohing and ahhing at the shiny boats).

So as the first storm of Autumn blows in, and I run along the empty beach, see the browning leaves blow around the cobble stone of Thames, and make the semi-annual switch from iced coffee to hot, I say a little goodbye to summer and look forward to all those upcoming perks of Fall for a Newport local, including restaurant specials! no traffic! beer and wings! apple picking! and about a million other things I’ll continue to share in the coming months.

Happy Fall friends! (Now throw on a scarf, lace up your suede booties, and go get yourself a pumpkin-apple-carmel-spiced-chai-cider and welcome the season in style)… 🙂