The hamlet has three magnificent beaches: Flying Point, Mecox, and Dead End. And there are still huge areas of woodsy wilderness, like the 148-acre Laurel Valley Country Park. Robert Wilson's Watermill Center, where the avante garde visionary develops new work in collaboration with students and professionals, is the East End's newest cultural mecca.

More More mundane, yet still brilliant, are Hampton Coffee and the Green Thumb farm stand, which are conveniently located next door to each other on Montauk Highway. Hampton Coffee does make the island's best and its down-home food is lip-smacking good. Green Thumb, with its 300 varieties of locally grown organic produce, is the best explanation of why slow cooking is so darned delish. Less