The Strawberry Festival at the End of the World
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Kaitlyn: The Hampton Jitney, according to a New York Times article from 1985, is “the quintessential transportation for a certain kind of New Yorker.” George Plimpton claimed to have written one and a half books while riding it. Lauren Bacall was also a well-known patron. Passengers were given free seltzer and newspapers then, but that is no longer the case. Now you get a half-size Poland Spring and no reading material, and you are made to watch an animated video about how to avoid falling down the steps and into the arms of a Hampton Jitney employee, angering your nearby boyfriend. Whatever!
The Hampton Jitney is a fairly nice bus to the Hamptons—you’ve heard of it from Carrie Bradshaw, or you’ve heard of it from Blair Waldorf, or you’ve heard of it from someone you know in real life who is rich (or, as in Carrie’s case, has access to rich people). What you might not have realized is that all other kinds of New Yorkers may also ride the Hampton Jitney, assuming that they are willing to go out to the Hamptons and back in a single day, having no vacation home to stay in at night, and assuming that it’s worth it to them to save about 20 minutes compared with the cheaper and more convenient Long Island Railroad. With this in mind, Lizzie and I took the subway from Brooklyn to the corner of 41st Street and Lexington Avenue, our closest Hampton Jitney pickup location.
Early on a Saturday morning, we stood
