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Bon Voyage…Sag Harbor/Greenport Ferry sets sail today 6/28/12

Greetings Hamptons Mouthpiece readers…The Peconic Bay Water Jitney set voyage today 7 a.m. today Thursday 6/28/12 and will continue to connect Sag Harbor and Greenport every day for the remainder of the season.

The ferry service has been permitted by the village board’s of Sag Harborand Greenporton a pilot basis, as well as sanctioned by the Suffolk County Legislature. It is a joint venture of Hampton Jitneyand Response Marine.

The Water Jitney will take seven round trips a day Sundays through Thursdays, and eight round trips Fridays and Saturdays.

The departure points are the north end of the Long Wharf in Sag Harbor, and at Mitchell Park in Greenport in front of the marina office, near the carousel.

The ferry will take walk-ons, it is encouraged to make reservations on weekends, there will be walk-ons as well if space permits. Tickets can be purchased on-board or at the Hampton Jitney offices in Greenport or Southampton. Payment by credit card or cash at the Jitney offices or on-board by cash, credit card or ticket. Master Card, Visa and Discover cards are accepted.

Adults • One Way Fare: $11.00

• Open Return Round-Trip Fare: $20.00

Special Childeren’s Fares (Tues., Wed. and Thursday – 13 and under):

• One Way Fare: $6.00

• Open Return Round-Trip Fare: $11.00

Schedule:

• Seven round trips daily – Sunday through Thursday.

• Eight round trips every Friday and Saturday.

Departure Points:

• Sag Harbor – The north end (furthest point from shore) of Long Wharf.

• Greenport – At Mitchell Park in front of the marina office, near the carousel.

I find it interesting that the Jitney STRONGLY encourages using public transportation such as the S92 bus route.

Not many people will be taking a public bus in the Hamptons…so being realistic it is encouraged that either you have someone drop you off in Sag Harbor or use the parking provided at Pierson HS parking lot on Jermain Avenue

Sag Harbor – Daily parking for Peconic Jitney passengers is provided in the Sag Harbor School parking lot on Jermain Ave., adjacent to the High School gym. Overflow parking spaces will be available in the Division Street lot. The shuttle travels from the Pierson Jermain Ave. lot to RT. 114 to Bay St. and returns the same way. NOTE – THERE IS NO PARKING ON LONG WHARF OR MAIN ST!

For more information visit peconicjitney.com or call 631-702-8300

While you visiting Greenport..stop over at Mali B Sweets Located in the waterfront village of Greenport, New York. The products are all natural and they use the finest chocolate, only European butter, organic sugar and dairy, the highest quality nuts.

I Absolutely love this chocolate…it is just so delicious, there are just no words for how good this chocolate is. This is an absolute must stop for you while in Greenport.

My favorite was the Sea Port Bar…For more information contact…. http://www.malibsweets.com

Happy Sailing Hamptons Mouthpiece Readers…

The Inlet Seafood Restaurant in Montauk..What a pleasant find!

Photo courtesy of Kurt Leggard

Greetings Hamptons MouthPiece Readers…..Saturday, April 14th a beautiful day in the Hamptons, the temperature read 63 degrees, a perfect day for a drive to Montauk. Kurt, Allura and I drove to Montauk and once we got there we decided to have dinner at the FishBar because it was given excellent reviews on Yelp; however when we called a recording answered and said they were only open for Dinner. Since we were given no information on what time dinner started, we went with our back-up plan and decided to go to Inlet Seafood instead.
My daughter Allura and I are Foodies and probably the biggest food critics; we love good food and even more we love good service. Friends, the Inlet Seafood was the best find, and I highly recommend this restaurant. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The restaurant has the best oceanview from almost every seat in the place. You can even take a walk on the beach while waiting for your table, you can wait in the downstairs area or on the deck over-looking the ocean.

We got there somewhat early for dinner, lunch had just ended and dinner did not start until 4pm. We waited at the Bar and Kurt had a drink and I had a Cosmopolitan. It was delicious and I say that honestly. Not everyone makes a good Cosmo but our bartender did and I was pleased, so much so I had 2…good thing I was not driving.

We were seated for dinner and we could not wait to order because the food smelled so good. Our waitress brought out fresh homemade bread and even though I am not eating bread these days, I could not resist, it was just so good. I ordered the Mussels, Allura ordered the Rhode Island Clam Chowder and Kurt ordered Fried Calamari. Wow…..the mussels were so delicious and the broth was heavenly, I found myself dipping my garlic toast in the broth and savoring every single bite. Allura was kind of skeptical about her soup since she really loves the New England clam chowder, but I do think this Rhode Island Chowder made the top of the list, it was divine. The calamari was very light and not chewy, almost melted in your mouth. We were now salivating at the excitement of our entree, because truth be told, if a restaurant passes the appetizer test then the Entree will be great. I am pleased to say they did not disappoint…Allura and I ordered the Pan Seared Scallops over Risotto with Mushroom and Kurt ordered the Lobster. The scallops were savory and the Risotto was cooked to perfection and it was hot, which was a plus. Kurt took his time savoring every bite of his Lobster and sharing with his darling daughter who gave the puppy dog eyes when she wanted some.

We were so full I just wanted to lie down and go to sleep. I could not even consider making any room for dessert but Allura does not consider her restaurant experience completed unless she has dessert. I was slighly disappointed that there were not many choices for dessert but the one Allura chose was not bad at all…rather over the top, she was impressed…Warm Brownie with chocolate ice cream, whipped cream topped with sprinkles…

What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, the Restaurant is moderately expensive our total bill that included drinks was a little less than $200, it was worth every penny and it is on our list of favorites… This restaurant was started by 6 local Fisherman who supply most of New York and the Hamptons with the catch of the day. They opened up this wonderful dining experience and the rest is history. You may want to make a reservation before you come. I was so tired from my 2 drinks and feeling so full when I got home I took a 3 hour nap.

Well Hamptons MouthPiece readers…next time you are in Montauk, consider Inlet Seafood. It is a family friendly restaurant and the service is wonderful and the food is YUMMY…For more information about the Inlet Seafood click here….As always Hamptons MouthPiece, keeping you in the Know!!!!

Passivity is an Rx for DISASTER!

Passivity is an Rx for DISASTER!

Being Passive is a recipe for disaster when it comes to your heath…You are your own best advocate. Your doctor is your conduit for getting you the care that you need. They are not the B-all or the End-all of your medical care. They are many times only the start of your journey to wellness. Primary care physicians should be utilized as consultants providing you with sometimes only the preliminary information and recommendations that you need to become healthy. Although primary care physicians have many of the answers that you may be seeking to address health care issues you should always act as your own advocate and do your due diligence prior to any visit to see your physician.

I wanted to share my story with all of you regarding an illness that I have apparently had for the last 3 years. For the last 3 years I have been experiencing hair loss, heart palpitations, tired bulging eyes, blurriness, exhaustion, weight gain, inability to loose weight, hot flashes, cold flashes, anxiety and other symptoms that would come and go. For the last 3 years I have thought that I was loosing my mind because I would have many blood tests, stress test and each time everything would be normal, so I felt that my doctor thought I was a hypochondriac.

Last year my thyroid was checked and it was not exactly normal but my doctor was not alarmed and felt no need to pursue but he wanted to watch it, since my symptoms were so parallel to pre-menopause. There was a chance that I was experiencing pre-menopause, it made sense to me since many of my friends were going through this. Thanks to them, I was prepared for menopause because they had shown me resources like the CBD Queen site that showed how things like CBD can be used to naturally relieve menopausal symptoms. It was suggested that I start some hormonal treatment, but I decided against it because the difference between my friends and I was that my periods were normal, like clock-work always on-time and always ended on-time. I wanted to investigate if this was something else.

I started doing a process of elimination search with food and noticed that when I ate spicy food, drank wine in the evening I would experience hot flashes, so I was convinced that I was suffering pre-menopause because that is what the Internet was telling me. When I eliminated those items from my diet it was interesting that I did not experience the hot flashes, but I was still experiencing the other symptoms. In the meantime I was driving Kurt and my daughters crazy. In December 2011, I woke up in the morning with a huge lump on my jaw, I knew that it was not my tooth because I had no tooth pain and it was painful…I was really nervous and immediately scheduled an appointment to see the doctor for a physical examination. I had some blood work done and my thyroid test were the same as they were in 2011, 2010, 2009…concern.

I was the same exact weight that I was in all 3 years, even though I changed my diet, eliminated alcohol and started exercising, and I was now experiencing cold flashes. My doctor finally suggested I see an endocrinologist to see if there was more to these symptoms. I immediately scheduled an appointment with a doctor that my friends in my social media network suggested. It was now 2 weeks later and I was finally going to see Dr. Feiner, I was anxious, but I was always anxious and hyper. Dr. Feiner came in and looked at my blood test he said you have “Graves Disease” but to be sure I want you to have an uptake test and more blood work. It would have been normal for me to be alarmed and scared but I was just the opposite, I was relieved…there was a name for what I was going through and not my imagination. At that moment I felt like a heavy burden had been lifted and I was confident that I was going to get better. I knew nothing about Graves Disease but I was told that it was not life threatening if treated with medication.

He went on the explain Grave Disease “is an autoimmune disease where the thyroid is overactive, producing an excessive amount of thyroid hormone. This is caused by thyroid autoantibodies that activate the TSH-receptor, thereby stimulating thyroid hormone synthesis and secretion, and thyroid growth (causing a diffusely enlarged goiter). The resulting state of hyperthyroidism can cause a dramatic constellation of neuropsychological and physical signs and symptoms. see this link for more information” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graves’_disease

After several tests and waiting 3 long years I finally have a diagnosis and I am currently being treated. For the first time in 3 years I feel amazing. I have so much energy, I am exercising, reading, dancing, sleeping through the night. I am overall a better person, and I feel like I have a new lease on life. Now to work off all these pounds that have been extremely hard to get rid of for the last 3 years. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), thyroid diseases have the second-highest prevalence among all endocrine disorders, right behind diabetes mellitus. Over 665 million people suffer from endemic goitre or other thyroid diseases worldwide; 1.5 billion people are at risk for developing an iodine-deficient condition. Statistical data show that the annual increment in the number of thyroid disease cases is 5 %.

I sincerely hope this story reaches one of you, maybe if I read something like this 3 years ago I would not have suffered for so long…Remember only YOU know when you are not well, do not allow anyone to make you think everything is ok when you know it’s not.

As always, keeping you in the know..feel free to join my Facebook support group…Thyroid Support group

Technology vs. Traditional..The Joy of Reading

Hamptons MouthPiece; Do you have a child that would rather be doing anything than reading a book? Do you find yourself making deals with this child to read, do they do the bare minimum when it comes to reading? Does your child have difficulty with vocabulary and reading is torture for them because every other word they struggle with the definition; the thought of stopping to look up the word in the dictionary is frustrating and ruins the moment for them with the book?

I have that child and this entire year has been a continued struggle getting her to find a passion for reading, to read for the pure enjoyment, to find a book that is a page turner and to be so engaged in the book you are not even aware of what is happening around you. We hired a tutor this year to help her find her passion, because Parents as much as you think you can help your child the fact of the matter is you cannot and often times you do more harm than good. We continuously encouraged our daughter to read, we read with her, to her and nothing worked, but this year our tutor helped her and she is on her way. She still struggled with picking up the book as something fun to do and reading still was not clicking, then I had an Ah-ha moment….

I have an Ipad and I thoroughly enjoy reading books on my Ipad…for some they would prefer not to embrace technology that far and they enjoy the feel of a book. I love the Ipad because I do not need to have big bulky books that take up space in my house or in my bag. I can travel with my book all the time and it does not take up space. I like being able to read in the dark because it has its own light. I like if I come to a word that I do not know the meaning of I can touch it on the screen and the definition appears, I can highlight paragraphs, take notes without having to stop reading to do this. I thought this is the perfect tool for a young person who struggles with vocabulary which is the main reason why they do not like to read. My husband who is a technology freak and must have the newest technology on the very first day it hits the stores bought the Ipad3 and gave the IPad1 to our daughter. WOW…what a difference this has made…she is reading without me telling her to read, she is reading over watching television or playing on her computer. I have noticed a difference in her vocabulary and her use of words, she is taking notes, she is becoming…dare I say it…PASSIONATE…..My heart is filled with tears of joy…it has been a journey and one that we will continue to have, but she is on her way and I could not be happier. She has noticed a change and just today I was talking to her and she was so engaged in her book that she did not even hear me, she could not wait to turn the page…She usually has assignments from her tutor that until today has never really been prepared when the tutor comes over. Today she read ahead and is extremely excited about sharing her new found passion with her tutor….

If you have one of these readers…you might want to consider investing in a Kindle or Ipad…for my non-reader it has been a godsend and I look forward to taking this journey with her as she continues to explore the joy of reading. Technology has really helped our daughter to read, however, we have been told that we need to limit her screen time to make sure she doesn’t damage her eyes. Looking at a screen like that for a long time could cause Digital Eye Strain, so it’s important that we protect her from that. We read that we could always purchase some computer reading glasses from Felix Gray to protect her eyes as she reads on her iPad, so that’s something we might do. You can find the Kindle on Amazon, prices range from $79-$379 and the newest kindle fire is priced at $199…The Ipad is slightly more expensive, but if you search I am sure you can find a good deal.

Is it worth the Gamble!

I recently posted a question on Facebook, “Should Americans be forced to have Health Insurance like they are forced to have Car insurance?” This is a difficult question to answer, originally I said yes because I believe having health insurance is just as important as having car insurance, homeowners insurance, and life insurance. Would you go without any of these insurances? My friend has a fantastic cheap trade car insurance but it is still an additional cost. Why isn’t it equally as important to have health insurance, no one can predict the future, and you just never know what is going to happen in a moment. Many years ago my husband Kurt slipped in front of our house and tore his Rotator Cuff, if we did not have insurance that surgery would have bankrupted us, you just never know what can happen in a moment. I do wonder however is it constitutional right for the government to mandate that everyone must pay for health insurance. Healthcare however is unlike car insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance (like that from policyme.com); Americans have an opportunity of opting out of paying for these insurance services. I understand that healthcare in America is currently not working and a new plan needs to be put forth, but how? The government wants everyone to have health insurance but they also want everyone to pay for it? I agree that everyone should have health coverage because the unthinkable could occur, but for many families this is just not possible. These families are gambling on their good health, which is very DANGEROUS!!!! The idea of buying car insurance through specialist companies such as Affordable Life USA is something that we should all be opting into, not out of. Some people find it difficult to understand the benefits of having car insurance.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that articles titled, All The Questions You Need To Ask When Looking For Car Insurance have been written. Although there is a lot to think about when it comes to insurance, it is definitely worth it. Just be sure to do your research before opting into any policy you come across. You just never know what can happen later on in life and it will be reassuring for you to know that whatever does change, your family will be financially stable, even if you are not here. The idea of death isn’t one that many people like to talk about, but you will have to sooner rather than later. At least looking into it will be a good step to make. If a family of 4 opts out for health insurance and decides to pay out of pocket to see the doctor five times @ $150 each time this would be $600 or $1200 if they go 10 times for the year. If they choose to pay for health insurance their investment could be between $18,000-$24,000 for the year. Which one would you choose? However consider this, no one can predict the next moment and in a second you could break your leg and that cost could easily cost you up to $26,000 and maybe more, now you are spending $2000 over what insurance would cost you and it is only January, Is it worth the Gamble?

Are you feeling me now? Maybe the government should offer different Health Care packages. Free, Moderate & Premium, this way every American has a basic package and those who want more and can afford more will be placed on a premium package. The objective is to keep American’s healthy and this cannot occur when 44% of Americans do not have health insurance and only seek medical attention when it is too late.

Many Americans are against The Affordable Care Act? So lets review the benefits of this Act….

• 2.5 million more young adults have health insurance on their parent’s plan. ?

• 5.1 million people with Medicare saved an average of $635 on the cost of their prescription drugs. And everyone on Medicare can get preventive services like mammograms for free. ?

• Insurance companies must spend at least 80 percent of your premium dollars on health care and not overhead and cannot raise your premiums by 10 percent or more with no accountability. ?

• It is illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage to children because of a pre-existing condition. And in 2014, discriminating against anyone with a pre-existing condition will be illegal.

For more information on the Affordable Care Act..Click Here:

Personally I am happy knowing that both my daughters will have health insurance until they are 26. Many times young people are very naive when they take their first fulltime job. They will tend to not take health insurance because they live in the now. They do not think about the next minute or the next day. They just do not think anything will happen to them, they think they are invincible. What if the unthinkable happens…they get sick, or in an accident, how much will those doctors’ bills add up to? They think they are in debt with college loans; their heads will spin if they had to add medical bills to their growing list of monthly bills. This young person would be drowning in debt and guess what Parents…they are then moving back home. They are using your electricity, water, food, cable and much more…how much would that cost and how much would it cost you to keep them on your health insurance plan for another couple of years. Today’s college student is graduating with so much debt that if they can save a couple of extra dollars in their paychecks they are opting out of healthcare in the beginning. DANGEROUS!

The other major change is the ability to switch jobs even if you have a prolonged medical condition without fear that another insurance company would not pick up your pre-existing condition. This is HUGE…. This allows you the freedom to not be held captive with the same employer and the ability to increase salary. When an employer knows that you are held captive by your medical condition sometimes they use this against you and place you in a desperate category. You now have the ability to make choices and that is never a bad thing.

Hamptons Mouthpiece readers before you make a decision this year when you go out to vote for the next President of the United States…please keep in mind who is really fighting for you and who is trying hard to make a change in your everyday life. Yes bringing down the deficit is very important but so are the small decisions that can mean the difference between you living comfortably or living on the streets…