Who Knew: A To-Do List for Summer’s Last Call

‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market.

Instagram, in its finite wisdom, recently informed me that “August is the Sunday of summer.” This proclamation struck an ominous chord. The author (okay, the meme-creating chatbot) may have intended to incite a cozy, churchy, Sunday kind of calm, but it gave me a little stab of panic and despair. Have I been to enough baseball games? Played enough Marco Polo? Gotten a decent tan? Eaten enough corn? (No, no, head to toe SPF 50, and never, respectively.)

In August, even if nobody in the family is going back to school, a cultural curtain closes between “things we want to do” and “things we have to do.” Jetskis and sno-cones give way to dermatologist appointments and budget meetings. Astronomically speaking, we’ve got until September 22nd to claim summer on a technicality, but we know in our hearts that it won’t be long until there are mums outside the grocery store. The edges of the Mead Park tennis courts are already littered with fallen leaves, and leaves around town show the telltale (drought-induced) signs of being officially over it all. Can Christmas displays at Home Depot be that far behind?

The best defense against the hard truth of a New England summer’s end is to make sure you’ve squeezed every last drop out of the incredibly special vibes it offers. If mindfulness and organization are the best ways to beat the Sunday Scaries, then the End of Summer Blues can be treated somewhat similarly. In the spirit of an intentional wrap-up, I’m giving myself a to-do list, and, because I’m no gatekeeper, sharing it with you. Special little celebrations that will give our camera rolls, if not our memories, something bright and sunlit to hold onto when the world turns gray and forlorn.  

Catch the Last Two Waveny Summer Concerts

A friend recently admitted to me that he’d never been to a Waveny concert before this summer, and while I feigned aghast-ness, I totally understood why. These lovely nights are fleeting, and easy to miss when you’re out of town or attuned to other Wednesday night activities. But there’s nothing quite like watching the sun set behind Waveny’s western trees while hundreds of adults chair-dance to the classics. Bring a cooler full of whatever thrills you, a couple of lawn chairs, and your favorite dog. Or your favorite dawgs. This series ends September 3rd, and I think I can speak for the whole town when I thank the Parks and Rec Commission and myriad businesses who sponsored another year of New Canaan’s best weekly celebration. I love it. I miss it when it’s over. I start pining for its return around March of every year. Go. 

Eat Outside at Doppio

I have sincere questions about how many Italian restaurants one community can reasonably be expected to keep afloat, but Doppio is a revelation of the highest order. It’s a wonderful and welcome addition to our town’s lineup, and I hope to see them in New Canaan for the long haul. The team behind the restaurant (the OG is in Greenwich next to Raphaël’s bakery) did a beautiful job rethinking the tucked-away space that had been Best Pizza Co. and Vicolo before it, and the service, drinks, and food are all exceptional. I usually make a point of visiting a place twice before shouting from the rooftops about it, but with Doppio, I was texting fellow eaters to make their reservations before the check came.

It’s intended to be family-friendly and low-key, but on the night we visited, it was buzzy and boisterous, with elevated takes on classic fare. The arugula salad with white beans was exceptional, as was the all-veggie Amalfi pizza (zucchini puree, mozzarella, crispy zucchini, lemon, stracciatella, chilis, basil; it’s the purest expression of summer on a chewy-crust pie), and they’ve cleverly lined the gentle steps down to their entrance with tables for outdoor service. I’d say we felt like we were in Naples, but there were too many golf shirts and Vineyard Vines-clad toddlers to make the comparison credible. Anyhow, I loved it. You will too, especially if you order a Negroni and watch the world go by. 

 

Get a Load of Overton’s/ Mr. Frosty’s/ the whole East Norwalk Scene

In the second act of the (underrated!) Tim Burton movie Big Fish, Edward Bloom stumbles upon an enchanted, hidden town on a festive summer night. I felt his exact sense of marvel when friends recently took us to the easygoing East Norwalk waterfront, where wonders abound on every corner, from fried clams to live-music-dockside-shrimp palaces to mini golf. I knew nothing of the area, despite having lived here for eleven years. My shame at this fact is significant. 

Overton’s (open March-November, and now in its 77th season!) is a seafood shack in the quintessential sense: clam strips, crabcake sandwiches, and Other Fried Things™ are available in abundance, but ¾ of us* opted for butter-drenched lobster rolls, which come with fries and an ice cream for the very fair price of $29.99. You may love Rowayton Seafood, and I do too, but this decidedly casual spot ain’t it, and for that, I appreciated it all the more. There is no $26 pour of Sauvignon Blanc. There are onion rings. The specials are written on a dry-erase board. You sit at a picnic table overlooking the Norwalk harbor and wipe your buttery hands on little napkins that might prefer to blow away. The lobster roll is generous with claw meat, served on a New England-style roll, and it comes not on a twee plate but in a little takeout box you pitch in the trash when finished. If you don’t want to worry about your heart health, just don’t look at the little pools of orange butter that dot the wax paper underneath your sandwich. This won’t fly for legitimate medical advice, but what you don’t see, your cardiologist won’t see either. Done. 

*One person had scallops, and I’m sure they were delightful, but c’mon.

 

Afterwards, and this is mandatory, get in line around the corner for ice cream at Mr. Frosty’s, which was obviously my husband’s favorite part. There’s something wholesome and unifying about a summer night where people of all ages stand excitedly in line for a scoop or two–nobody’s doomscrolling or stuck on a conference call. Everyone is focused on the immediate future, reciting their order like an incantation to anyone who will listen. For me, a (plenty big) kid’s size chocolate-vanilla swirl of soft serve with hard shell chocolate was perfection. 

 

Make a Farmer’s Market Tomato Sandwich

Good news: the New Canaan Farmer’s Market’s dates have extended significantly in the past few years, and they now hold our town’s beloved Saturday morning tradition until December 20th–a boon for anyone who needs pre-holiday knife sharpening, farm-raised meats, or wishes to give the “Pesto! Mozzarella!” guy a holiday bonus. But it’s fair to say that peak market season is right this minute. Tables are groaning under the weight of glossy eggplants, ripe tomatoes, fragrant melons, and So! Much! Corn! It’s hard not to be dazzled by the abundance. It’s also hard to imagine what I’ll be excited about in January when it’s all done. (Sumo citrus; I always have a food to be excited about.)

 

You can’t freeze time. You can, however, make yourself a tomato sandwich. Thickly slice the ripest, reddest, juiciest tomato you can find, toast a couple of pieces of Wave Hill sourdough, slather it with your preferred ratio of Duke’s mayo (this is non-negotiable), add smoked Maldon salt flakes, a few grinds of pepper, and eat it over the sink. My friend Katie-Bo recently added a dash of Parlor Pizza’s Caesar dressing (I’d do laps in it if I could) to hers and had zero regrets. These are the kinds of geniuses I need in my life. 

Check Out the Sheffield Island Lighthouse 

Easily my favorite local find of the summer, and I have my friend Inger Stringfellow’s real estate email blast to thank for the discovery. The lighthouse on Sheffield Island, one of the outer Norwalk islands, has been decommissioned since the early 20th century, but still stands as a museum to this critical mode of maritime navigation. You set sail (ok, there are no sails involved, but it sounds strange to say you set pontoon) from Water Street, a few blocks from the Sono Mall. Fun fact: Charlie Lampen, recent NCHS grad and son of Graham and Rachel, is the island manager this summer and worked the event. Nesting ospreys are plentiful, and a few curious cormorants kept us company on the beautiful 35-minute trip out. Once there, we enjoyed a clambake on the island, held in a post-and-beam party pavilion near the keeper’s cabin. 

 

The clambakes appear to be sold out for the year, but check the Seaport Association site. Sunset cruises are still on offer into September, as are tours of the island and a special two-lighthouse tour on September 13th. Gazing across the Sound at sunset (I dare you not to think of Jay Gatsby when you do this) and thinking how lucky you are to be here, in this peaceful spot, while the rest of the world teems with uncertainty and microplastics, is the kind of August memory with which I will fill my vault.

Go For a Night Drive with Supertramp’s “Goodbye Stranger” Blasting at Top Volume. 

I can’t tell you why this is a crucial component of a well-spent summer; I can only tell you that it is. Sing along. Can you hit a B4? Who cares. It’s summer. Still. Kinda. Right?