Canoe Place Leans Into the Season

From Sunday morning yoga and acoustic music by the fire to Thanksgiving dinner and hands-on culinary experiences, Canoe Place is embracing the quieter pleasures of fall.

Fall in the Hamptons has a way of asking everyone to slow down. The tourists have vanished, the beaches finally breathe, and the roads now belong to anyone with somewhere to be, or nowhere at all. As days stretch into chilly evenings, firepits come alive, and dinnertime feels less about rushing through a reservation and more about the pleasure of long conversations and second helpings.

At Canoe Place Inn & Cottages in Hampton Bays, that shift is part of the program. The old bones of the place suddenly invite you to linger. This season, they’ve stacked the calendar with just enough happenings to make you feel involved, but never busy.

Start with Sunday. Wake up, skip the news, and unroll your mat on the Great Lawn for open-air yoga with Doza Yoga Studio. The session goes from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., stretching out through October 25. It’s yoga, yes, but the lawn’s green hush and a bunch of strangers breathing together bring a kind of quiet that’s hard to find anywhere else on the East End.

Wednesday nights? That’s a different vibe. Through October 28, Autumn Acoustics in the garden sets up on the Garden Lawn for live music. Think firepits glimmering, someone murmuring over a guitar, cocktails gently finding their mark, and everyone recalibrating after summer’s haze. It’s the sort of gathering that makes you wonder why you’d ever stomach the summer crowds.

Then, just as sweaters are no longer optional, the holidays arrive. The Study at Canoe Place goes cozy and warm Thursday through Saturday evenings, 5 to 9. The cocktail game steps up; the fires are roaring. Saturday nights belong to Jeff LeBlanc, who’ll play live by the fire for those Fireside Sessions.

It’s the kind of scene that doesn’t need a reason. Just bring yourself, stay a while, and try not to rush out.

Thanksgiving gets its due at Good Ground Tavern on November 26, with a three-course prix fixe from noon to 8 p.m. Everything’s done with comfort and a whiff of polish: wood-roasted honeynut squash draped in maple and miso, a showstopper Beef Wellington under a mushroom-truffle jus, then gingerbread Baked Alaska decked out with mulled fruits and blackberry sorbet. Adults are set at $115, kids at $75.

But fall at Canoe Place isn’t just about eating. They’re pushing people a little deeper into the action.

Starting in November, hands-on experiences take over. There’s a 60-minute Wine Tasting Experience — five wines, bites of charcuterie, plus a keepsake opener for $65. For the cocktail-curious, 90 minutes behind the bar lets you try your hand at three cocktails under the Canoe Place crew’s guidance. Light snacks keep you steady. The shaker (a small one, but charming) is yours for $45.

If you want to go all in, Chef Matthew Woolf opens his kitchen for a Cooking Experience. The chef tailors things to the crew who shows up. You’ll make a main course and a dessert, prep with the team for 60 to 90 minutes, then sit down together afterward with a glass of wine or a cocktail, an apron to bring home, and recipes you helped create. It’s $165 per person, and it just might be the most memorable meal of your fall.

Canoe Place has always belonged to summer weddings and grand celebrations, but fall changes things. It’s quieter, slower, and somehow more real. This is the season when the best moments sneak up on you—long nights, less pressure, better stories over better meals.

So, don’t think of fall as the end of anything. Here, it’s just the start of the good part.

Ty Wenzel

Ty Wenzel is an award-winning writer, designer, and marketing professional with a career spanning fashion, publishing, media, and digital innovation. A recent breast cancer survivor, she began her career as a fashion coordinator for Bloomingdale’s before serving as fashion editor at Cosmopolitan Magazine. Her work has appeared in numerous national publications, including The New York Times, and she is the author of a memoir published by St. Martin’s Press. In 2020, Wenzel co-founded James Lane Post, where she covers lifestyle, real estate, architecture, and interiors. She previously served as a writer and marketing director for The Independent. Her work in journalism, social media, and design has been recognized with multiple PCLI and NYPA awards, including best website design and best magazine. Wenzel is also the founder of the Hamptons-based social media agency TWM Hamptons Social Media, where she develops high-level branding and digital strategy for luxury clients.