Sitting on the Quiksilver bus was one exciting thing to do in Montauk last week, especially when you're sitting with Lisa Andersen and she's telling you that Montauk is one of the nicest places she has ever seen.

Those words are still sitting with me a week later. I can't even fathom the kinds of things Lisa has been able to see in her life. Thanks to her surfing success, she has seen it all when it comes to the world. She has seen Hawaii, she has seen California and Asia. Every place she goes to revolves around all things natural and gorgeous, and Montauk was a place that simply stood up to it all.

Sometimes it's easy to forget how gorgeous it is here until you leave it. But Montauk is one of those places that really sticks with you. Last weekend Ditch Plains felt uniquely beautiful. It was so nice there in fact I didn't even care when there was a citiot on his cell phone staring out at the ocean and screaming, "Yea George, it is just such an amazing view here, you are really missing out."

Leave it up to those guys to not just brag about their cars and their houses, but also about a Ditch Plains view.

Watching the excitement of so many kids running around, looking up to the older surfers and mezmerized by their graceful abilities on the water is a fresh reminder of what's important in life.

When it comes down to it, Montauk is really a slice of heaven with a cherry on top, there is so much combined into one place even the best of the best get excited about it.

The Quiksilver bus, by the time you read this, will be long gone heading West to deliver more autographs and pictures to more excited people anxious to meet what all surfers dream to do. But young Montauk surfers will remain here and it's nice to know that surfing legends wouldn't mind remaining here also.

We are all waiting for a Montauk surfer to break out onto the national scene, and although it hasn't quite happened yet, it certainly feels like it is getting close.

Just last weekend on the ocean was a surf contest with judges looking out into the water with clipboards in hand. There are a few locals out here that work furiously at mastering their sport and their work dazzles us as we view them on the beach.

Their commitment to their lifestyle is impossible to not respect and it's just a matter of time before any of us are talking about a young local Montauk kid that we, "used to hang out with" or that we "used to work with" or that we'd "see around town" who is now traveling all over the world competing at the highest level of surfing and making big money. Not if, but when that happens, we can then all complain about how it was better when that person didn't hit it big.

No matter what you do, no matter how nice it is, and no matter how good it is, there is always something to complain about.

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