| what about blue label Johnny Walker? or Black label, not as fancy. |
| Midori. LOL! I can't convince my cousin that is isn't the classiest thing for a hostess gift. She must buy it by the case because it appears on the table at every food related event we attend together. |
| Single Malt Scotch Whisky like Highland Park 18 year (about $100/bottle) or a 10 year-old scotch like Balvenie Doublewood ($50) or Oban ($50) or Macallan. Go to Calvert-Woodley they'll have some great suggestions. |
| I'm a WASP with a beach home, though not super rich a la Nantucket-class! Often guests bring wine to the beach house, however I'd really prefer something that I could use at the beach. For example, really nice plush beach towels, or adorable guest towels with a beachy or local theme would be nice, or as others suggested, a gift basket from a terrific local shop. Have fun! Don't worry too much about the gift. You must be a very dear friend or you wouldn't have been invited. So whatever you choose to do will be appreciated by your friend. |
Non wasp here. Humidity is low in Nantucket and Matha's Vineyard. Stop making up stuff. |
If anyone brought this as a gift for me it would sit in a corner and collect dust. Don't assume that others drink or want hard booze. |
Take them to dinner. We aren't rich but rent a house in MV yearly. When we invite friends over, I would appreciate being taken out for breakfast, lunch or dinner. |
| Champagne! |
| Bouquet of flowers |
| If you are near Potomac go to the gift shop Occasions in Cabin John mall. I would do a nice set of embroidered hand towels. Maybe with a nice candle or a nice mix of chocolates from a good chocolate shop. When we spend weekends with other families I usually spend about $100... Don't know if this is the range you were thinking. Have a great trip! |
+1 or order dinner in. Doesn't have to be fancy. Just something that takes a little bit of the load off. |
Arrange a lobster and clam bake. Places will bring it to you with corn etc. Lobster is relatively inexpensive there and oh so fresh and yummy. |
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I have a beach house in New England, and I agree with the nice towels or hand towels suggestion.
Once, my DH and I were invited to visit someone's mountain home. We brought wine, but we noticed while there that the owner had a collection of oil lamps, not grouped together but spread around the rooms. So after we left, we sought out an antique oil lamp, which we sent with a note about how much we had appreciated the hospitality. The owner loved it and said that no one else had eve noticed that collection. So something like that, where you really pay attention to the owner's tastes, can also work. |
The antique oil lamps were a nice idea. I have found that collectibles, in general, are tricky to gift. For an long-time collector, it is the hunt for a particular item that brings the collector the most enjoyment. Being given a random piece--not so much. |
If this family is a super fancy WASP family it would be welcome. Seems like you are making assumptions yourself. It would be a good addition to the bar of any wealthy family to offer other guests if nothing else. |