Romantic Getaway: Southampton in a Mustang Convertible

In front of the entrance to Claude's at the Southampton Inn, in the Ford Mustang

Driving to Southampton can be a soul-crushing experience. No matter what time you leave, you can hit bumper to bumper traffic, sudden downpours, speed traps, or inexplicable delays.

But driving to Southampton in a Mustang convertible? You kind of don't even notice the extra car time.

Cold corn soup, with plenty of fresh crab

In fact, driving more slowly means the guy next to gives you the thumbs up, and your hair recovers more quickly from the wind-whipping experience.

Wedding anniversary: topless in Southampton

The beach is always a aromatic setting. When you add time in a topless car? Well, that just amps up the romance.

I let my husband sit in the driver's seat and pretend

I recently spent a long weekend in Southampton, with the requisite long, long drive, but the metallic blue Ford Mustang convertible made the time pass quickly.

The car was an automatic ecoboost, with plenty of pep despite having just 4 turbocharged cylinders. It had 10 speeds, and a sport mode. This is not the car for helping your kids move into a new apartment, but it is just about ideal for a getaway for 2. It was our wedding anniversary, and the Mustang let us feel younger. Without the onus of shirting gears manually in that stop and go traffic. [While we were dating, my husband taught me how to drive a manual car on his own sports car]

Just in case you forget what kind of car you have: yes, a Ford Mustang

Luxury car, luxury dining

While we spent most the weekend with my siblings and their partners, we also enjoyed a romantic dinner for 2 at Claude's. The restaurant, at the Southampton Inn, has a formal dining room with crisp white linens. But you can also eat at the delightful patio, with the same excellent food but a more casual experience.

We indulged in a special cold corn soup, with lump crab meat. Claude's wasn't stingy about the crab. There was plenty of fresh, luscious crab meat to share.

The heirloom tomatoes with burrata and 'living greens' seemed required eating. I had tomatoes at every meal in the Hamptons. I mean, August.

Day boat halibut, loaded with wild mushrooms

We wanted to continue  with cold food, so we shared two appetizers for a main course; lobster mango salad and (warm) crab cakes. The salad had a yummy avocado mousse and lightly pickled cucumbers. The crab cakes had a local sweet corn salad.

The local day boat halibut was roasted and served with truffle mashed potatoes and wild mushroom ragu. Again, the chef was quite genres with the luxurious wild mushrooms. This dish would be great in front of fire in winter, but it was quite delicious when I was wearing white summer pants and a sleeveless top.

Since I was driving, I couldn't get a drink, but my husband had the Wolffer rose.  The vineyard is just a few miles away, in Sagaponack.

The sports car for the, ahem, mature driver

My older brother bought the same performance car my younger brother has, but hated the way his bones rattled when he drove the car. He decided he was told old for the car. (At the time, he was 50).

The Ford Mustang is cool enough that your kids will want to drive it. But you will be comfortable in it. And no, they cannot.

The body sits low, but not so low that you have to contort your creaky bones to get into the car. The driver's seat has lumbar support and both front seats have cooled and heated vents.

The Mustang logo greeting at night projected onto the street

Totally wow factors

The Mustang has the Ford "intelligent key." You can stride up to your locked car, with that key fob in your pocket or pocketbook, and the car automatically opens.

Even cooler is the projection of the Mustang logo when you enter the car at night. Sort of like the Bat signal. My brother in law immediately went looking for the sensor that projected the logo. Even though he knew I was just driving the car for a week, he instantly elevated my cool status.

The Mustang logo on the infotainment screen.

My daughter and her friend were equally impressed. But then, they also were dumbfounded when we were driving in a sudden storm. It took just seconds to put the top up. And the rain sensing windshield wipers, which they'd never seen, magically started up. The wipers even increased speed when the rain got harder.

Note: Ford loaned me the Mustang and Claude's provided a complimentary meals. Opinions and sense of refinement are all my own.