Located on the North Shore of Long Island, Port Jefferson, NY was developed in 1797 as a ship-building town. Today, the Incorporated Village (1967)of Port Jefferson is home to approximately 7,662 people. For more history, check out the Port Jefferson web site.

It is the locale of the Bridgport-Port Jefferson Ferry which transports commuters and tourists to and from New York and Connunicut, and the Long Island Rail Road's Port Jefferson Train Station which travels to and from Penn Station, NY several times a day in a 2 hour trip. Located 56 miles from New York City, and right on a calm harbor of the North Shore, Port Jefferson is a relaxing place to visit or live. It is surrounded on it's three sides by Mt. Sinai, Stonybrook and Port Jefferson Station.

Today, the town is a comfortable aray of the new and old, speckled with "almost" strip-malls among restored buildings, most of which house stores or buisnesses. The town is small and quiet and the mostly uppper middle class locals often complain that there is nothing to do, and head out to the Hamptons. Still, somehow visitors often find much to do, especially in the summer, when the quiet streets become crowded with the boat owners and torists that provide the town with much of it's revenue. There is no real public beach to speak of in the Village itself (the people who live in Belle Terre however, often have private beaches along the harbor), simply a shoreline dotted with piers to walk along as the water laps up along the wooden piles, but there are rentable boats on the Danfords pier, and The Port Jefferson Yaht Club is are where many people dock their boats in the summer.

Things to Do

Shopping in Port Jefferson is very easy to do, and very fun. There are a variety of shops available, clustered on Main Street, which are often quite crowded on summer weekends.

Some shops of note are:

Some other stores are:

Food!!!!

There are many wonderful places to eat in Port Jefferson.

Of course, if you're by the shore, you might as well be eating sea-food. The best places for seafood are divided by three:

There are a variety of gourmet delis, which serve a vareity of sandwiches and yummies for quick meals. I highly reccomend Moore's.

As for the usual, there is a Starbucks, which I like to go to for some good people watching (located right on a busy pedestrian corner) and a vanilla steamer.

(I scream, you scream for...) Ice Cream!!!

There are a million places that serve italian ices, and only one that "does not mix flavors." That is Incredible Ices. The others all delightfully mix to your hearts content, for the perfect chocolate-peanutbutter-grape jelly ices you want.

Bars

When going out in Port Jefferson, it is important to be 2 things. Either a girl or over 23 years old. Some of the bars in the Incorporated Village do not allow men into their establishments unless they are 23 or over. The best bars to go to are:

Playing

RocketShip Park

Rocketship park is a large park located right across from the harbor and behind Harbor View Mall, and it is a haven for all 4-12 year olds during the daytime and a great place for manhunt if you're over 17 in the night (the park technically closes at dusk, so you have to leave if the police say you have to). There are swings, slides, assorted climbing things, basket ball courts, handball courts, and of course, the rocketship slide, where the park gets its name.

Local Events

Around the holiday season there are lots of happenings in Port Jefferson, more for the locals than the tourists.
Theater Three, the community theater in Port Jefferson hosts a showing of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickenson. It is usually an execellent production, and locals often get a chance to see people they know on stage (Auditions are open; there is one cold reading and a cold song).