Port Jefferson

Saturday night my friend Nancy and I headed down to Port Jefferson. The summer is not complete until you spend some time in Port Jefferson especially if you're from the north shore of Suffolk County. The waterside village is perfect for wandering around, and with Saturday being a cool summer night, that's exactly what we did.

Port Jefferson is filled with a variety of stores to pass the time. Most of them are open until 9 or 10 PM so an evening visit can still be filled with shopping. Besides popping in some of the stores we stopped by the Joseph Rowland Photo Gallery (http://www.jrowlandphoto.com) to check out Joseph's awe-inspiring photos and the Thomas Kinkade shop. We also stopped by the Christmas Shoppe that has moved to a smaller location but still has a variety of quaint Christmas decorations that you can buy all year round.

We also peeked in Danford's where the inn houses one of the more upscale bars and restaurants in the town and then watched a boat pulling in at the pier. We ended the night with appetizers and drinks at Tommy's Place. I always thought Tommy's was just a bar, but there's actually a small sitting area for dining in the back and a little patio.

Once a shipbuilding town, Port Jefferson with its variety of stores and restaurants is now one of Long Island's gems and a hot destination. It's also not just for summer, besides the establishments that are open all year round, in December there's the annual Dickens Festival which transforms the village back to the 19th century. It looks like this year it will run from Friday, December 3 through Sunday, December 5 so mark your calendars!