NY/ Long Island / Greenport

One of our favorite Long Island Sound destinations is Greenport, NY.

Greenport is just north of Shelter Island on the north fork of Long Island. It's a good-sized town for Eastern LI with all possible services and retail. The north fork of Long Island is unique. It's wine country, for one thing. It's also fairly free of the Big-SUV drivin', cell-phone talkin', recently-facelifted crowd that you see in the Hamptons on the South Fork.

Our favorite thing to do in Greenport is to visit the wineries that are all along Route 25. The larger ones have elaborate pavilions for visitors and tasters. It's usually a couple of bucks for a taste, $10 for a "flight", a taste of a whole series of wines. I've never been to Napa Valley, but I think that they are trying to emulate that environment. Some of the wines are pretty good, certainly the equal of the inexpensive French and California wines that I buy.

There are tour companies that will take you to the wineries, but they always seem to be booked to the gills. It's a better idea to have someone else drive, but there are some capacity problems there, it's best to arrange your own transportation.

As for transportation:
There's only one car rental place in Greenport, a former rent-a-wreck who has struck out on his own. Our chariot was a 1982 Plymouth Duster with 3 out of 4 window cranks still installed, for $55/day with a 50-mile limit. You can get on the Long Island RR, however, and go all the way to the city. The roads are pretty busy, but it still seems a fairly bike-friendly area.

Sailing in from Long Island Sound requires that you time the tidal current through Plum Gut, the rip-filled passage between Orient Point and Plum Island -- of hoof-and-mouth fame. Currents there run just over 5 kts. After about 20-30 passages I have found that you can sneak through against the tide by hugging the light house (the "Coffee Pot"), but it's better to schedule yourself a fair tide. Once you are in Gardiner's Bay, you'll enjoy some great sailing, as the low elevations of Long Island let the breeze through while creating flat water. We have enjoyed many exciting afternoons reaching at hull speed on flat water. You could never do that in the Sound, the chop always fetches up.

The one downside of Greeport is there are no anchorages. There are great anchorages in the vicinity -- Sag Harbor, Three Mile Harbor (North Hampton), Coecles Harbor-- but if you want to visit Greenport you have to have a slip. My favorite, for convenience and amenities is Townsend Manor. Some of the marinas (Brewers, for example) are on the other side of the Harbor, its a looooong walk to town.

The Ospreys Guide web site(http://www.ospreysguide.com/CruiseGuide/CruiseGGport/cruisggport.html) is a decent source for restaurant and activity information. Don't expect to find wonderful restaurants. That sucking sound you hear is the Hamptons dragging all the best chefs to the south fork. On the negative side, avoid the downtown movie theater at all costs. Locals drop off their kids there in droves, and they use the theaters for socializing, they could care less about watching the movies. "Lord of the Flies" is playing every night, if you know what I mean...There you are. If you liked that, share your favorite Long Island spots in return. We need new places to go!

Paul
sv Escape Artist
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