What To Do In Port Jeff: #95 – Take a Ferry to Connecticut

The ; sounds kind of romantic. You can picture yourself lazily floating across the Long Island Sound in a Mark Twain-esque kind of way during the heat of the summer.

Well, not exactly but it's still a great way to travel, whether you walk-on or drive on with your car or motorcycle.

Spend more than a few minutes down port and you're bound to view one of the vessels entering or leaving the harbor with a loud blast of its horn. The ferries are a constant in the background of the harbor while at most places that face north on Broadway like , or walking along the . And be sure to make way when you approach the channel or you're libel to hear the imposing signal blast as the ferry bears down on your itty bitty boat. (You thought your boat was big until you accidentally got a little too close to one of them.)

The ubiquitous ferries include the Grand Republic, PT Barnum and Park City. These ferries carry on a long tradition of water transport that dates back to 1884 when a 120 foot wooden hull vessel called the Nonowantuc carried up to 250 passangers across the Sound, according to the company's website.

In comparison, the Grand Republic built in 2003–and the newest in the fleet–is 300 feet long, has a beam of 52 feet and can cary up to 120 cars and 1,000 passengers.

If you plan the route on Mapquest the drive from Port Jefferson is 2 hours and 3 minutes long covering a distance of 96.49 miles. That same trip by ferry according to Mapquest is 1 hour and 26 minutes long and covers 19.05 miles of nautical bliss. (A distance of 17.1 nautical miles according to the ferry website for those who prefer the correct sailor's terminology.)

It's a no brainer.

The ferry offers a number of speical tours and events packages including travel and there's no better way to get across the Sound for a ski trip to one of a number of New England mountains or the casinos.

They have food and drinks onboard along with a lounge area for those 21 and over. Reservations can usually be made anytime up to two hours in advance of the departure time.

There's really no arguement. The Port Jefferson side is far superior to the Bridgeport side as a destination spot but when it comes to traveling across the mighty Long Island Sound, there's no better way than our very own ferry service.

Category: Travel and transportation.

Price: $51 for one auto and a driver, $67 for one auto with unlimited passangers.

Season:  Year-round.