Here we are. It is hard as it may be to believe that summer is almost over don't fret, though; that only means it's almost time for The Greenport Maritime Festival 2022. The 33rd annual return of this popular, Long Island North Fork event is scheduled for September 24th and 25th, 2022, in Greenport Village. The East End Maritime Festival is an annual tradition here on Long Island's North Fork. The weekend-long celebration of local maritime heritage is by the East End Seaport Museum. The highlight of the weekend is the Tall Ship Amistad that will be in the port.
This lighthouse sits on screw piles that, at low tide, it looked like a bug. Commissioned in 1870.
Long Island Bug Lighthouse Cruise and Tour
There’s always something fun to do on Long Island’s North Fork, but one of the more popular attractions has to be the Bug Light. Long Beach Bar “Bug” Lighthouse helps mariners navigate the hazardous sandbar between Orient Harbor and Gardiner’s Bay. The original structure was built in 1870 on screw piles which left an opening beneath the structure and inspired its nickname “Bug” Light because when the rocks were covered at high tide, the lighthouse looked like a giant water bug. After arsonists set fire to it in 1963 `The East End Seaport Museum and Marine Foundation established ta group to reconstruct Long Beach Bar “Bug” Light.
Considering coming to the North Fork for a weekend, consider this romantic trip to the Bug Light. Come to Greenport, on Long Island’s North Fork, for a Long Island Bug Lighthouse Cruise and Tour.
The lighthouse is a gateway to Greenport, Shelter Island, and Peconic Bay and is officially known as the Long Beach Bar Light. It became known as the “Bug” Light because it was initially constructed on a screw-pile platform that elevated it above Gardiner’s Bay. The name had stuck when the light was converted from a screw-pile platform to a concrete caisson foundation. From a distance, the spindly pilings supporting the structure made the lighthouse look like a giant bug walking on water.
Long Beach Bar Lighthouse was constructed in 1871 and decommissioned in 1948 after a sandbar had grown to make the beacon useless as a channel marker. Various groups tussled over buying the historic light until 1963, when arsonists solved the ownership issue by burning the lighthouse to the foundation.
The foundation sat unencumbered until the summer of 1990 when the organization floated out a replica to replace the original. The “replica” was so complete that, in 1993, the Coast Guard recognized the beacon as federal aid to navigation. The Bug Light has been back in service ever since.
The Greenport’s East End Seaport Museum and Marine Foundation owns, operates, and maintains the Bug Lighthouse. As part of their funding and outreach, they offer a variety of lighthouse tours from late May through late October.
Bug Lighthouse cruises are narrated, often by a local guide, Bob Allen. Bob was raised in Greenport and is a descendant of a Bug Lighthouse keeper. Consequently, his narrations can take you behind the scenes of the lighthouse, as well as back in time.
Bug Lighthouse Cruise and Tour Schedule
Duration: Approximately 1.5 hours
When: Saturdays, September, October, and November 2022, from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Where: East End Seaport Museum and Marine Foundation
Cost: $59.00, 10% discount for seniors & veterans
Tickets: are available online at
You can also pick them up at the East End Seaport Museum here. Bug Lighthouse Cruise Lodging
Locally owned and operated, Arbor View House Bed and Breakfast is a Long Island B&B that offers upper-tier amenities, delicious breakfasts, and an insider’s knowledge of the area. Give yourself the reward of luxury, comfort, and uncommon service during your Long Island getaway with a stay at Arbor View House Bed and Breakfast!
“The owner is so very nice,; headvised of places we could go and things we could do! And the beds!!! I have back issues, and it’s hard to sleep comfortably in a bed! I don’t know where they got them from, but I woke up feeling amazing”!!! Kashia B
Long Island’s North Fork is home to a great many artists and craftspeople. The number of Greenport art galleries attest to that. Even a quaint, little village like Greenport has a booming art community.
Greenport Village is a historic town between Southold and East Marion on Long Island’s North Fork. Its quiet summer cottages and seafood shacks along the waterfront contrast nicely with the fine restaurants and upscale shops.
It is likely this cultural dichotomy that attracts so many artisans to the area. Greenport is chock full of studios and galleries displaying a wide variety of bright and unique creations.
No visit to the North Fork would be complete without seeing at least one of the many romantic and historic Long Island lighthouses here. Horton Point Lighthouse, located near Southold, NY, is just such an iconic light.
Visitors are more than welcome and the building also houses a small but wonderful nautical museum.
The Antique Carousel in Mitchell Park is just one of the Top 10 Things To Do In GreenportGreenport Village on Long Island’s North Fork is a charming and beautiful destination for anyone looking to enjoy a Long Island getaway – but what to do? Let our list of the Top 10 Things To Do In Greenport Village help!
Long Island’s Greenport Village is always good for a getaway – whether it’s for an afternoon or for a week. Beyond the simple attraction of being located on Long Island, Greenport Village is smack dab in the middle of Long Island Wine Country. It would be very easy to spend a weekend just visiting vineyards – and you’d very likely still not get to them all!
Craft beer has taken the nation by storm and Long Island’s North Fork is no exception with fresh, locally brewed beer and opportunities to enjoy Long Island craft brewery tours!
Long Island is bursting at the seams with great craft beer breweries and brewpubs – Suffolk County has over 20 craft breweries/brewpubs alone! – and this translates into a chance to enjoy Long Island craft brewery tours and craft beer tastings!
Due to its unique geography, the North Fork Long Island Beaches provide nearly endless Long Island beaches to visit, historic lighthouses to view, and parks and trails to explore.
So much of the attraction for Long Island’s North Fork is the different pace of life here: farms and vineyards, small, historic villages, quaint roadside attractions, and everywhere: nature. Miles of unspoiled beaches along Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay. We’ve assembled a shortlist of a few Long Island beaches in the North Fork area.
Go back in history at Long Island’s Greenport Village with a fun and fascinating self-directed Greenport Walking Tour!
Now a pleasant and popular tourist destination in North Fork winery country, the history of Greenport Village is long and storied. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin both toured Greenport, and the great American poet Walt Whitman called the village home for a while – there are even rumors he taught at the high school for a semester.
Tour Peconic Bay Harbor in Glory … Greenport’s own, fume-free, virtually silent, environmentally-friendly, solar-powered, electric Fantail launch named Glory, that is!
Glory is a 1990 reproduction of a 30 foot Fantail launch, a style of craft popularized during the late 1800’s as advances in steam, gasoline, naptha, and electric-power allowed for the creation of small power boats. Originally built by the ELCO company, Fantail launches were quite popular with both the public and luminaries of the time like J.P. Morgan, and the Tsar of Russia.
With Memorial Day Weekend sneaking up on us, summer can’t be too far behind, meaning the urge to get out into the sun will continue to grow. Long Island’s North Fork beaches and parks offer lots of opportunities to do just that!
The North Fork of Long Island is rife with great parks and trails, making it the perfect adult playground with North Fork beaches and parks provide lots of great scenery to relax and enjoy as well as numerous trails for hiking.
