Things to do on a day trip to Bellport
Classic Americana is a hallmark of Bellport, a South Shore community where Mark Twain himself might have felt at home strolling the shady lanes and historic downtown.
Bellport Lane’s preserved homes were built in the early 1800s by ship captains and shipbuilders. “Current owners preserve much of the character of the original houses such as white picket fences and cedar shakes painted white,” says Joan Kaelin, president of the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society.
Downtown’s South Country Road is also out of the past, featuring dozens of one-of-a-kind retailers, including quirky restaurants and new outlets for home furnishings and comic books. A few minutes’ walk or bike ride takes you to the village marina on a windy stretch of Great South Bay.
“It’s nice and quaint, and a lot of people like to come here instead of going further east,” says James Grucci Sr., 79, a member of the Bellport fireworks-making family who was shopping downtown on a recent September afternoon.
Among the other local attractions: sightings of international film star and Bellport resident Isabella Rossellini, who owns a local organic farm.
Here are five ways to enjoy a trip to Bellport’s slightly-off-the-grid charms.
See historic homes
Credit: Allison Davis OKeefe
Bellport Lane’s preserved homes were built in the early 1800s by ship captains and shipbuilders. “Current owners preserve much of the character of the original houses such as white picket fences and cedar shakes painted white,” says Joan Kaelin, president of the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society.
Browse downtown shops
Credit: Allison Davis O’Keefe
Copper Beech opened in July selling a variety of home furnishings and prepared as well as freshly made food items. Hanging from the vintage tin ceiling (a relic of the building’s vaudeville theater past) are new lighting fixtures by the shop’s co-owner, interior and home furnishings designer Thomas O’Brien, whose work has been featured in Architectural Digest. (133 S. Country Rd., Bellport, 631-286-0202, aerostudios.com)
On Copper Beach shelves
Credit: Allison Davis OKeefe
Shop shelves at Copper Beech are stocked with imported olive oil, exotic fizzy drinks and pasta. A counter sells prepared snacks such as Mediterranean quinoa.
Visit an artists' collective
Credit: Allison Davis OKeefe
Auto Body, a collective of eight artists, some of whom grew up in Bellport, had converted an auto body shop into a gallery, but lost their space. Through Sept. 17 the group is working out of a gallery at 12 Bell St., Bellport, open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. After that, visitors can make an appointment to meet with a member of the group. For news of upcoming shows, visit autobodybellport.com.
Auto Body members, from left, Charlie Stravinksy, Claire Read, and Quinn Sherman at the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society on Bell Street.
From the art collective
Credit: Allison Davis OKeefe
Currently on display at the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society is "Pothole" a work by local artist Ida Badal. Badal is part of the art collective Auto Body.
The Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society
Credit: Allison Davis O’Keefe
Martha Mitchell greets visitors at the historical society’s Exchange Shop, a consignment shop at 12 Bell St. It is open year-round, on Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays, noon to 3 p.m. On a recent day the stock included crystalware, furniture, rocking chairs, drop-leaf tables and painted bird houses, a volunteer said.
In the Barn Museum
Credit: Allison Davis OKeefe
The Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society’s two-acre campus includes The Barn Museum, a milk house, a blacksmith’s shop, a boathouse and a gazebo on museum grounds. Its main property, Post-Crowell House, built in 1833, is undergoing restoration. To visit, make an appointment at bbhsmuseum.com. A doll house replica of the the historic Post-Crowell House is on display in the Barn Museum, originally a livery stable built in 1904.
On historical society grounds
Credit: Allison Davis OKeefe
The turban-crowned gazebo, originally from 1850 was rebuilt and restored using some of the original parts in 1997. It sits on the grounds of the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society Museum complex.
See the Whalehouse Point Ferry
Credit: Allison Davis O’Keefe
Running from Memorial Day through September, the village-owned Whalehouse Point Ferry can carry 45 Bellport residents and their guests at a time, making seven roundtrips a day, seven days a week to the serenity of village-owned Ho-Hum Beach.
Bike around the village
Credit: Allison Davis OKeefe
It’s a short scenic ride from downtown to the Bellport waterfront’s pleasure-boat-dotted marina. To enjoy the scenery, rent one of the colorful cruiser bicycles or hybrid road or mountain bikes lined up in the parking lot outside Kreb Cycle. ($28/day, 10 Bell St., Bellport, krebcycle.com, 631-286-1829)
Ho-Hum Beach on Fire Island
Credit: Allison Davis OKeefe
From the marina, which is home to the members-only Bellport Yacht Club, it is possible to get a ferry to Ho-Hum Beach on Fire Island, which is open only to village residents and their guests.
The Bellport Restaurant
Credit: Newsday / Adam Richins/Newsday / Adam Richins
With English garden-style seating, The Bellport Restaurant offers a charming ambience with original art decorating the walls, and Thursday night musical jams with chef and guitarist Taylor Alonso. (159 S. Country Rd., Bellport, 631-286-7550, thebellportrestaurant.com)
Try Carla Marla's
Credit: Allison Davis OKeefe
For dessert, stroll to Carla Marla’s Ice Cream Parlor, an old-fashioned ice cream shop with tables out front, candy jars in the window and egg creams and coffee shakes served inside. (8 Bellport Lane, 631-803-6630)
Credit: Allison Davis OKeefe
Carla Marla's Ice Cream Parlour drew, from left, Anabella Rice, Elsa OKeefe, and Josie Garratt, and Jackson Rice on a wam summer day.
