Bridgeport campers return to Port Jeff

The people of Port Jefferson and Bridgeport, Connecticut, have long shared cultural and historical ties due to The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, which connects the two ports via a ferry route.

This connection was again strengthened Tuesday, Aug. 8, when dozens of campers from the Bridgeport Seaside Park Summer Day Camp docked in Port Jeff Harbor for a day trip.

Lee Nastu, recreation coordinator for the City of Bridgeport, has worked within the Bridgeport camp for nearly two decades. He said the yearly Port Jeff visit had been a perennial favorite among campers until the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt on the routine trip. 

“We’ve probably done this visit for about 10 years, so we wanted to bring it back,” he said. 

Riding on the ferry and touring the local area of another state offers “something a little bit different” from the ordinary camp experience, Nastu said. Sweetening the pot for the kids was also some discounted food from the Steam Room, located on East Broadway.

The recreation coordinator discussed the lasting cultural ties between the two ports, both housing power stations, and added how campers participate in an ongoing local tradition through this field trip.

“There are two smokestacks” at the Port Jeff plant, and “we only have one over there,” Nastu said. “As we were pulling in, I pointed out to some of the kids that it looks just like we’re going back to Bridgeport.”

Noting the similarities between Harborfront Park and Bridgeport’s Seaside Park, he added, “We have a beautiful park down in Bridgeport — a beautiful park, a beautiful beach, so it’s similar.”