It’s true.
We’re crazy.
That’s the only explanation. We thought it would be fun to extend our vacation with a long weekend in Montauk. Of course, this decision was made at the last minute, just as any other perfectly normal vacation decisions are made.
By the time we had settled on a destination to add on to our CA trip, most hotels/motels were already booked up. We did end up finding arrangements, however, so we weren’t too worried.
I’m getting ahead of myself.
What was our reasoning? Simply put, we realized we were cutting our vacation shorter than we needed to. you see, we were returning to the East Coast on Saturday morning- July 1st. Days before the 4th of July, and TT Dad was off on the 3rd, as well! We could have stayed in CA for a few more days! Instead, we were back in CT, landing by 7am. By the time we had stumbled down to Baggage Claim, out to the shuttle, and loaded everyone and everything in the car, we were going to be cutting it close.
What is ‘it?’ The ferry to Long Island. We did the math, and called the ferry authority to see if we could purchase passes for the next ferry. They said they were no longer selling tickets, but we could ride standby, and there was a good chance we’d make it on.
And we were off.
The kids did not sleep much on the plane, which meant that I also did not sleep much. We were all exhausted- but only the kids slept the entire drive to the ferry. Imagine their surprise when we rolled up to the ferry. They were even more confused when we told them we were going to drive the car onto the boat- And that’s exactly what we did.
Once the car was safely parked underneath, we got out, and walked up to the top, open air deck. I took one kid with me, and we went to the snack bar to see about a breakfast. They had a decent selection, and Z was thrilled to help me decide what to get. Hands full of food and beverages, we made our way back to TT Dad and brother.
After the kids gobbled up some grub, they were antsy to walk around and check out the view- the kids were antsy to walk around and TT Dad was antsy to check out the view! This kept everyone’s attention for a while, and before we knew it, we were reminded to return to our cars.
We found a parking spot close to the center of town, and took the kids to explore Port Jefferson.
TT Dad was thrilled to find a couple of breweries, and so we picked Brewology to sit for a minute and enjoy a snack. The themeing was on point. What a fun restaurant. They handed our two overtired kiddos extremely well, also
Final
ly, we set off towards Montauk. I had hit my limit, and slept on the way there (so did the kids). 
Once we found our motel, we checked in, and started bringing all of our stuff up to the room. We quickly changed into our bathing suits and headed out to the pool. These kids love swimming. Simply floating around in the pool seemed to make the long day of travel worthwhile to them.
To recap- we arrived at the airport by 7pm Pacific time, and made it to the hotel in Montauk around 4pm Eastern time. Approximately 18 hours of travel.
Car -> Train (AirTrain) -> Plane -> Bus -> Car-> Boat -> Car.
What a trip.
We floated until we started to get hungry, then we threw on some dry clothes, and walked down the street near the harbor area, following the advice of the front desk at Kenny’s Tipperary Inn.
Our first attempt – Swallow East- was the winner. We were seated quickly, and our server explained the small plate concept. He suggested three plates to share, which sparked a few giggles from our table. Three small plates? There’s no way that will fill us up.
We ended up ordering three, thinking we could just order more once it was obvious that these three plates wouldn’t fill us up.
Except they did.
The server was SPOT on. The kids did a fantastic job at the restaurant, earning more than one compliment from neighboring tables. Obviously, they enjoyed the food as well- even if a good portion of it ended up on their faces!
By the time we made it back to the motel, we were all exhausted. Excited to see what the weekend would hold for us, we fell fast asleep.