2015-Summer-activities

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B e Part of Something BIG Lighthouse Pin. For sale at the Custom House beginning July 1, 2014.

Purchase an I'm Part of Something BIG pin at the Custom House Museum Shop for $10 donation, beginning July 1. Pin wearers may partake of the following discounts at businesses in downtown New London on weekends, July through October, 2014. All money for the pin goes to our Lighthouse Restoration Fund.

Barry's Ice Cream and Candy - 10% off the purchase of Ice Cream or Candy

Bean & Leaf - 10% off Purchase

Carribean Cuisine In-n-Out - 10% off Purchase

Chaplins - 10% off Purchase

Copperwood Grill - 25% off Total Purchase of dinner or drinks

Custom House Museum Shop - 10% off purchases (not to be combined with other discounts)

Daddy Jacks - 10% off Purchase

Dickson's Tavern - 3 Headed Pirate Pants cocktail for $5

Flavours of Life - Free small soapstone heart hand carved in Kenya with a $25 purchase

Mangetout - Free cookie or bar with lunch purchase

Muddy Waters - Free small coffee with lunch purchase

Nearly You Wigs - 20% off Purchase

Northern Light Jewelry - 50% off Whale Tail Jewelry

Steaming Kettle - 10% off Purchase

Studio 33 - free lighthouse car magnet with a purchase of $20

Sweeties Bakery - 10% off Purchase

with more offers to come

In 2015, we have 19 weeks of special events, June 20 through October, 26, with a 5th anniversary New London Loves Lighthouses week August 1 through 9.

Additional events & details will be posted as we have them.

Steal away to New London. It's small and diverse, with fresh seafood, Ocean Beach, and cozy cafes. Special events are held summer Saturdays on Waterfront Park, just steps away from New London rail station.

We won! Our lighthouse tours won Y ankee Magazine's 2014 Editors Choice Best of New England Award for ' Best Lighthouse Tours'! We are the original!

1.) The original New London Harbor Lighthouse Tours Intimate (just six passengers) and personable, our New London harbor lighthouse boat tours run every Saturday through October 25! We use local captains and guides with a real love of local history.

Special tours may be chartered, any time.

Call 860-447-8700.

Ever-popular 2.) Sunset Lighthouse Boat Tours (7:30 PM) & 3.) Full-Moon Boat Tours (8:30 PM) commence July 1. They run across three nights on the dates of the full moons through September. Dates coming up are August 28, 29, 30, September 26, 27, 28.

It's all fun and personable. We use small boats, passionate guides, and local captains. Passengers are limited to 6 per trip. Maybe that's why we won Yankee Magazine's 2014 Editors' Choice Award for Best Lighthouse Tours . Your ticket also includes free admission to the Custom House Maritime Museum. Buy an NLMS membership for additional discounts.

4.) The Ledge Light Foundation brings visitors out to go into Ledge Lighthouse . Trips are 2 1/2 hours long via Project Oceanology's Big Blue Boat. Find out more Here .

Want to try something different? Wheeling City Tours takes you along the shoreline and into Harbor Light by Segway. Tours began May 1!

5.) Set up a tour by land to Harbor Light by calling 860-447-8700. Unfortunately Harbor Lighthouse tours are suspended at this time.

Scroll down to see daily calendar of special events .

SPECIAL PROGRAMS this Summer

It's Coast Guard Summer - a summer-long celebration recognizing the U.S. Coast Guard & we're a part of it.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy has officially designated the summer of 2015 as “Connecticut’s Coast Guard Summer” in celebration of the 225th anniversary of the founding of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the USCG Academy’s 100 years at its current location in New London. As part of Connecticut’s Coast Guard Summer, which runs from June through September, 2015, several major event organizers in New London will choose themes to commemorate USCG for its service to the region and nation.

Connecticut & the Sea

Make Summer 2015 your time to explore the maritime art and culture of southeastern Connecticut through exciting exhibitions of art and artifacts, special events and performances, and popular excursions on the river and sound. Discover summer and fall’s activities at three museums—the Custom House Maritime Museum (New London), the Connecticut River Museum (Essex), and the Florence Griswold Museum . Buy a 3-in-1 ticket to visit all three sites HERE .

5th Annual Sentinels on the Sound - New London Lighthouse Summer Celebration - events listed below

Join us when New London hosts 19 weeks of Lighthouse boat tours, exhibitions, & special events. Hourly boat tours of NL harbor & area lighthouses; special boat trips to Coast Guard sites, Ledge Light, Fishers and Plum Islands. Sunset, full-moon, & Segway tours, too!

What’s new at the Custom House? --a family-friendly exhibition: Kids Ahoy!, Seafood tastings and cooking classes, too.

Overnight B&B packages. Full weekends of activities, food & fun.

Special events at the Custom House Maritime Museum

Sunday June 14, 2 PM -- Todd Gipstein Book Signing – FREE

Todd Gipstein's latest novel is a psychological thriller featuring a lighthouse keeper and which is set inside of Ledge Light -- and all over New London.

Join him at the Custom House for a Book Talk & Signing . And yes, there will be books for sale, with wine & nibbles. The event is free but space is limited.

Please call 860-447-2501 to be added to the list.

Saturday June 20, 11 AM -- 5:30 PM -- Hurrah! Lighthouse Boat Tours Season Begins this weekend, along with the New London In Water Boat Show.

Go to BrownPaperTickets.com , search: "New London" lighthouse, to sign up!

Boat tours run every Saturday & Sunday through October 25, 2015.

Saturday June 20, 6:30 PM -- Sea to Table -- lecture and class

Sea to Table -- Talks & Tastings, Cooking Classes & Dinner

starts with Scallops on Saturday, June 20!

Learn all about the amazing seafood harvested off our shores. Sea to Table is a series of five Talk & Tasting sessions featuring local seafood growers, paired with Cooking Classes with Dinner presented by chefs Elisa Giommi and Amelia Lord, to be held at the Custom House Maritime Museum. Participants may sign up for just the Talk or for both the Talk and Cooking presentations.

Sunday June 21, 10 AM to 4 PM -- Harbor Light OPEN HOUSE – FREE

New London Maritime Society's 3rd Semi-Annual Open House at New London Harbor Light . It's your opportunity to climb 119 steps into the lighthouse lantern! The event is free but requires an advance reservation. Only six visitors are allowed inside the lighthouse at a time.

Call 860-447-8700 to schedule your 30-minute climb.

Wednesday, June 24 - - Musician Jin Hi Kim's Cross-Cultural Music Meditation Workshop starts Wednesday, June 24 and runs for three consecutive days. We love this class!

This time, the session is shorter to allow more people to participate --

just three days. Over three sessions--Wednesday through Friday-- participants gain first-hand experience of the role music plays in meditation and the benefits

it offers to develop a calm, focused group experience.

Individuals and groups (up to 10) may sign up for the workshops. Call Susan:860-447-2501 to learn more. Groups wishing a team-building exercise should consider booking this class for their members.

The fee is $50, total, for all three, 45-minute sessions. Sign up today.

July 11 through August 1 -- How to be a Cartoonist , with Jon Buller.

Learn the basics of cartooning with Jon Buller, author of Graphic Novels: The Fog Mound trilogy, Scarlett: Star en Cavale ; Picture Books: Fanny and May; Board Books: The Noisy Counting Book, I Love You, Good-Night; and many more. We've offered this popular class several times over the past several years. Adults often sign up -- and are most welcome. Four Saturdays, July 11 -- August 1, from 10:45 AM to 12 noon. $40, all materials included. Sign hp HERE.

Tuesday, July 28, 10 AM to 2 PM . -- Fishers Island Boat Tour

Take our excursion to Fishers Island to view 2015 Annual Exhibition: The History of Farming on Fishers Island, curated by Pierce Raffertyl at the Henry L. Ferguson Museum, with lunch at the Pequot Inn. We're taking the Fishers Island Ferry from New London. $60 donation. Book tickets HERE. Limited to 15.

Thursday July 30, 31, August 1 -- it is the Full Moon and time for out first Sunset and Full-Moon Boat Tours. Ever-popular Sunset Lighthouse Boat Tours (7:30 PM) & Full-Moon Boat Tours (8:30 PM) commence July 30. They are offered across three nights on the dates of the full moons July through October.

July 30 -- August 9 -- El Galeon Andalucia (as referred to in Spain) is a 170 foot, 495 ton, authentic wooden replica of a galleon that was part of Spain's West Indies fleet. With information about 16th century European sailing techniques and technology, as well as important Florida history exhibits, El Galeón will tell the 500 year story since the arrival of Juan Ponce de León on the eastern shore of Florida.Tour the ship. Party like a Pirate (date TBD)

August 1 -- 9, 2015 -- New London Loves Lighthouses Week of activities and special events

Saturday, August 1 -- Shenecossette Yacht Club Lighthouse Regatta

Saturday, August 1 -- Sea to Table Talks & Tastings, Cooking Class with Dinner. This class features the 'catch of the day'- cooking with fresh FISH.

Learn all about the amazing seafood harvested off our shores. Sea to Table is a series of five Talk & Tasting sessions featuring local seafood growers, paired with Cooking Classes with Dinner presented by chefs Elisa Giommi and Amelia Lord, held at the Custom House Maritime Museum. Participants may sign up for just the Talk or for both the Talk and Cooking presentations.

Tuesday, August 4 -- Plum Island Boat Tour – rescheduled Oct - FILLED

Wednesday, August 5 -- Summer Flickers at Hygienic Art Park (79 Bank Street, New London). At Hygienic Art Pirate Radio (the film takes place on a lightship) Admission is $5, snacks and libations available for purchase. Gates at 8pm. 1 Boat. 8 DJs. No Morals. They rocked. They rolled. Then they sank. On air. Off shore. Out of control.

Thursday, August 6 -- Conveyance Ceremony Ledge Lighthouse – by invitation - Award of New London Ledge Lighthouse from the federal government to NLMS and the Ledge Light Foundation, who have been stewards to Ledge over 30 years.

This year, 2015, marks the 15th anniversary of the National Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. In the history of the Act, no single organization has even been awarded ownership of three lighthouses--we are the first! New London Maritime Society, with its educational 'Lighthouse Kids' programs, boat tours, partnerships in the community, and special events, is the poster child for Lighthouse Preservation. But we can do what we do only because we have the support of the entire community behind us. We promise to keep the lights preserved and accessible to future generations. Thank you!

Friday, August 7 -- National Lighthouse Day

Saturday, August 8, 9 AM - 3 PM - The historic Stratford Point Lighthouse, normally off-limits to the public, will hold an open house next month.

Free public tours will be offered on Saturday, Aug. 8 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., rain or shine, U.S. Coast Guard officials said Wednesday.

Saturday, August 8, 2 PM -- Jibboom Roundtable: Lighthouse Keepers discussion by former USCG lighthouse keepers

Sunday, August 9 -- Nimble Arts Circus (stick around for cake at the People’s gala between performances). FREE performances at 4 & 6:30 PM.

Juggling workshop with real circus clowns at 1 PM.

Sunday, August 16, 2 PM - - Preserving Plum Island for Future Generations , photo presentation, with Chris Cryder, Special Projects Coordinator for Save the Sound , will present a “virtual tour” of Plum Island using new imagery taken by photographer Robert Lorenz. The island, home to the nation’s foreign animal disease center, as well as several endangered species and unique habitats, is soon to be sold to the highest bidder. But, many organizations would rather see the amazing island conserved. Come learn about current efforts to protect it. (Save the Sound is a bi-state program of CT Fund for the Environment, based in New Haven, CT)

Friday, August 28, at 6:30 -- Postponed until NOVEMBER. Date TBD

Please join artist Josie Iselin as she reads from her newest book, An Ocean Garden: The Secret Life of Seaweed. She will be presenting her stunning imagery of ocean botanica and explaining her unique process of using her flatbed scanner to capture the seaweed's underwater essence. She will continue with the fascinating biology of seaweed explaining its important place in our near-shore ocean environment. please join us for a joyful comingling of art and science! Books will be available for signing.

Saturday, August 29 -- Sea to Table Talks & Tastings, Cooking Class with Dinner -- CLAMS, Dig it!

Learn all about the amazing seafood harvested off our shores.

Sea to Table is a series Talk & Tasting sessions featuring local seafood growers, paired with Cooking Classes with Dinner presented by chefs Elisa and Amelia, above, and held at the Custom House Maritime Museum. Participants may sign up for just the Talk or for both the Talk and the Cooking Class presentations.

Talk & Tasting, Saturday,August 29 at 5:30 PM (45 minutes), $10.

Arthur Truckenbrod and Edward Stilwagen, principals for 13 years in Atlantic Clam Farms, in Greenwich, Connecticut, are our guest seafood farmers. Mr. Stilwagen, a Marine Architect and is a shellfish industry designer, will speak about their experience clam farming in Connecticut. The Talk includes tasting a clam hors d'oeuvre created by our chefs. Sign up HERE .

Cooking Class with Dinner follows at 6:30 PM (2 1/2 hours), $60.

Join chefs Amelia Lord and Elisa Giommi on Saturday, August 29th for the 3rd in our Sea to Table Dinner-Class Series. The chefs will be sharing everything they know about preparing and cooking clams -- creating dishes (including Saffron Clam Risotto and Clams Oreganata) so far away from your favorite clam shack or chowder that you won't believe they are the same succulent bi-valves! With the price of your ticket you are invited to attend the pre-class Talk all about clams and clamming in our region with the principals of Atlantic Clam Farms. And you don't have to get your feet wet! Safe Harbor's 1790 Lager will be served, courtesy of Thames River Wine and Spirits. Space is limited. Sign up HERE.

Sunday, September 13, 10 AM – 4 PM -- Harbor Light OPEN HOUSE

CANCELED due to current lawsuits

Saturday, September 26 -- Sea to Table Talks & Tastings, Cooking Class with Dinner

Saturday, October 24 -- Sea to Table Talks & Tastings, Cooking Class with Dinner

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

Boat Tours run every Saturday through October 24.

Thank you for supporting the New London Maritime Society. All monies raised support local Lighthouse Preservation!

Come on, sign up for a boat tour this summer. It's the perfect way to show your guests the real New London. Click on underlined titles (hot links) to learn more & book your tickets.