‘Tis the Season to be Jolly…Especially at Mystic Seaport!

Once the calendar flips to December, too many of us flip out over what to buy for whom, how to keep the real meaning of Christmas in focus, how to make the season special in some unique way. Well, my friends, Mystic Seaport has the answer to all those dilemmas.

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First of all, let’s tackle the gift question. The Museum’s Maritime Gallery has a wonderful sale of discounted Maritime Miniatures by Maritime Masters going on through December 23 (5% discount for members and a 10% discount for Gallery patrons). A painting would be a beautiful and unique surprise for someone special on your list.

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Right next door, the Museum Store is a one-stop shopping reservoir of gifts for all ages, both upstairs and downstairs. Check out the new “ornament of the year,” a small light-weight version of a deck prism, common on ships of old.  It would be a perfect addition to your own tree or as a unique hostess gift. The heavier paper weight in either the prism style or new rectangular design is a cool gift for men or women.  Redundant as it may be, ‘unique’ is really the best description of all Museum Store merchandise.

Deck prisms come in a variety of colors.

Want a gift that keeps on giving year ‘round? Then Mystic Seaport membership is the way to go. With unlimited free Museum admission for a year plus numerous members-only perks, opportunities and advantages, this is a great gift anyone would love to find in their Christmas stocking. Different levels of membership include individual, dual, family or grandparent, and all are tax-deductible.

Give the gift of Membership!

Perhaps you aren’t looking for a tangible gift, but rather a holiday experience to share with your family and friends. Here are a few ideas that will guarantee you wonderful memories for years to come:

• Lantern Light Tours – A New England holiday tradition that captures the essence of the holiday spirit in a dramatic, 19th-century  way. Tickets available at www.mysticseaport.org/tickets.
• Christmas by the Sea – Discover what a 19^th-century Christmas was truly like.
• Community Carol Sing - Sunday, 3 p.m. December 19:  Free admission to Mystic Seaport with a canned good donation for charity. Join the Mystic Seaport carolers and brass quartet in songs of the season.  Great fun and camaraderie!
• Prepare to be awestruck by the splendor of the winter skies in a special, free  Treworgy Planetarium show, “The Star of Bethlehem.”

So there you have it. Mystic Seaport has solved all your holiday dilemmas.  Relax. Enjoy. And most of all, happy holidays!

Blog posted by Trudi Busey.

Meet Marelda Hart, Director of Lantern Light Tours at Mystic Seaport

This week the spotlight – or perhaps we should say, the lantern light – shines on Marelda Hart, Supervisor of Interpreters at Mystic Seaport. Marelda’s main focus right now is directing the Museum’s Lantern Light Tours for the fifth consecutive year. The tours are just one of many activities and events involving roleplayers and interpreters, and supervising such a diverse portfolio of people and events is a huge responsibility. It is Marelda’s combination of experience, optimism and open-door management style that makes it all work, with the Museum visitor ultimately the beneficiary.

1. How long have you worked at Mystic Seaport?
MH: Since 1984, although it wasn’t full-time until 1998. When I began working at Mystic Seaport, it was a far cry from the pediatric nurse practitioner I had been in California, but I was intrigued with all the new opportunities here at the Museum. After my first year in Interpretation, I developed my role-playing character of Dr. Marelda Louise Wiley, using my grandmother’s name. The research in 19th-century medicine was made possible by my knowledge of 20th-century medicine. The next year I joined Squad, which opened still more doors for me, like sailing several square-rig vessels and owning a passenger schooner. Since my very first day on the job, it has been a fun, exciting, educational journey for me.

Marelda Hart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. What’s the best part of your job?
MH: I’m going to copycat others who have said their co-workers are the best part of their job. It’s true; there’s an indefinable something. Both paid and volunteer staff seem to have a mutual fondness, passion and sense of caring for our Museum. It’s evident as well in the numerous interactions I have with different departments and department heads. I’ve concluded it’s a special kind of person who chooses to work at Mystic Seaport.

3. What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?
MH: People can be both a delight and a challenge – often at the same time! I really do enjoy talking with all our talented, dedicated staff. There are three important steps I go through regularly when confronting different challenges: listen, formulate a solution and find a way to implement the solution. I keep an open mind, an open ear and an open office door. As a result, any discussion regarding discontent, concerns or problems usually ends on a positive note. Also, insufficient time to do everything is always a challenge.

4. What’s the funniest or most notable on-job experience you’ve had?
MH:  I never could have imagined in California, when I got my pilot’s license and became certified as a PNP, that I would eventually work in a maritime museum! It’s notable for me that I have the good fortune to work in an environment that fulfills my love of history, drama and the sea. Speaking of drama, with Lantern Light Tours on the horizon, I do recall something that happened in one of our previous years. Each year a ginger cookie is offered to the public as part of the story. This one year, unfortunately, an elderly woman who was being escorted by her son, tripped and fell and was taken by ambulance to the hospital to be checked out for any serious injury. Her son managed to rejoin the group and asked worriedly, “Did I miss the cookies?” It’s the little things that mean a lot, I guess!

5. What’s your favorite thing to do outside of work?
MH: My dog, Barnacle, insists on going for walks, but when he’s not badgering me to take him, I enjoy reading, photography, writing poetry and quilting. I have five children – three daughters and two sons – and three granddaughters, two of whom are junior firefighters with their dad in the Dunn’s Corners Fire Department. There are just not enough hours in a day to do all the things I love to do!

Marelda was interviewed by volunteer, Trudi Busey. Photo by Dennis Murphy.

“Texting” – 1800s Style

So you think “texting” is just a modern day phenomenon? Not so.

Okay, so it wasn’t called ‘texting’ back in the mid-1800s, but rather the language of the fan.  Whether myth or truth (an ongoing argument) it is said that in the era when hand-held fans were widely used as cooling instruments, they were also used to transmit furtive messages, mainly of a romantic nature.  The way a lady positioned her fan conveyed her unspoken message to a gentleman of interest.

Scrimshander, Bill Graves, well known around Mystic Seaport for his scrimshaw passion and artistry,   recently showed a group of us items from his personal scrimshaw collection. One item was a beautiful, delicate-looking fan made from ivory. Perhaps it was once used in a 19^th-century version of Twitter!

For all you men out there who say understanding women is difficult – be thankful you no longer need to decipher messages sent via the language of the fan! For example:
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• The lady appears briefly on the balcony, slowly fanning herself, and then quickly goes inside, shutting the balcony = “I can’t go out.”
• The lady appears briefly, excitedly fanning herself and quickly goes inside, leaving the balcony open = “I’ll go out soon.”
• Resting the fan on her lips = “I don’t trust you.”
• Fanning herself with her left hand = “Don’t flirt with that woman.”
• Passing the fan from hand to hand = “I see that you are looking at another woman.”
• Running her fingers through the fan’s ribs = “I want to talk to you.”
• Carrying the fan closed and hanging from her left hand = “I’m engaged.”
• Ditto from her right hand = “I want to be engaged.”
• Quickly and impetuously closing the fan = “I’m jealous.”
• Hitting any object with her fan = “I’m impatient.”
• Dropping the fan = “I belong to you.”
• Half opening the fan over her face = “We are being watched over.”
• Or alas – slowly fanning herself = “Don’t waste your time; I don’t care about you.”

Myth or truth? Who’s to say for certain. Personally, I’m rather relieved that Facebook, Twitter and even good old-fashioned face-to- face word conversations have long since replaced the language of the fan!

Blog written by Trudi Busey

A piece of scrimshaw from the Museum's collection

(Scrimshaw was the name given originally to tools fashioned in the 1700s from the byproducts of whales. Later the term encompassed the artistic handiwork crafted by seamen whalers during their idle time aboard ship. Designs were scratched primarily into bones and teeth of sperm whales with coloring of the etched design provided by candle black, soot or tobacco juice. The Voyages exhibit found in Mystic Seaport’s Stillman Building exhibits a portion of the Museum’s vast collection of scrimshaw.)

Up Close and Personal with “TUGS!”

There’s much to like, much to do, much to see at Mystic Seaport’s newest exhibit, TUGS! Who can predict what will trigger a memory or experience regarding a tugboat?

Before the “official” opening of the TUGS! exhibit in the Museum’s Schaefer Exhibit Hall, I was making a quick overview tour and was impressed with what I saw. To be sure, I will return for a more in-depth look and listen. However, there was one thing that particularly caught my eye, and specifically shows how many people are personally linked to the world of tugs.

There is a spot in the exhibit with 4×6 cards where visitors can write down and share their personal “Tug Tale.” As I read through those that were displayed, I was struck by the wide gamut of feelings and experiences they covered.

Tell your tug tale at our newest exhibit

One person recalled a tug escorting him by the Statue of Liberty, seeing her for the first time. A couple who always loved tugs ended up buying their own pleasure tug and have traveled the Great Loop. Two men remarked about working on tugs at Electric Boat. Another recalls, as a young boy, watching his dad’s ship in Chesapeake Bay being moved out to sea by a tug prior to assuming his naval assignment. And last, but most romantic, a woman recalls her boyfriend telling her he loved her while they were aboard the tug, Robert McAllister.

Maybe you have a “tug tale” to add. Be sure to share when you visit Mystic Seaport’s TUGS! exhibit. For more information, visit www.mysticseaport.org/tugs.

Blog written by Trudi Busey

Lobster Days at Mystic Seaport = Food and Fun

I remember the first time we cooked a lobster. It was in the kitchen of our Cape Cod cottage and it was a new cooking experience that summertime. 

Since that day, our family has enjoyed the succulent sweet taste of lobster meat. If you’re a lobster lover, you can enjoy it as well this Memorial Day Weekend, May 29-31, at Lobster Days at Mystic Seaport, courtesy of the Mystic Rotary Club. This is the Club’s annual fundraiser that benefits many local charities. 

Lobster Days at Mystic Seaport

Best deals: 

• Mystic Seaport members get a $2 coupon toward a lobster dinner when they present their membership card at the Visitor Center. Have a family membership? Then you get six coupons.
•  Non-members: get your admission ticket stamped and you can return for an additional day during the three-day weekend for free! That means more lobster, more fun activities, more time to explore Museum grounds and time to experience Decoration Day and remember what Memorial Day is all about.

 Here’s the scoop: A special combination ticket of Museum admission and a single lobster dinner is available for $39, offering a $6 savings. The youth combination ticket (ages 6-17) is $32, offering a $4 savings. A senior combination ticket (ages 65 and older) is available for $37, offering a $6 savings.  

A lobster dinner can also be purchased separately from Museum admission for $21 (single lobster) and $37 (twin lobster). 

Yum, a lobster platter with coleslaw, corn on the cob, drawn butter and choice of iced tea or lemonade sounds so……delicious!  Okay, for non-lobster people, Mystic Seaport’s own food service provider, Coastal Gourmet, will offer hot dog platters ($7), clam fritters, New England clam chowder, a raw bar and a cash bar. 

Mystic Seaport is offering so many activities and choices for visitors of all ages this Memorial Day Weekend. What a great way to welcome summer! 

 Blog posted by Trudi Busey.

Date Night this Saturday Night

Dinner and a play…that’s my idea of a perfect night out.  If you share my feelings, here’s a great suggestion for this Saturday, May 15:

Have dinner at Latitude 41° Restaurant & Tavern at Mystic Seaport. The newly renovated restaurant made a fresh debut on the restaurant scene earlier this month.

Then, after dinner, hop in your car for a quick ride down Greenmanville Avenue to the Mystic Art Cinema in Olde Mistick Village.  At 7 p.m., Revels Repertory Company, a 35-person touring ensemble, will perform “A Celebration of the Sea,” the story of 19^th-century whalers and their families told in songs, dances and stories. The really fun part is that the show involves audience participation.

Revels Circle of Song: A Celebration of the Sea

Revels Circle of Song: A Celebration of the Sea

It’s interesting how something old can become new again, like:  

• The Charles W. Morgan being renovated to sail again in 2013,
• Revels Repertory Theater linking the music, dances and rituals from an older world to a modern world, and
• Latitude 41°, updated in both décor and menu choices.

Everyone needs a night out now and then. Why not this Saturday, May 15?

Blog posted by Trudi Busey.

With Special Thanks to Ric Burns, Steeplechase Films Inc., WGBH and Connecticut College

There was no red carpet. Those of us arriving at Connecticut College‘s Palmer Auditorium on May 1st weren’t dressed in glittery finery or tuxedos. But the mood of anticipation and excitement was comparable to any Hollywood premiere, knowing we were about to view a film the general public won’t see until May 10^th. That’s when Ric Burns‘ documentary, Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World is scheduled to air on PBS. 

The film is an awesome account of the era during which Mystic Seaport‘s Charles W. Morgan, now the last surviving wooden whaleship in the world, played an integral part. But aside from this wonderful historic and graphic film, I had a feeling of pride knowing the significant role Mystic Seaport staff played in the shooting of this film. Some appeared on camera, but many, many others participated in behind-the-scenes efforts to ensure the film’s authenticity regarding the rigors of life aboard a whaling ship. The amazing expertise of Mystic Seaport sailors was a major factor in exciting, live scenes shot aboard a variety of ships utilized by the filmmaker. 

"Into the Deep" being filmed aboard the Charles W. Morgan at Mystic Seaport, September 2007

I wonder how many in the audience, like me, came away with a new respect for what Mystic Seaport is dedicated to doing….restoring the Charles W. Morgan to make her seaworthy once again in 2013. Any naysayers regarding that goal need to see this film. 

Filming "Into the Deep" aboard the Charles W. Morgan at Mystic Seaport, Sept. 2007

 The handout at Palmer Auditorium said: Be a Part of History: Help The Charles W. Morgan Sail Again. Each of us who gives any amount toward her restoration could, and really should, feel that way – a part of history. 

What’s in your piggy bank? A little history in the making maybe? Think about it. (Donations gratefully accepted online or directly to Mystic Seaport, 75 Greenmanville Ave. Mystic, CT 06355). 

Now don’t forget. Tune in American Experience on PBS – Monday, May 10, at 9 p.m. to watch Into the Deep. It’s a fascinating epic story covering three centuries of American whaling. 

Blog written by Trudi Busey.

Meet Mystic Seaport Interpreter Mike Meyer

Catching Michael Meyer for an interview can be as difficult as snagging a fish with your fishing pole. Mike works as an interpreter here at Mystic Seaport, and where he works can almost be summed up in two words …all areas!  This day he was aboard the L.A. Dunton and had a few moments to answer our questions while the ship’s visitors were occupied with a fish demonstration. 
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1. How long have you been employed at Mystic Seaport?
MM: It will be four years in May. It has been a real learning curve for me because I cover so many different exhibits. I am usually on the Dunton one day a week, but also work in the Cooperage, the Print Shop or the Schaefer or Mallory Exhibit Halls. I’m sort of partial to the Print Shop; I enjoy demonstrating the workings of a print shop in the 1870s. Visitors love the chance for the hands-on experience of setting type and printing something themselves. I’m pleased that the Museum is having more activities like that available to visitors of all ages. 

Mystic Seaport Interpreter Mike Meyer

2. What’s the best part of your job?
MM: I consider the variety in my job a special advantage. Visitors ask interesting questions and the give and take can make a difference in how they view history and how they remember their visit to Mystic Seaport.  Also, during Lantern Light Tours, I have fun involving the tour group by making them feel part of history. 

3. What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?
MM: Being an interpreter requires a fair amount of study, but that benefits both me as well as Museum visitors. I need to be well-versed in everything about the particular exhibit I’m staffing. Besides answering visitors’ questions, I try to paint a verbal picture of what people’s lives were like during the 1870s. The challenge comes in making what I say interesting enough to hold visitors’ attention. 

4. What’s the funniest or most notable on-the-job experience you’ve had?
MM: Especially when I work in the Print Shop, visitors sometimes assume that my career life had been in the printing business. Now imagine the learning process for this non-sailor who had to learn every little detail, down to the ship’s parts, when I began interpreting on the Dunton. 

5. What’s your favorite thing to do outside of work?
MM:  I do quite a bit of volunteer work, including Hospice and teaching Sunday school. I’m also Chair of the Groton Housing Authority, which works with low-income families. I like to read, mostly political or historical books, but I’ve recently gotten interested in mysteries. And now that it’s finally spring, I can enthusiastically add gardening to the list. 

Mike was interviewed by Volunteer Trudi Busey and photographed by Dennis Murphy.

At Last……Spring Has Sprung!

 You may consider seeing your first robin or a blooming crocus as your harbinger of spring. Not so at Mystic Seaport.  Here it’s the news that spring/summer hours go into  effect starting Saturday, March 27.  The Museum will again be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Also on March 27,  two special events are happening – one on grounds at the Museum’s Maritime Gallery; one off-grounds at the Mystic Art Cinema in Olde Mistick Village. 

An artist, painting in a public setting, often draws some curious onlookers. I’ve done it; you’ve probably done it, but have you ever thought about what goes on ‘behind the canvas’, so to speak? For instance, what inspires an artist’s creativity from sketch to finished painting or how is painting on location different from a studio environment? 

To answer those kinds of questions, to watch live and slide demonstrations of painting techniques, and to talk one-on-one with master painters are the opportunities provided by Mystic Seaport’s Behind the Canvas series. “The Moment of Inspiration with Robert Noreika” is the second installment in this four-part program and takes place Saturday, March 27, from 4-5:30 p.m. in the Museum’s Maritime Gallery. 

Robert Noreika, "Low Tide, Maine"

Also on March 27, ESPN television commentator and world-class sailor Gary Jobson will focus his presentation at the Museum’s Maritime Matinees program on his new documentary Maine Built Boats. Undoubtedly, his many ocean sailing adventures, like the 1977 America’s Cup with Ted Turner, will be included. Jobson’s talk will take place at the Mystic Art Cinema from 1 -2:30 p.m. Jane Wellehan, president of Maine Built Boats, and other boat builders from Maine will join Jobson in a lively post-program discussion. 

Gary Jobson

So many special events and programs are always happening at Mystic Seaport, year ‘round. And it’s finally SPRING! So if you’ve been hibernating, it’s time to come out and take advantage of all the Museum has to offer.  You’ll find a calendar of events, descriptions and all the details on our website: www.mysticseaport.org. 

Blog written by Trudi Busey

Local Beauty

Too often we fail to appreciate the beauty in our own backyard. I’ve spent nearly half of my life living in southeastern Connecticut or Rhode Island, and have only just begun to discover the many attractions that Mystic Seaport has to offer.
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I was surprised to learn that Mystic Seaport was more than tall ships and sailboats (as if that weren’t enough!). Mystic Seaport offers everything from educational opportunities, to relaxing get-aways, to authentic maritime dining experiences!
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Come and visit our planetarium to learn the navigation secrets of seamen past. Show your children the joy of learning while they enjoy our children’s museum and interactive performance stage!

Need a relaxing trip away from it all or an exciting adventure to spice up your life? Drift peacefully down the Mystic River to the relaxing serenade of acoustic music during our Music on the River performances now through August. Or learn the exciting craft of sailing aboard the Brilliant, one of the finest crafted sailboats in American history!

Looking for a different culinary encounter? Come and experience one of our unique restaurants such as the Spouter Tavern where you can enjoy an al fresco maritime dining experience alongside our beautiful waterfront.  

Enjoy a festive meal outside along our scenic waterfront!

Haven’t been to Mystic Seaport? Take advantage of the many sights and interactions right here in your own backyard! Already acquainted with Mystic Seaport? Come visit us again and allow us to steal your breath in new and captivating ways!

For more information about the Museum and its events, visit us at www.mysticseaport.org.