Category: Connecticut Travel

Summer Fun @ Glebe House in Woodbury

Thanks to Ion Bank Foundation and the Gabrielson Family Fund children may enjoy three weeks of unique summer experiences, filled with fun and hands-on learning at our 18th-century historic site, The Glebe House Museum and Gertrude Jekyll Garden. This year the programs will span Colonial and Victorian life in Woodbury where children will experience innovative, exciting, enriching, and fun activities, and are limited to only 12 in a group.



Registration is open for all sessions:

“Hands-on History” July 11 – 15 offers children ages 6-12 experiences in 18th-century life. Children participate in activities spanning quill writing, candle making, historic house tours, colonial games, and much more.

New this year is “Jekyll’s Secret Garden” from July 18 through July 22 for children ages 6-12. This program gives children the opportunity to explore “The Secret Garden” story by Frances Hodgson Burnett and learn scenes from the play of the same name by Marsha Norman. Guest artist, Carol Ziske, will lead this program. Ms. Ziske is an Actor and Director who has numerous plays, films, and vocal recordings. As an Actor, she has starred in more than 15 plays and motion pictures, such as “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Other People’s Money”. As a Director she has produced more than 15 plays including Our Town (Warner Theater-Torrington) and Love Letters (Newport, RI), just to name a few. Ms. Ziske has extensive experience sharing her love of theater with children and has been an acting teacher and coach for many years. The program will also include gardening activities & crafts.

Another popular program is “Individual Program Days for the Young Apprentice” for children ages 10-15, which will be held July 25 – 28 with each day exploring a different colonial craft. The schedule includes Colonial Lighting & Tin Lanterns, Colonial Cooking, Textiles & Weaving, and Basket Making.

A popular program also being offered this summer is Hands-on History & Art of the Garden which runs Monday – Friday from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. The cost to participate is $225 for Members and $250 for Non-Members per week.

Individual Program Days are offered Monday – Thursday from 9:00 am-1:00 pm at $40 for Members and $45 for Non-Members per program day.

Please see website for details and registration form: http://www.glebehousemuseum.org Registrations will be accepted until all programs are filled.

High School Students aged 14 and up are encouraged to apply as “Youth Leaders” to earn community service hours and a small stipend as they help staff with daily activities for the program.

College Students and Adults aged 18 and up who have an interest in history, gardening, theater and education are encouraged to apply as paid Program Leaders for individual weeks.

Please call The Glebe House Museum at 203-263-2855, email us at office@glebehousemuseum.org, or visit us online at glebehousemuseum.org to register, to receive a program brochure or for additional information.

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This June Enjoy the Beauty of Birds on Long Island Sound with the Seaport Association

Bird Cruises are one of the most popular excursions operated by the Seaport Association in Norwalk. Although Connecticut is a small state, it is rich in birdlife with more than 430 different bird species to spot. If you are a veteran or novice birding enthusiast and want to add seabirds to your list, hop on board the C.J. Toth, a 49- passenger vessel with the Seaport Association on Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12, and Saturday, June 25, and Sunday, June 26 from 8 am to 10:30 a.m. for the June Bird Cruises that welcomes adults as well as children.

An avian adventure on Long Island Sound in June provides a unique opportunity to see birds in their natural habitat. Every cruise is different because you never know what will fly your way, making this excursion an adventure in itself. The bird cruise in June offers different things to see than the bird cruises offered in May. June is the month when many birds breed making it the perfect time to look for birds where they nest. On this guided tour escorted by Will Schneck, a member of the esteemed Connecticut Young Birders Club, passengers will learn about local bird behavior and biology and, most importantly how to spot them. “One thing that we will be looking for is birds that are nesting, raising their families, resting, and feeding,” says Schneck. Among the types of birds, you may see on this eco-adventure cruise are nest sites and nest colonies of ospreys, and long-legged egrets with their graceful S-curved necks and long dagger-like bills, as well as playful American oystercatchers, herons, terns, gulls, and cormorants to name a few.

Another special feature of this cruise is the chance to spot birds at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge on Sheffield Island. Here you will see a variety of habitats that support nesting and wading birds. This spot is known for its small population of herring and great black-backed gulls that nest along Sheffield Island’s rocky shoreline. The importance of the Norwalk Islands to wildlife, especially migratory birds is enormous, and the special Bird Cruises hosted by the Norwalk Seaport Association give nature enthusiasts, adults, and children alike, the chance to spot these magnificent seabirds up close with the added benefit of a knowledgeable guide.

Bird Cruise Details
Passengers are asked to arrive 30 minutes prior to the 8 a.m. departure. The vessel leaves from the Seaport Dock that is adjacent to the Stroffolino Bridge at the corner of Washington and Water Streets in South Norwalk. Parking is available at the adjacent lot or at the Norwalk Parking Garage. Tickets are available online in advance by clicking here and are $25 in addition to a small ticketing fee. The Seaport Association advises reserving your Bird Cruise early because these popular excursions sell out. Make sure you include your email when reserving your ticket. If the tour is canceled due to inclement weather the Norwalk Seaport Association will contact you via your email.

Before embarking on this cruise, be sure to pack sunscreen, your camera, binoculars, water and snacks, and your sense of adventure!

About the Norwalk Seaport Association

The Norwalk Seaport Association was founded in 1978 by a group of local citizens who had the vision to revitalize South Norwalk and preserve Norwalk’s maritime heritage. The Seaport Association offers a cultural, environmental, and historical journey to the Norwalk Islands. The Sheffield Island Lighthouse and the Light Keeper’s Cottage provide a unique historical and educational venue that strives to increase awareness, appreciation, and consideration for the environment and how the preservation of historic buildings contributes to our quality of life. The combination of the Lighthouse and the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge offers an unparalleled opportunity to educate children of all ages and adults about the importance of preserving Long Island Sound, our environment, and our maritime heritage.

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An Evening of Celebration Glebe House Garden Party June 25

In the early summer, there is nothing better than an alfresco Garden Party amid the fragrant blossoms of a historic house and garden. The Glebe House, one of the oldest house museums in Connecticut with a nationally famous garden, is the venue for the epitome of a perfect garden party. This year, the Glebe House located on Hollow Road in Woodbury is hosting its annual Garden Party on Saturday, June 25 from 6 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tickets to this fundraising event are $40 per person and can be purchased online @ https://www.glebehousemuseum.org or by calling 203-263-2855. For the direct link for tickets click here.

A warm awaits @ the Glebe House

Each year, friends, and guests enjoy this spectacular garden designed in 1926 by famed English horticultural designer, writer, and artist, Gertrude Jekyll, who had a profound influence on modern garden design. Today, it is the only remaining example of Jekyll’s work in the U.S., making this garden party a celebration of an American garden designed from across the pond!

In June, the flowers are beginning to pop in waves of colors, patterns, textures, and fragrances. Tables and chairs are placed amid the backdrop of the garden and blankets are spread out under large shade trees. There will be sweet and savory hors d’ oeuvres packed in beautifully decorated individual boxes, wine bottled in Woodbury, from Walker Road Vineyards, sparkling water, lemonade made from fresh lemons picked from the Glebe House lemon tree, and a signature drink, “The Seabury Swing,” created by the Nutmeg Wine and Spirit Shoppe in Woodbury.

The only Jekyll Garden in the United States a perfect setting for a night out.

To add to this convivial event there will be a strolling 4-part Cappella Barbershop Quartet, the Valley Chordsmen, who are affiliated with the International Barbershop Harmony Society. They have been entertaining folks throughout the state for more than 73 years and are sure to add to the fun. Speaking of fun, the Silent Auction will feature a number of tantalizing items to bid on. One of the most sought-after items will be the catered “All Hallows Eve Cocktail Party for Ten” at the Glebe House. Imagine the spooktacular time your friends and family will have at this exclusive private event when the Glebe House is all decked out for Halloween!

As an added highlight, the first floor of the Glebe House will be open. This simple 18th-century farmhouse is furnished as the home of the Reverend John Rutgers Marshall and his family that lived here, in the “glebe” during the Revolutionary War. It is especially atmospheric to tour the house in the early evening imagining this is the way the family lived here with no electricity.

Fun with friends old and new in a fabulous garden setting!

Attending the Glebe House Garden Party is an unforgettable experience – with good fun shared by all, delicious food, and drinks enjoyed in a magical garden. The Glebe House Garden Party is the major fundraising event of the year for the museum. Proceeds support the maintenance of the Glebe House and Garden and educational programs.

About The Glebe House

Built about 1750, the Glebe House was saved by a committee that eventually became known as the Seabury Society for the Preservation of the Glebe House and was restored in 1923 under the direction of Henry Watson Kent, founder of the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It opened to the public as a Historic House Museum in June of 1925.

The Glebe House was the farm homestead of Woodbury’s first Anglican Minister, Rev. John Rutgers Marshall, his wife Sarah, their nine children, and three enslaved persons. It is historically significant because it is where the first Bishop of the American Episcopal Church, Reverend Dr. Samuel Seabury was elected in 1783.

At the time, this was a momentous decision because it assumed the separation of church and state and religious tolerance in the new nation. This significant historic house museum is beautifully appointed with period furniture, some of it locally made, and, it is surrounded by the only extant garden in the United States designed by Gertrude Jekyll, one of Great Britain’s most famous 20th-century garden designers. The garden includes a classic English style mixed border in Jekyll’s signature drifts of color, foundation plantings, and a planted stone quadrant.

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This Father’s Day Take Dad on an Adventure to 1518! Wigwam Escape @ Institute for American Indian Studies

This Father’s Day it is time to celebrate your one-of-a-kind dad in an unexpected and fun way that he will cherish for years to come. If you are looking for something special, why not give him the gift of a unique experience with Wigwam Escape, a nationally award-winning Escape Room that is located at the Institute for American Indian Studies on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut.

If the dad in your life is a history buff, loves to solve puzzles, and enjoys being challenged while having fun, Wigwam Escape will be an unforgettable bonding experience for the whole family. A highlight of the Wigwam Escape experience is gaining a better understanding of how Native peoples thrived prior to European contact. This is a gift that keeps on giving. After playing the game, you can continue your experience by visiting the museum whose core exhibition follows the 10,000-year-long story of Connecticut’s Native American people, and hiking the Institute trails to a replicated Algonkian Village.

In honor of Father’s Day, the Institute is offering a promotional code that is 20% off the booking and includes gift certificates when using code DAD1518 at checkout. For more information and to book, click here.

Wigwam Escape – The Story

You, the game player, find yourselves in a Native American village in the woodlands of Connecticut in the year 1518. You’ve just received word that an illness is affecting the neighboring fishing village of Metachiwon and they are asking for help. It is seven miles to Metachiwon so you have to act quickly. It’s up to you to figure out how to gather and prepare supplies for your journey ahead. You have one day (roughly one hour of game time) to hunt, gather and cook using only the resources found in the village and surrounding forest. This empathetic experience connects players to the ways Native peoples lived and the skills they relied on 500 years ago in their daily lives.

FAQs – Wigwam Escape

Wigwam Escape allows two to seven players to experience the room. To enhance the experience the room caters only to private groups, so when you book the room, it is for your group only.

The ticket prices are $25 for General Admission, $20 for Students, and $22 for Seniors. Your ticket also includes museum admission to the Institute for American Indian Studies which can be used on the day of your visit.

The suggested age for Wigwam Escape is 12 and up; however, as long as there is a parent or guardian present during the game kids under 12 are welcome.

The suggested age for Wigwam Escape is 12 and up; however, as long as there is a parent or guardian present during the game kids under 12 are welcome.

Wigwam Escape is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday by reservation. Office hours are Wed. and Thurs. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To purchase your tickets, visit www.wigwamescape.org or call (860) 868- 0510.

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The Aldrich, Ridgefield Running Company, and On-Running To Host a Run Celebrating 52 Artists

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield Running Company, and On-Running are presenting Run
On Art: Run to Celebrate 52 Artists on Thursday, June 16 from 6 to 8 pm. Runners and walkers will complete a 3.1-mile run or 1.5 miles walk around downtown Ridgefield, passing by Ridgefield Running Company where Tharini Pande, RRC Team Member, and artist, has painted the display windows featuring On-Running shoes. The run concludes at The Aldrich where participants are invited to view the exhibition 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone in the Museum’s galleries and Sculpture Garden and enjoy a celebratory glass of beer, wine, or sparkling water. The entry fee for the run is $12 and all proceeds benefit The Aldrich. Register for the run at www.ridgefieldrunning.com/events.

Participants should know that the On-Running demo shoes will be available for participants to try on a first-come first-served basis. A highlight is watching Tharini Pande paint the display windows at Ridgefield Running Company from June 12 to 16. “Ridgefield Running Company is excited to collaborate with The Aldrich for the 52 Artists exhibition. The ‘5K to celebrate 52,’ is a fun run that passes by RRC’s windows highlighting artwork by our own team member and local resident, Tharini Pande. Both art and running are practices of self-discovery, and we are excited that we are able to combine them with On-Running in this cool community event,” said Megan Searfoss, owner of Ridgefield Running Company.
The Aldrich’s Executive Director Cybele Maylone shared, “The Aldrich is thrilled to partner with Ridgefield Running Company and On-Running on this fun evening that highlights the mind-body connection through running and art.” “At On, we are dedicated to stories telling and igniting the human spirit through movement, nature, design, and sustainability. Partnering with Ridgefield Running Company and The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is a great way to showcase and champion the artists within our running community,” shared Sam Traux of On-Running.

52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone celebrates the fifty-first anniversary of the historic exhibition Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists, curated by Lucy R. Lippard and presented at The Aldrich in 1971. 52 Artists will showcase work by the artists included in the original 1971 exhibition, alongside a new roster of twenty-six female-identifying or nonbinary emerging artists, tracking the evolution
of feminist art practices over the past five decades. 52 Artists will encompass the entirety of the Museum—the first exhibition to do so in The Aldrich’s new building which was inaugurated in 2004. The exhibition will be on view at the Museum June 6, 2022, to January 8, 2023.

Run On Art is generously co-sponsored by Ridgefield Running Company and On-Running.

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Learn How to Make Traditional Native American Bark Basket Workshop At Institute for American Indian Studies

Native Americans have created baskets for centuries. In fact, archeologists believe that basket-making is one of the oldest known crafts in the world. If you have always wanted to learn how to create a bark basket of your own, join this in-person workshop conducted by Jennifer Lee of Pequot and Narragansett ancestry on Sunday, June 5 at the Institute of American Indian Studies located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington, Connecticut. This four-hour workshop begins at 11 a.m. and has a break for lunch.

Join artist and educator Jennifer of Lee, Narragansett descent

About Native American Baskets

Baskets have been an integral part of Native American material culture for centuries. Native American baskets range from very simple to very elaborate. Often the art of basket making was passed down from generation to generation among Native American Indian mothers to their daughters. It is a skill that takes the place of pride among many Indigenous people today.

Bark baskets made by Eastern Woodland Indians were used for cooking, gathering berries, hauling water, storing food, as cradleboards, and even for burying the dead. Most often baskets were made from pine, ash, or birch bark that was harvested in the spring when the bark was most pliable. The bark was then folded into the desired shape and sewn with spruce root and rimmed with arrowwood or other natural materials.

White Pine Bark mokok with collar (4 ½H x 7W x 3D)

About the Workshop

Jennifer Lee is an 18th-century re-enactor and material culture presenter. Bark basket making is one of the programs that she offers. “I want my programs to dispel old stereotypes and increase awareness of present-day Native Americans,” says Lee.

Participants in this workshop will learn about the lore and tradition of basket making from Lee while creating their very own bark basket. A highlight is learning about how baskets were used in everyday life and their role in Native American communities today. Lee will guide participants through the process of creating a bark basket using white pine bark, spruce root, and willow. During the scheduled lunch break (please bring your own snack and non-alcoholic beverage) participants can wander through the museum for inspiration and brainstorm with others for ideas.

White Pine Bark mokok with collar (7H x 4W x 3D).

Participants can choose from three different basket designs that include a white pine bark wall pocket, and two sizes of a white pine bark mokok with collar. Whatever basket you choose to make, it is something unique to treasure at the end of the day.

Space is limited for this workshop that is expected to sell out, so sign up early. To participate, please register and pre-pay by June 2. The cost of participation, including all materials and tools, is $75 for members of the Institute and $85 for non-members. To register click here. If you have questions call (860) 868-0518 or email events@iaismuseum.org.

White Pine bark wall pocket, curved bottom (7H x 7W x 4D)

About the Institute for American Indian Studies

Located on 15 acres of woodland acres the Institute For American Indian Studies preserves and educates through archeology, research, exhibitions, and programs. They have a 16th c. Algonquian Village, Award-Winning Wigwam Escape, and a museum with temporary and permanent displays of authentic artifacts from prehistory to the present that allows visitors to foster a new understanding of the world and the history and culture of Native Americans. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road, Washington, CT.

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