Connecticut Travel

Get close to some of the most strangely beautiful ¬– but painfully dangerous – animals in the sea as The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk offers a newly expanded exhibit of jellyfish.

With “Journey with Jellies,” The Maritime Aquarium now displays the most jellyfish species in the region. Jellies – as they should be called, because they’re not fish – have been among the most popular animals in The Maritime Aquarium for more than 20 years.

This bigger new space builds around the tall centerpiece display of moon jellies, and offers large new displays with such non-native species as Pacific sea nettles, flower hat jellies, Japanese sea nettles and more. Journey with Jellies” has traditional “window” displays of jellies, but also unique displays of jellies living in cascading globe and half-dome habitats.

Jellies are among the most simple animals, thriving without a brain, heart, lungs, gills and really any of the other organs that we believe an animal must have to survive. Yet survive they have, for millions of years, in forms and colors that are fascinating.
Jellies, of course, also have stinging cells, and Aquarium guests can learn about how jellies sting and about their unique life cycles. In addition to jellies, this new exhibit space also includes a big new natural habitat for the Aquarium’s giant Pacific octopus, as well as a new display featuring lionfish, a species with a large splay of venomous spines that are a troubling invasive presence on the Atlantic coast.

“Journey with Jellies” is included with Aquarium admission. For more details about exhibits, programs and IMAX® movies, go to www.maritimeaquarium.org.

There is always something fun, interesting and educational going on at the historical Barnum Museum in Bridgeport. On Sunday, July 23rd at 2:00 PM in the Museum, guests can enjoy Lanterns of Magic! Dick Moore, noted Historian and Collector of Magic Lanterns, will present an exciting, rare and unique show featuring magic lantern images that will showcase vivid and breathtaking views of early circus spectaculars! Magic Lanterns are descended from the ancient camera obscura, and are the equivalent to today’s Power Point presentations, but offer a wondrous, magical opportunity to step back in time and experience the thrill of acrobats and performers of bygone entertainment times.

Moore’s presentation, “Day at a Circus” will provide a brief glimpse of the working life of the circus as seen through the lens of the masterful photographer Frederick. W. Glasier. Glasier is renowned for his extensive work as a publicist and documentarian of circuses, Wild West shows and fairs from 1890-1925, the heyday of American circus entertainments.

Immediately following “Day at a Circus”, there will be the scintillating, stupendous, stimulating, stunning Magic Lantern show, Cirque d’Magique. Popular in the 19th century, Magic Lantern shows were a combination of projected images, live narration and live music that preceded film projection movies. By 1895 there were more than 60,000 ‘lantern showmen’ traveling the United States giving tens-of-thousands of performances every year educating, entertaining and mystifying audiences in small communities and large cities. Cirque d’Magique is unique to the glorious epoch of the American circus and the lantern projections will feature daring high and low wire acts, trapeze artists, leapers, lions and tigers, clowns, bareback riders, jumping dogs, snake charmers, juggling frogs and of course, no circus should be without them: the Performing Ponderous Pachyderms!

There is no registration required. A $5.00 donation is suggested. The event is free to members and children under 12. The Barnum Museum is located on 820 Main Street in Bridgeport.

The fragrant Colonial Herb garden at the Wilton Historical Society is a fitting location for a gardening talk. Local herb expert and gardening guru Sal Gilbertie will give a talk there titled “Micro Greens and Super Greens” followed by a book signing, conversation, wine and cheese.

Sal Gilbertie has appeared on numerous national radio and television programs, including “Martha Stewart Living,” “Home Matters” on the Discovery Channel, the “Home Show” on the Lifetime Channel and “Sara’s Secrets” on the Food Network. In 2011, NOFA named him Connecticut Organic Farmer of the year. He is a frequent lecturer on herb gardening and hosts year-round workshops held at Gilbertie’s retail shop in Westport.

All are welcome, suggested donation $10.

Did you know?
Microgreens are young plants that are harvested a few weeks after germination. We’ve all heard of the nutritional virtues of kale, for example, but did you know that the microgreen versions of many plants hold anywhere from 4 to 50 times the nutrients per volume as the same plants in mature form? Microgreens truly are the new superfood. Chefs and gardeners around the country are discovering that these easy-to-grow plants can be raised in the convenience of your own kitchen in a few weeks’ time. And the range of flavor profiles is amazing-from spicy radishes or daikon to fresh-from-the-farm corn flavor in miniature corn microgreens.

The Naugatuck Historical Society has organized a summer house tour on Saturday, August 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. of some of the grand homes in this charming Connecticut Valley community that borders the Naugatuck River. Many of the architectural buildings in the center of the town were designed by the famous architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White making it a pleasant center to visit.

The house tour will feature a number of homes on Terrace, Hillside, Millville and Rockwell Avenues. The highlight of this house tour is a visit to the famous Tuttle House that will be the future home of the Naugatuck Historical Society. The Bronson B. Tuttle House is a brick brownstone house built by John Howard Whittemore in the Queen Anne style in 1881. The gable ends and tower dormers are decorated with a quarter sunburst design. There is quatre-foil-pierced terra cotta cresting along the roof line. The house remained in the Tuttle family until 1935 when it was given to the Borough of Naugatuck.

The house tour is self guided and with a rain date of August 6. Advance tickets are $20 for members and $25 for non-members of the historical society. Tickets on the day of the tour will be available at the historical society, starting at 9:30 a.m. located on 171 Church Street in Naugatuck and will be $30.

This year the Danbury Museum has organized a new exhibit called The Great War: Danbury Answers the Call. This is an exhibition of WWI and focuses on the contributions of Danbury citizens at home and abroad during the War.

All branches of service will be recognized and some of the topics covered include: Sacrifices on the Homefront, The Mallory War Garden, the role of Danbury Hat Factories, and the Old 8th Company.

Historic imagery of all kinds will be on display such as parades, war bond rallies, soldiers and other period images of Danbury. In addition to letters, artifacts such as uniforms, helmets, and ephemera items including posters, and memorabilia from the archives of the Old 8th Company donated by Mr. Frank Stone.

The Danbury Museum will be open Monday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through November 11, 2017. Check their website for additional programs offered through the summer and fall.

The Danbury Museum & Historical Society is a BLUE STAR MUSEUM offering free admission to the nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve, from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Do you know what the common ingredient in peanut butter, laundry detergent, aspirin, ice cream, and fireworks is… it’s Corn! This life nurturing natural grain is called maize in most countries and was first domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mexico more than 10,000 years ago. Since that time humans have deliberately altered and adapted this edible grain to meet their needs making maize the largest production crop in the world.

This summer, the Stamford Museum and Nature Center located on 39 Strickland Road has assembled a new special exhibition celebrating this precious grain. The exhibit, “MAIZE: Mysteries of an Ancient Grain” invites visitors to explore the science and history of maize and find out why it continues to surprise us. Learn about fascinating advances in the science of plant genetics, the process of evolution and how “useful mutations” can address world health and hunger issues. See how maize was adopted by Native Americans through historic and rare, corn-related objects from the Permanent Collections of the Stamford Museum, including archaeological material from the Stamford area that is more than 500 years old.

The Gallery Hours are: Mon.- Sat., 9 am – 5 pm; Sun., 11 am – 5 pm. This exhibition was developed and managed by the Paleontological Research Institution and its Museum of the Earth in Ithaca, N.Y., and produced with funding from the National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research Program, this interactive exhibition promises fun and engaging enrichment for the whole family.