Connecticut Travel

In partnership with Fascia’s Chocolates, the Railroad Museum of New England (RMNE) is pleased to announce The Magic Chocolate Train, a special outing of fun for families.

On Friday, August 21, 2015 the Naugatuck Railroad Magic Chocolate Train will pull out for a magical evening of fun and chocolate. Riding in a restored 1951 Budd Rail Diesel Car (“RDC”), a magician will perform tricks up close for the passengers while traveling between the 1881 Thomaston Station and the Fascia’s Chocolates Station, where a special Chocolate Magic Show will be performed and guests will sample chocolate.

The Train will depart the Thomaston Station, 242 East Main Street, Thomaston, CT at 6:30pm for about a total 2 hour excursion. The special rail fare will be $30.00 per person and $25.00 per child (ages 3-12). Tickets are available in advance on the RMNE website at www.rmne.org.

The Railroad Museum of New England, Inc. (RMNE) is a not-for-profit educational and historical organization that dates back to January 1968. The mission of the RMNE is to tell the story of the region’s rich railroad heritage through our educational exhibits and operation of the Naugatuck Railroad. The museum concept is more than artifacts, it’s also a story of the region and the development of society around the railroad.

In addition to manufacturing and selling premium confections, Fascia’s Chocolates is a destination that offers a Chocolate Experience and Tour as well as private group events and birthday parties. The adjacent Naugatuck Railroad tracks allowed the ability to create the first Chocolate Train in the United States and perhaps the second in the world after the famous Swiss Chocolate Train.

The partnership was launched on June 13, 2015 as part of the CT Tourism Open House Day where trains shuttled participants from the 1881 vintage Thomaston Station to Fascia’s for a special Chocolate Experience & Tour. In the future, the Naugy Chocolate Train will incorporate stops at the Fascia’s Station into its regular tour schedule but to kick off the partnership there is a series of special events planned.

More Information about the Railroad Museum of New England can be found at: www.rmne.org

More Information about Fascia’s Chocolates.

Enter a magical environment all aflutter with exotic tropical butterflies in “Flutter Zone,” a special walk-through encounter that will be open at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk through September 7.

“Flutter Zone” will be open on the Aquarium’s riverfront courtyard, and will be matched wing-for-delicate-wing by the new IMAX® movie “Flight of the Butterflies,” The Maritime Aquarium’s six-story screen.

“Flutter Zone” features dozens of varieties of exotic tropical butterflies from Asia, Africa and South America, all free-flying among Aquarium visitors. In ‘Flutter Zone,’ you walk among all these beautiful butterflies and some of them may even choose to land on your head or arm. It’s one thing to see animals. But, as also with the Aquarium’s popular ‘Jiggle A Jelly’ exhibit, there’s an emotion involved, a commitment stirred, by physical connections – even with creatures as delicate as butterflies and jellyfish.

Visitors to “Flutter Zone” also can watch the life cycle of butterflies unfold, in a special section featuring the chrysalises whose metamorphoses will keep the exhibit stocked with flittering butterflies throughout the summer.

Displays also emphasize the horticultural and agricultural importance of butterflies and other pollinators.

Adjacent to “Flutter Zone” along the Norwalk River, The Maritime Aquarium is growing a “pollinators’ garden” filled with flowering plants that native butterflies specifically seek for food and egg-laying. Among these plants is milkweed. Monarch butterflies lay their eggs exclusively on milkweed, and their caterpillars feed exclusively on the plant. Recently, however, monarch populations have declined as property owners cut milkweed or spray it with pesticides. The Maritime Aquarium’s milkweed garden will be a certified monarch waystation designated by http://www.MonarchWatch.org.

Entry into “Flutter Zone” is free with Aquarium admission. For visitors with an aversion to possible contact with live animals, viewing of the butterflies is possible from outside the exhibit.

“Flutter Zone” is also a perfect complement to the Maritime Aquariums’s new IMAX movie, “Flight of the Butterflies”.

Get more details about The Maritime Aquarium’s exhibits, IMAX movies, programs and study cruises onto Long Island Sound this summer at www.maritimeaquarium.org. Or call (203) 852-0700.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

The Mattatuck Museum, located on 144 West Main Street in Waterbury is pleased to organize visits to the studios of four artists included in the exhibition, Unsettled Identities on view July 25 – September 13, 2015. Curated by artist Duvian Montoya, this exhibition explores the artistic and biographical evolution of five artists by pairing an earlier work with a recently produced one. The exhibition includes painting, mixed media reliefs, street art/graffiti and fiber installations by Jamison Banks, Amy Bilden, Vincent Calenzo, Duvian Montoya and Jahmane West.

The Mattatuck Staff has organized a private tour of the studios of Connecticut-based artists Amy Bilden, Vincent Calenzo, Duvian Montoya and Jahmane West on Saturday, August 22, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. This is an excellent opportunity not only to meet the artists but also to see the environment that inspires their work. Space is limited. First-come, first-served. Members are $30 and Non-Members are $45. For more information and to register call (203) 753-0381 x 130.

For more information on all of the museum’s programs, events, and exhibits visit the website at www.mattatuckmuseum.org or call (203) 753-0381.

For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

Be among the first to ride the country’s only research vessel with hybrid-electric propulsion during exciting public cruises offered this summer by The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.

R/V Spirit of the Sound™ begins her Aquarium service July 1, with outings at 1 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays through Labor Day.

The $2.7 million, 64-foot catamaran is bigger, quieter and greener than the Aquarium’s former boat, a 40-foot diesel-powered trawler.

“The fish, crabs, squid and other marine creatures that we bring up onto the boat will have to share top billing during this first season with R/V Spirit of the Sound,” said Tom Naiman, the Aquarium’s education director. “Participants will come away very impressed with the boat – for her unique hybrid propulsion and state-of-the-art navigation systems, but even more for her broad educational and research capabilities.”

During each Marine Life Study Cruise, animals are brought up out of Long Island Sound from different water levels and bottom habitats. A video microscope connected to a big-screen monitor provides a magnified look at wriggly plankton gathered at the sunlit surface. A biodredge reveals a hidden world of sponges, mollusks, worms and tiny crabs. And everyone inspects the trawl net’s bounty: varieties of fish and crabs, skates, sea stars, squid and always a few surprises.

“Seeing these animals come up out of the water has a tremendous impact in helping our guests understand the diversity of marine life just off our shores and in inspiring them to act as stewards of the Sound and the environment when they go home,” Naiman said. “Plus, it’s just plain fun. Who hasn’t been on a boat ride and wondered, ‘What’s down there?’ Well, we show you.”

Participants are involved hands-on throughout each cruise. They take measurements, sort through mud samples to find animals, help pull in the trawl net and return animals to the water.

Besides being fun and eye-opening, Marine Life Study Cruises also contribute to local scientific research. Water-chemistry and weather readings are taken. And details about the animals brought onboard are entered into the Aquarium’s Long Island Sound Biodiversity Project, a database of physical and biological features available online to teachers and researchers.

All passengers must be at least 42 inches tall. Particpants under age 21 must be accompanied by an adult.

The 2½- hour cruises depart from the dock outside the Aquarium’s IMAX® move theater.

Tickets for a Maritime Aquarium Marine Life Study Cruise are $29.95 (or $24.95 for Aquarium members).

Discounted triple combination tickets for a study cruise, Aquarium admission and IMAX movie are $49.95 for adults, $47.95 for youths (13-17) & seniors (65+), and $42.95 for ages 12 & under.

Advance ticket purchases are strongly recommended; walk-up tickets will be sold, space permitting. Get advance tickets online at www.maritimeaquarium.org. The triple combination tickets are not available online; instead, call (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206, weekdays between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

In addition to the public outings, R/V Spirit of the Sound can be chartered for Marine Life Study Cruises by summer camps, Scouts and other groups at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays-Sundays and at 9 a.m. & 1 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays.

R/V Spirit of the Sound also can be chartered for special outings on the Sound, including corporate celebrations and team-building events. Call (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206, for details.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

The Westport Arts Center will host an exhibition of photographs and paintings by the renowned artist Eric Fischl runs through September 5. Fischl is considered one of the most influential figurative painters of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

The showcased works are a unique aggregation of Fischl’s early photographs and paintings from 1982-2008, representing his distinct figurative style.

Curated by Helen Klisser During, the Westport Arts Center’s Artistic Director, the Eric Fischl Exhibition features 30 photographs and paintings curated from both the Hall Collection and the Eric Fischl Studio. The exhibition provides a rare opportunity to see the works outside of these collections.

Fischl is known for his provocative narratives about human behavior, particularly the hidden activities of middle-class America, and for making private moments public. His work is focused on people – their bodies – and the associated complex relationship we have with our physicality.

Included in the exhibition is his series of Saint Tropez (1982 – 1988) dye transfer photographs (1990) from the Hall Collection. This series exemplifies Fischl’s sense of voyeurism and his use of water as a recurrent theme, both the ocean as a symbol of life and the swimming pool as its domestic manifestation.

Fischl’s paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints have been the subject of numerous solo and major group exhibitions and his work is represented in many museums, as well as prestigious private and corporate collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, St. Louis Art Museum, Louisiana Museum of Art in Denmark, Musée Beaubourg in Paris, and may others worldwide. Fischl has collaborated with other artists and authors, including E.L. Doctorow, Allen Ginsberg, Jamaica Kincaid, Jerry Saltz and Frederic Tuten.

For more information on the Eric Fischl Exhibition and other programs at the Westport Arts Center, visit www.westportartscenter.org.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

The Arts Commission in cooperation with the Historical Society will host an exhibit on the works of Brookfield artists both past and present. The exhibit will take place at the Brookfield Museum located at 165 Whisconier Road (Junction of Routes 25 and 133) in Brookfield Center. The Grand Opening will be held on Saturday, August 8, 2015 from Noon to 4 PM and the exhibit will continue each Saturday at the same time through September 5. At the opening, complimentary refreshments will be offered to visitors of the exhibit and admission is free.

Among the historic artists featured are Eric Sloane, a founding member of the Historical Society, and David Hutchinson an artist contracted by the federal government during the depression to grace the walls of federal building throughout America with his murals. Famed cartoonist Jack Berrill who created the comic strip Gil Thorp will be featured along with some works of Elizabeth Schleussner, a nationally recognized landscape painter of desert settings, southwest scenes and eucalyptus trees.

In addition, the artworks of Reginald Ward Phillips, a world- renowned book and magazine illustrator and Cole Bradley who trained under the direction of Norman Rockwell and whose illustrations appeared in National Magazines will be on display. Bradley created the Brookfield town seal and created numerous drawings depicting life in Brookfield in earlier times. He also created the Legend of Whisconier complete with illustration.

For more information visit www.brookfieldcthistory.org or www.brookfieldartscommission.org. For area information www.litchfieldhills.com