Good morning from the shoreline.
This weekend is packed. If there isn’t something here for you I might have to shut this whole operation down! (joking. I would never.)
If you’ve given feedback or passed this on to a friend, thank you! It means a lot.
Here’s what I’ve surfaced this week.
In today’s issue: America’s Tall Ship comes home Thursday · a second tall ship docks at City Pier all weekend · 100 vintage dealers at Mystic Seaport · a two-day music festival on a Pawcatuck farm · Jim Belushi plays Misquamicut
Heads up: Gmail sometimes cuts this email short. Read the full issue online →
START HERE
The weekend in 30 seconds
THE MARQUEE
The Eagle Comes Home
Thursday · 11am · New London
The Coast Guard barque Eagle returns from her Sail250 voyage. The public welcome is at Fort Trumbull State Park, and it is free.
BIG WEEKEND
Saturday & Sunday · doors 11am · Pawcatuck
A stage built from two hay wagons, overlooking a farm pond, with Connecticut bands on it both days. Food, vendors, all ages, ticketed.
FOR FAMILIES
Friday · 6:30pm · Groton
Free town concert at Washington Park off Meridian Street. Their set list runs 1960s pop through current radio. Bring chairs.
SLOW SUNDAY
Sunday · 10am–5pm · Mystic
Over 100 vintage dealers spread across the Seaport’s waterfront grounds. Included with museum admission; members get in free.
EDITOR’S PICKS
The Digest
THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY
Two Tall Ships in New London in Four Days
Fort Trumbull State Park and New London City Pier · New London · Free to watch
The Coast Guard barque Eagle comes home Thursday at 11am from her Sail250 voyage, and Coast Guard City New London is asking people to turn out at Fort Trumbull to meet her. Then Friday through Sunday the Kalmar Nyckel, a replica of the 1638 Swedish flagship, ties up at City Pier and runs 2½-hour public sails on the Sound: Friday 10am and 3pm, Saturday 10am and 5pm, Sunday 10am. Reservations are recommended for the sails, but watching either ship from the waterfront costs nothing.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, AUGUST 15–16 · 10AM–5PM
Over 100 Vintage Dealers Fill the Seaport Grounds
Mystic Seaport Museum · Mystic
Vintage Bazaar New England brings more than 100 dealers, artists and makers to the Seaport’s waterfront campus for two days: antiques, handmade jewelry, textiles, candles, clothing, coastal goods. Live music runs both days, plus lawn games and space to sit down. It’s included with general admission. Members get in free and get early access Saturday.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, AUGUST 15–16 · DOORS 11AM
Two Days of Connecticut Bands on a Pawcatuck Farm
Highland Homestead, 170 Pawcatuck Ave · Stonington · Music noon–10pm Sat, noon–5pm Sun
The fifth FarmFest puts Connecticut bands on a stage made from two hay wagons overlooking a farm pond, with food, vendors and raffles alongside. It’s all ages, tickets are through Eventbrite, and every dollar goes to the Chikumbuso Women & Orphans Project in Ng’ombe, Zambia. The town signed off on it and CT Public is covering it.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 · 8–11PM
Jim Belushi Plays Paddy’s Beach Club Saturday Night
Paddy’s Beach Club · Westerly (Misquamicut) · Ticketed
Jim Belushi brings Jami Belushi and the James Montgomery Band to the beach at Misquamicut. The Ocean Community Chamber is promoting it, tickets start around $29
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14 · 6:30PM
Diva and the Playboys Play Washington Park Friday, Free
Washington Park, Meridian Street · Groton · Free
The City of Groton’s summer concert series is at Washington Park Friday night with Diva and the Playboys, a cover band whose set list runs from 1960s pop through current radio. Free, outdoors, no ticket. Bring a chair and a cooler.
THE FULL RUNDOWN
This week’s events
Thursday, August 13
Join the Coast Guard in Welcoming the Eagle Home
11am–12pm · Fort Trumbull State Park, 90 Walbach St · see the Digest · NEW LONDON
Beach Cleanup at Barn Island
5pm · Mystic Aquarium volunteer cleanup · STONINGTON
Thirsty Thursdays at Deans Mill Farm
5:30–8:30pm · Deans Mill Farm · weekly beer garden: live music, food trucks, free and family-friendly · STONINGTON
Summer Evening Sailing
5:30pm · Mystic Seaport Sailing Center · last sailing evening of the season; potluck snacks, bring people · MYSTIC
Good Stories Well Told: The Westerly Museum of American Impressionism
6pm · La Grua Center · $5 suggested · director Catherine Shotick on how the new museum came together · STONINGTON BOROUGH
Sea Glass Window Craft Night
6–8pm · Grey Sail Brewing Taproom, 65 Canal St · $57 · WESTERLY
Sunset Sculpt and Lobstah
6:30pm · Lobstah Dawg, 12 River St · ~$34, almost full · 45-minute waterfront mat Pilates, then lobster rolls off the truck · WATERFORD
We Met at Grossinger’s
7pm · Garde Arts Center · the Borscht Belt resort that inspired Dirty Dancing · NEW LONDON
Country Line Dancing with Lisa
7pm · Ocean Beach Park · NEW LONDON
A Band Called Pop at the Misquamicut Drive-In
8–10:30pm · Wuskenau Beach Pondside · $25 per carload · WESTERLY
Friday, August 14
Kalmar Nyckel Public Sails
10am–12:30pm and 3–5:30pm · New London City Pier · 2½ hours under sail; advance reservations recommended · NEW LONDON
Summer Friday Music Series: Anna May
4:30–7:30pm · Schaefer’s Spouter Tavern lawn, Mystic Seaport · museum entry free from 5pm through the North Entrance; bring a blanket · MYSTIC
Paddle, Yoga, Float & Flow
5–7:30pm · Flora Whiteley Preserve, 197 Potter Hill Rd · yoga, then a Pawcatuck River paddle · WESTERLY
Amphibians of CT
5:30–7pm · Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center · MYSTIC
Summer Concert Series: Chris Marra Band
6–8pm · East Lyme bandshell · free · EAST LYME
City of Groton Concerts: Diva and the Playboys
6:30pm · Washington Park, Meridian Street · see the Digest · GROTON
Franklin Brothers: Steely Dan Tribute
7pm · Ocean Beach Park · NEW LONDON
Misquamicut Drive-In: Jurassic Park
8:30pm · Wuskenau Beach Pondside · $25 per carload · WESTERLY
Saturday, August 15
Mushroom Foraging Intensive
9:30am–1:30pm · Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center · see Food & Drink · MYSTIC
Kalmar Nyckel Public Sails
10am–12:30pm and 5–7:30pm · New London City Pier · NEW LONDON
Vintage Bazaar New England
10am–5pm · Mystic Seaport Museum · see the Digest · MYSTIC
History Day at Samuel Smith Farmstead
10am–3pm · 82 Plants Dam Rd · free · corn chowder cooked in the fireplace of the 1748 house, plus living-history programs from the Dirty Blue Shirts · EAST LYME
Craftwork & Community and Sights & Sounds close today
Hygienic Art · last day for both gallery shows · NEW LONDON
FarmFest 2026
doors 11am, music noon–10pm · Highland Homestead, 170 Pawcatuck Ave · see the Digest · STONINGTON (PAWCATUCK)
In Our Nation’s Defense: Military Stories on the Thames
11:30am · Thames River boat tour · NEW LONDON
Embroidery Pop-up
12pm · Mystic & Noank Library, Ames Room · no experience needed; bring a project or start one · MYSTIC
Connecticut Sun vs New York Liberty
1pm · Mohegan Sun Arena · UNCASVILLE
Mudhead Benefit Regatta Shoreside Party
5pm · Rocks 21, 3 Williams Ave · $50 advance, $65 door · open to non-sailors: BBQ buffet, a drink ticket, DJ, silent auction and race results; benefits Sails Up 4 Cancer · MYSTIC
Date Night Picnic
6–7:30pm · Barlow Nature Preserve, 449 Westerly Bradford Rd · WESTERLY
90s vs. 2000s with DJ Jay R One
7pm · Ocean Beach Park · NEW LONDON
Always: The Love Story of Irving Berlin
7:30pm · UNITED Theatre Black Box · see Music · WESTERLY
Willy Wonka Jr.
11am The Granite Theatre, 1 Granite St · WESTERLY
Jim Belushi featuring Jami Belushi and the James Montgomery Band
8–11pm · Paddy’s Beach Club · see the Digest · WESTERLY
Sunday, August 16
Kalmar Nyckel Public Sails
10am–12:30pm · New London City Pier · last sail of the weekend · NEW LONDON
Vintage Bazaar New England, day two
10am–5pm · Mystic Seaport Museum · MYSTIC
FarmFest 2026, day two
doors 11am, music noon–5pm · Highland Homestead · STONINGTON (PAWCATUCK)
Our House: The Music of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
7pm · Garde Arts Center · see Music · NEW LONDON
Food, drink & music
THURSDAY
A Lobster Bake on a Stonington Farm, Tonight
Thursday, August 13 · 5–8pm · Stone Acres Farm, 393 North Main St · Stonington
Haring’s Noank and Lobstah Kingz are running a lobster bake in the field: a 1¼-pound local steamed lobster hauled by Stonington lobsterman Matt Madeira, or a BBQ half chicken, with the classic sides. Full bar, raw oysters, kids menu. Haring’s made the New York Times’ 50 Best Restaurants in America list. Reservations through Resy. Details →
THIS WEEK
Three Cooking Classes at Kitch This Week
Thursday 5:30–8:30pm, Friday 6–9pm, Sunday 5:30–8:30pm · Kitch, Olde Mistick Village · Mystic · $105
Kitch has three classes in the window and each one runs once: The Art of Sushi Making Thursday, Rustic Italian Trattoria Friday, Marry Me Chicken Sunday. Beer and/or wine included in the price. These classes fill up. Details →
FRIDAY
Free Wine Tasting at Cove Ledge, Friday
Friday, August 14 · 5–7pm · Cove Ledge, 147 Water Street · Stonington Borough · Free
Thursday is National Prosecco Day, which is as good a reason as any to walk into a Water Street wine shop Friday evening. Cove Ledge pours free tastings; this one runs 5 to 7. Details →
ALSO ON THE TABLE
Mushroom Foraging Intensive
Saturday 9:30am–1:30pm · Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, 109 Pequotsepos Rd · $125 ($106.25 members) · guided foraging hike, then a cooking demo; adults, pre-registration required · MYSTIC
Saltwater Farm Vineyard, Thursday
Ben Freiert plays at 5, J&R Seafood runs a raw bar · onsite parking or rideshare only · STONINGTON
Saltwater Farm Vineyard, Sunday
Dan Watson at 2:30 with The Rolling Tomato pizza truck · STONINGTON
Denison Farmers Market
Sunday 12pm · Denison Homestead · MYSTIC
The two ticketed shows worth planning around are Saturday at the UNITED and Sunday at the Garde.
SATURDAY · MUSIC
Always: The Love Story of Irving Berlin
Saturday, August 15 · 7:30pm · UNITED Theatre Black Box · Westerly · Ticketed
KT Sullivan and Mark Nadler, a New York cabaret duo, bring their Irving Berlin show to the Black Box at 7:30pm as part of the George Moore Cabaret Series. Details →
SUNDAY · MUSIC
Our House: The Music of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Sunday, August 16 · 7pm · Garde Arts Center · New London · Ticketed
A full ensemble plays the CSNY catalogue on the Garde stage at 7pm in the theater’s centennial year. Details →
SHIP’S LOG
How New London Ended Up With a German Tall Ship
The ship coming home Thursday arrived in New London as a prize of war.
And as a former Eagle sailor, I always enjoy talking about her.
She was launched at the Blohm+Voss yard in Hamburg on June 13, 1936, and commissioned that September as the Horst Wessel, a sail-training ship for Nazi Germany’s navy. She spent the war years mostly at the dock. American forces captured her in April 1945, and when the Allies divided up the surviving German fleet, the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union drew lots for the sailing ships.
She was commissioned into the Coast Guard as the U.S.C.G.C. Eagle on May 15, 1946. Then they sailed her across the Atlantic from Bremerhaven, and the delivery voyage ran straight into a hurricane. She reached New London in June 1946 and has been based here ever since.
The numbers are worth knowing if you are going to stand at Fort Trumbull and look at her. She is 295 feet long overall and 39 feet across the beam. The fore and main masts stand 150 feet tall and the mizzen 132 feet. Under full sail she carries about 22,280 square feet of canvas, which is a little more than half an acre. She is a barque, meaning three masts with square sails on the forward two and fore-and-aft rigging on the third, and she is the only active-duty sailing ship in any American sea service. The Navy has the Constitution, but the Constitution does not go to sea under sail on a working schedule.
Coast Guard Academy cadets have trained aboard her since 1946, most of them during Swab Summer or third-class summer. The Academy uses her the way it has always used her: put eighteen-year-olds on lines they cannot see the end of, in weather they did not choose, and find out who works well with the people next to them.
This summer’s voyage was Sail250, the tall-ship program marking the country’s 250th year. Coast Guard City New London says she drew thousands of visitors at ports throughout the celebration, and Thursday at 11am they are asking people to come down to Fort Trumbull and be there when she gets home.
SAVE THE DATE
On the horizon
MONDAY, AUGUST 17
Sabino Music Cruises run downriver from the Seaport at 5:30pm with live music and a cash bar on the water. · Mystic
TUESDAY, AUGUST 18
The Battle of Stonington 5K goes off at 6pm, a certified course that double-loops through the Borough. It benefits the Stonington Free Library, and you want to register rather than show up. · Stonington
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19
A Centennial Kickoff: the Garde and the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra open the Garde’s centennial with a Business After Hours at 5pm. Same night, the Hygienic Art Park launches the Tim Stawarz Emerging Musician Summer Concert Series at 6pm with Someone You Can Xray, plus Neptune and Longshott. · New London
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20
Lyman Allyn Open Collections Day runs 10am to 3pm. The museum opens storage and shows you what usually stays in the back. It’s the only Lyman Allyn event in August. · New London
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21
The Gipsy Kings featuring Tonino Baliardo play the UNITED at 8pm on the Historia Tour. Same night, Ocean Beach runs fireworks with the ABBA tribute Dancing Dream. · Westerly and New London
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27
The Moonlight Social under the Sturgeon Moon at Stone Acres Farm, 6 to 10pm: live music, vendors, a sound bath. Presale is through Resy and it has been live for a while. · Stonington
COASTAL WEATHER
The weekend outlook
FRIDAY
82°
Sunny
SATURDAY
81°
Sunny
SUNDAY
81°
Sun, then showers
That’s your week.
There are two tall ships in New London, and both the Vintage Bazaar and FarmFest run all weekend.
Pick one thing off the list and get out the door.
As always, if you are enjoying the newsletter or have any critiques, please reply and let me know!
Talk Thursday.
Reach shoreline locals every Thursday
Presenting partnerships, featured events, Crew Corner campaigns, and local notices are available.
