Good morning from the shoreline.
The cool nights this week have me feeling like summer’s crested, but really it’s only just begun. The Floatswella turnout on Sunday was amazing, and I’d put it on your calendar for next year.
The Borough’s big weekend is here. The Blessing of the Fleet runs through Sunday in Stonington, the oldest working-waterfront tradition on this stretch of coast. And Friday night is a genuine logjam: Everclear at a North Stonington vineyard, a Springsteen tribute on the boardwalk at Ocean Beach, and a benefit set at Stonington Vineyards, all at once.
Here’s what I’ve surfaced this week.
In today’s issue: The Blessing of the Fleet closes Sunday at the Town Dock · Everclear vs. a Springsteen tribute Friday · Tony winners on a Waterford lawn all week · 50-plus sea glass artisans at the Seaport · a summer cocktail class in Mystic
START HERE
The weekend in 30 seconds
THE MARQUEE
The Blessing of the Fleet
Thursday–Sunday · Stonington Borough
Four days of the Borough at its most itself, closing Sunday with the Fisherman’s Mass and the procession down to the Town Dock. Schedule in the Digest below.
BIG FRIDAY
Friday · Gates 5:30pm, music 7pm · North Stonington
’90s alt-rock under the vines. 21+, rain or shine, bring chairs.
FOR FAMILIES
Saturday–Sunday · 10am–5pm · Mystic Seaport
More than 50 juried artisans on the Village Green, one ticket for the weekend.
SLOW SUNDAY
Sunday · Market 12pm, author talk 5pm · Mystic
Produce on the Homestead grounds, then a novelist in the bookstore. No rushing anywhere.
COMMUNITY FUNDRAISER · SUPPORTED BY SHORELINE CREW
Sip, Sway & Support — Last Call: It’s Tomorrow Night
Friday, July 24 · 5–9pm · Saltwater Farm Vineyard, 349 Elm St · Stonington
Told you about this one last week; now it’s tomorrow night. Wine, a Tox Brewing beer tasting, live music from Eric Nicolas, lite bites from Dock 9, the Rolling Tomato food truck, and a basket raffle. Tickets are $35, with proceeds benefiting the Arthritis Foundation. The fundraiser was created to find a cure for people like Gracie, who was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis at 11 and still lives with its effects at 19. Her family is raising money for research toward better treatments and, ultimately, a cure.
EDITOR’S PICKS
The Digest
THURSDAY–SUNDAY, JULY 23–26
The Blessing of the Fleet Returns to Stonington
Stonington Borough
The 5K kicks things off Thursday at 6pm, Saturday brings Meet the Fleet and the Portuguese Holy Ghost Society’s food and music, and Sunday closes with the Fisherman’s Mass at 10:30am and the blessing procession down to the Town Dock. If you only make one of the four days, make Sunday. The story of why this town blesses its boats is this week’s Ship’s Log.
SATURDAY–SUNDAY, JULY 25–26 · 10AM–5PM
50 Sea Glass Artisans Take Over the Seaport
Mystic Seaport Museum Village Green · Mystic
The 22nd International Sea Glass Festival sets up on the Village Green with more than 50 juried artisans, plus talks and a sea glass contest down by the water. One ticket covers both days, so you can browse Saturday and come back Sunday for the piece you kept thinking about.
NIGHTLY THROUGH WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 · 8PM
Broadway Spends the Week on a Waterford Lawn
Eugene O’Neill Theater Center · Waterford
The O’Neill’s Cabaret & Performance Conference puts a different headliner on stage every night this week: Tony winner Bonnie Milligan tonight, a Mabel Mercer tribute Friday, Thomas Z. Shepard Saturday, and Natalie Douglas’ Nina Simone celebration Sunday. Charles Busch lands Tuesday. This caliber of performer on a lawn ten minutes from downtown New London happens one week a year.
THE FULL RUNDOWN
This week’s events
Thursday, July 23
Blessing of the Fleet 5K
6pm · Stonington Borough · kicks off the fleet weekend · STONINGTON
Summer Evening Sailing
5:30pm · Mystic Seaport Sailing Center · MYSTIC
MISFIT Karaoke
7:30pm · The Misfit Club · MYSTIC
The Mystic Dead play Esker Point Beach tonight at 6, free. Details in Music below.
Friday, July 24
Sip ’N’ Spin Pottery Workshops (Ages 21+)
6pm · bring your own wine, throw your own bowl · MYSTIC
Mystic Schooners vs Danbury Westerners
6:30pm · Fitch Senior High School · GROTON
Wicked Peach — City of Groton Concerts in the Park
6:30pm · free, on the grass · GROTON
Sip, Sway & Support is Friday night at Saltwater Farm (details up top). Everclear and the Springsteen tribute are in Music.
Saturday, July 25
Sea Glass Festival
10am–5pm · Mystic Seaport Village Green · runs Sunday too · MYSTIC
Local Author Marcus Soutra, Jr. Talk and Signing
10am · Public Library of New London · his second book, The Gulls of Ninth Avenue · NEW LONDON
Hop On, Hop Off Harbor Cruises
11am · runs Sunday too · GROTON & NEW LONDON
In Our Nation’s Defense: Military Stories on the Thames
3pm · NEW LONDON
Eric Jay Dolin — The Wreck of the Mentor Author Talk
4pm · Bank Square Books · best-selling maritime historian · MYSTIC
Mystic Schooners vs Valley Blue Sox
6:30pm · Fitch Senior High School · cheap summer ball under the lights · GROTON
Dance Saturday at The Misfit Club
7:30pm · MYSTIC
Sunday, July 26
Josh Weil (What Came West) Author Talk and Signing
5pm · Bank Square Books · MYSTIC
The Fisherman’s Mass and the blessing procession close the fleet weekend Sunday; the schedule is in the Digest.
Tuesday, July 28
Beach Concert Series: 3 Hours Later
6–8pm · Ocean Community YMCA, Naik Family Branch, 1 Harry Austin Dr · free, food trucks, family-friendly · MYSTIC
Wednesday, July 29
Mystic Dead Full Moon Party (Buck Moon)
6pm · Stone Acres Farm, 393 N Main St · $28, food and drinks from the 85th Day crew: Oyster Club empanadas, Sixpenny raw bar, Engine Room smash burgers, Haring’s lobster rolls · STONINGTON
Yes, that’s a second Mystic Dead show and a third full-moon event this week. Different night, different farm; this one’s under the actual Buck Moon.
Food, drink & music
SATURDAY · 6PM · MYSTIC
Summer Cocktails, Taught Properly
A guided class on building the freshest summer cocktails, the kind that turn a deck or a boat into the destination. These classes are small and hands-on, and Saturday evening in downtown Mystic takes care of the rest of your night. Details →
WORTH KNOWING
Two Locals Who’ll Show You Around
You can eat your way through Mystic or drink your way across the vineyards, and there’s now a local guide for each.
Taylor Holland runs Mystic Food Tours, locally owned and operated, and she’s spent more than a decade living, working, and eating in Mystic. Her groups hit six restaurants over a three-hour stroll through downtown, with the history woven in along the way: oysters and the 1800s railroad boom, regional Italian pasta techniques. Booking is online, with an optional cocktail package at checkout.
Raylene Taskoski runs Middle of the Vines, a 15-passenger van that leaves from Mystic for a small-group day across three vineyards, a glass or tasting at each stop, boxed lunch included. Routes rotate between Saltwater Farm, Maugle Sierra, and Jonathan Edwards, or Stonington Vineyards, Preston Ridge, and Kingdom of the Hawk. $165 a person, booking on the site.
SATURDAY · 12–1PM · STONINGTON
Charcuterie, but Make It a Bouquet
Chell’s Charcuterie runs a hands-on summer bouquet class at Stonington Vineyards, and your ticket includes a complimentary glass of wine. Details →
FARMERS MARKETS
Three Farmers Markets This Week
Niantic Farmers Market — Today · 3–6pm · Methodist Street Parking Lot · Niantic
Stonington Village Farmers Market — Saturday · 9am · Stonington
Denison Farmers Market — Sunday · 12pm · Denison Homestead · Mystic
Today is also Kids Day at the Niantic market: free face painting, a sea-themed scavenger hunt with the Children's Museum, and seashell crafts from Doodles Kids Art Lab.
TONIGHT · FREE · NOANK
The Mystic Dead at Esker Point
Summer Soundwaves rolls on at the beach in Noank at 6pm. Free admission, $10 car parking, and a free shuttle from Fitch High School if the lot fills. Dead tunes with the Sound behind the stage costs nothing tonight. Details →
FRIDAY · NORTH STONINGTON
Everclear at Jonathan Edwards [SOLD OUT!]
Art Alexakis brings the ’90s alt-rock catalog to the winery in North Stonington Friday night, gates at 5:30, music 7 to 9. It’s 21+, rain or shine, with a food truck on site. Bring chairs or a blanket, leave the outside drinks home. Tickets →
SATURDAY · NEW LONDON
Mitchfest 18 at the Hygienic
Saturday, 3 to 8pm in the Art Park: Bobby Christina’s Caravan with Greg Piccolo & Heavy Juice, Roy Dunn Maclean, Innervisions, and Ray Greene, the former Tower of Power lead singer now touring with Santana. $40 for a stacked outdoor bill on Bank Street. Tickets →
ALSO WORTH YOUR EAR THIS WEEK
Tramps Like Us (Springsteen tribute) — Ocean Beach Park boardwalk · Fri · 7pm · New London (endorsed by members of Bruce’s own camp; same night as Everclear, so pick your decade)
Brad Bensko — Stonington Vineyards · Fri · 6pm · Stonington ($10 advance, $15 door; proceeds benefit Safe Futures; advance sales close 3pm Friday)
Middle Aged Dad Jam Band — Summer Blast — UNITED Theatre · Sat · 8pm · Westerly
Blue Monday Concert Series: Sugar — Mon · 6pm · Stonington (free; the bucket feeds the food bank)
Waterford Community Band — Arnold Holm Park Duck Pond · Mon · 6pm · Waterford
Summer Sounds: Westerly Band — Mystic River Park · Tue · 7pm · Mystic
Roode Concert: West River Junction — Mystic & Noank Library lawn · Wed · 6pm · Mystic
Full live-music list at wailingcity.com →
If you miss the lineup reply and let me know!
CREW PROJECT
The Blessing Is Sunday. Your Move?
The Blessing is Sunday. Your move?
SHIP’S LOG
Why Stonington Blesses Its Boats
Sunday afternoon, if you stand on Water Street in Stonington Borough, you’ll watch a procession make its way down to the Town Dock, where the fishing fleet sits decorated and waiting. A priest blesses each boat. A wreath goes into the water for the fishermen who never came back. Then the Borough gets on with its party.
The tradition belongs to the Portuguese families who built this fishing village into what it is. Immigrants, many from the Azores, came to Stonington across the 1800s and early 1900s to work the boats, and they brought the blessing with them: an old-world rite asking protection for the men who go to sea. The Portuguese Holy Ghost Society, the social heart of that community for generations, still anchors the weekend, and its food and music on Saturday are half the reason to go.
The Blessing itself has run here since 1954. It started as something closer to a parish observance and grew into the Borough’s defining weekend: a road race, a fleet open house, a Mass at St. Mary’s, and the procession to the water.
The difference from a themed summer festival: the fleet is real. Stonington’s Town Dock is home to Connecticut’s last commercial fishing fleet, working boats that still go out for scallops, lobster, and whatever the season allows. The blessing is not a historical reenactment. The men and women on those decks Sunday work the water for a living, and some of the names read at the wreath ceremony belong to their own families.
Fishing remains dangerous work, and this town has buried enough of its own to take the ritual seriously. Sunday runs both ways: the quiet hour at the dock for the wreath, and the celebration going on either side of it.
If you go, park early and walk in; the Borough’s streets weren’t designed for this and never will be. Get chowder or something off the grill from the Holy Ghost Society, watch the boats come down the harbor, and stay for the wreath. The boats blessed on Sunday still go out for a living, and it all happens one weekend a year.
SAVE THE DATE
On the horizon
TUESDAY, JULY 28
The Full Buck Moon Cruise leaves New London at 8:15pm and cruises down the Thames to Ledge Light, tonight and again Wednesday (Thames River Heritage Park). · New London
TUESDAY, JULY 28
The Amistad Story: Connecticut’s Role in the Fight for Freedom, a free talk at the Public Library of New London at 5pm. · New London
TUESDAY, JULY 28
Pondside Perspectives at the Arnold Holm Park duck pond, 5:30pm: a master gardener and Waterford’s environmental planner walk the pond and explain what you’re actually looking at. · Waterford
WEDNESDAY, JULY 29
Waterford’s Summer Concert Series plays Waterford Beach Park at 6pm. Bring a chair, stay for the sunset over the marsh. · Waterford
SATURDAY–SUNDAY, AUGUST 8–9
The 68th Mystic Outdoor Art Festival, the oldest juried art show in the Northeast, takes over downtown Mystic. · Mystic
COASTAL WEATHER
The weekend outlook
FRIDAY
77°
Sunny
SATURDAY
79°
Early shower chance, then sun
SUNDAY
81°
Sunny
That’s your week. The Borough blesses its fleet, Everclear plays a vineyard, and Broadway is doing a residency on a Waterford lawn.
Pick one thing off the list and get out the door.
If you were building a Mystic food tour, what’s the one stop it can’t skip? Hit reply and tell me. I’ll compare notes with the professionals.
Talk Thursday.
Reach shoreline locals every Thursday
Presenting partnerships, featured events, Crew Corner campaigns, and local notices are available.
