Museum Store Sales

Start your holiday shopping now. Visit the Museum Store this winter for special discounts each month. Remember our annual storewide 25%-off sale is in February. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Temporary Exhibit: “Watched by Sound and Sea: Occupied Beaufort, 1862”

Learn how the Civil War transformed a quiet coastal town into a hub of Union naval activity. On display until Sept. 2012. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Beaufort Oars
Monday, Wednesday, Friday evenings & Sunday mornings. Join this local rowing club, for exercise, competition and fun. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Sailing Lessons
By appointment only.
Learn how to sail!  Pick from traditional boat handling, adult or family sailing lessons.  Call (252) 728-2762 for prices and details; $70 – $210 – Museum members receive a discount. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Watercraft Center Classes by Appointment
Oar making, sail making, or lofting. Classes require a minimum number of participants. Call for date options and pricing. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

International Travel Program

Friends of the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort Trip DepartsJan. 20, 2012

Explore the Amazon on an 8-day voyage with a 6-day extension trip toMachu Picchuin theAndes. Prices vary. Call 1-800-633-4734 for details. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com

-DECEMBER- 

Museum Closed

Nov. 28 – Dec. 7

The Museum will be closed due to renovations. The annual Holiday Flotilla party at the Museum’sWatercraftCenteron Saturday, Dec. 3, will still take place.   For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Holiday Flotilla

Saturday, Dec. 3

The annual lighted boat parade begins inMoreheadCityat5:30 p.m., and arrives in Beaufort about6:15 p.m.Watch the spectacle from the Museum’sWatercraftCenterand enjoy the awards party.  Tickets are $15 each. For more information or to register your boat call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Carolina Maritime Model Society

Dec. 3,2 p.m.

Meetings open to the public, Auditorium. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Brown Bag Gam: “Offshore Ship Life and Wildlife – Summer 2011”

Dec. 8,noon

Museum Natural Science Curator Keith Rittmaster shares anecdotes and imagery from his summer spent offshore in the Gulf of Mexicoand the Atlantic Ocean.  Rittmaster assisted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with identifying and counting marine mammals. Free. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com. 

Civil War Lecture Series: “One Good Port: Beaufort Harbor, 1862 – 1865”

Dec. 10,3 p.m.

A native of CarteretCounty, historian Dan Blair offers a look at the Union Navy’s use of BeaufortHarbor. Free. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Contemporary Boatbuilding Carpentry

Dec. 10-11,9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Learn skills essential for building round-bottomed boats. Topics include deriving boat shape, hull construction and other properties of different construction styles. Reservations, $135. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Annual Meeting & Holiday Open House

Sunday, Dec. 11

Friends of the Museum in Beaufort annual Membership meeting2-3 p.m.Holidayreception to follow, including kids crafts, open to public3-4 p.m.For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Brown Bag Gam: “Maritime Folklore”

Dec. 14,noon

Were mermaids really manatees mistaken by dehydrated and malnourished sailors? Were sea monsters really just whales and giant squid? Learn more about the stories that have been passed down throughout time from one sailor to another, and how they have grown over the years into legends. Free. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Museum Closed

Dec. 24 – 27

The Museum will be closed for the holidays.  For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

2012: Year of the Whale

December 30-31,10-4 p.m.

The Museum makes a splash with a fin-tastic new exhibit coming in 2012 – “Whales and Whaling.”

As part of CarteretCounty’s “First Night” festivities, get a preview of the crowning feature of the new display, a 33-foot sperm whale skeleton, with games, crafts and presentations. Free. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com. 

-JANUARY-

Museum Closed

Jan. 1

The Museum will be closed for New Year’s Day.

Brown Bag Gam: “Heritage Watercraft of Carteret County”

Jan. 11,noon

Local sportfishing boats are unique.  As this talk will show, they can trace their ancestry directly back to the area’s working watercraft. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Waterfowl Watching Excursion

Thursday, Jan. 12, 8 a.m- Friday, Jan. 13, 7 p.m. 

Observe the historical migration of wintering waterfowl atLakeMattamuskeetand Pea Island National Wildlife Refuges. TheCoreSoundWaterfowlMuseumand birding expert JoAnne Powell partner with the Museum for this annual tour. Includes guided interpretation. Overnight in Nags Head. Reservations $50, members, $45.  For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Civil War Lecture Series: “The Pevensey: Civil War Shipwreck”

Jan. 14,3 p.m.

Maritime historian and nautical archaeologist Rob Reedy presents a program on the Civil War blockade runner, Pevensey. After making successful “runs” in the Cape Fear area the iron-side wheel steamer wrecked on Bogue Banks in 1864, where it is still visible today. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com

Brown Bag Gam: “Beaufort’s Dolphins”

Jan. 18,noon

Join us for an update on Beaufort’s dolphin population.  Enjoy first hand stories, and beautiful pictures from Keith Rittmaster, Museum Natural Science Curator. Free. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Clam Chowder Cook-off

Friday, Jan. 20,6-8 p.m.

Participants decide whose style of clam chowder reigns supreme at this Museum fundraiser and program. Space is limited, $25. Members only; all are welcome to join the Friends of the Museum. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Traditional Boatbuilding Carpentry

Jan. 21 – 22,9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Learn traditional boatbuilding techniques in this hands-on workshop. As a team, participants will construct a traditional “rack of eye” flat-bottomed skiff. Reservations, $135, members, $110. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Brown Bag Gam: “Oysters in Local Culture”

Jan. 25, noon

Learn the ecology of this beneficial bivalve plus how to harvest, eat, and even recycle oysters on your own. Free steamed oysters provided to taste! For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Carolina Maritime Model Society

Jan. 28,2 p.m.

Meetings open to the public, Museum Auditorium. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

-FEBRUARY-

Brown Bag Gam: “Bonehenge”

Feb. 2,noon

Museum staff and volunteers have spent more than ten years rearticulating (rebuilding) the skeleton of a 33.5-foot sperm whale to be put on display in the Museum.  Join us for a discussion on sperm whales and an update on this amazing project from the project leader Keith Rittmaster. Free. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Nine-day Boatbuilding

Feb. 4 -12,9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

With an expert’s guidance, participants will build their own flat-bottomed skiff or small round-bottomed boat. Class price includes all materials and use of tools. Additional cost for building a sailboat. Boatbuilding Carpentry is a prerequisite for this class. Reservations, $1,750. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Brown Bag Gam: “Crissie Wright”

Feb. 8, noon

On a chilly day, locals here like to say, “Cold as the night Crissie Wright came ashore!” Join Museum Nautical Archaeologist David Moore to learn more about the ship and the fate of her crew. Free. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Civil War Lecture Series: “A Spelling Book in One Hand and a Musket in the Other: African Americans in Civil War North Carolina”

Feb. 11,noon

Dr. Jeffrey Crow, Deputy Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, will offer a presentation on African Americans in North Carolinaduring the Civil War. More than 300,000 African Americans were in the state by 1860. Existing laws precluded slaves from learning to read, and more stringent restrictions were put in place during the Antebellum period. The Civil War and Union occupation were the avenue for freedom.  Enslaved people escaped to Union forces and picked up arms for their rights and liberty. As an award-winning author, Crow has published “The Black Experience in Revolutionary North Carolina” and “A History of African Americans in North Carolina.”  For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Registration Begins for Junior Sailing Program and Summer Science School

Feb. 14

The Junior Sailing Program uses the fun of sailing to teach seamanship, navigation, boating safety and sailing techniques.SummerScienceSchoolinvestigates the coastal environment andNorth Carolinamaritime history. Both programs run June – August. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Brown Bag Gam: “Love at Sea”

Feb. 14,noon

Celebrate Valentine’s Day by listening to stories of love at sea.  These stories will range from tragically heartbreaking to “so sweet your teeth will hurt.” Free. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Carolina Maritime Model Society

Feb. 25,2 p.m.

Meetings open to the public, Museum Auditorium. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Contemporary Boatbuilding Carpentry

Feb. 25-26,9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Learn skills essential for building round-bottomed boats. Topics include deriving boat shape, hull construction and other properties of different construction styles. Reservations. $135. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Brown Bag Gam: “Mid-18^th Century Colonial Ports”

Feb. 29,noon

Museum Maritime History Curator Paul Fontenoy offers a visual tour of 18^th century ports, waterfronts and workers using contemporary illustrations. Free. For more information call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

Santa by the Sea features a personal interview with St. Nick and a photo of the encounter for each child. Register now for the Dec. 9 special event at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.

It’s all about holiday magic at Santa by the Sea, Dec. 9 at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. The highlight of this after-hours event is the chance for each child to personally confide a wish list to St. Nick.

A bit of the North Pole in front of the Living Shipwreck forms the perfect setting for the encounter and for photos of it. Each child 12 and under receives a 5” x 7” professional photo by FotoFX, and more photos can be purchased.

The jolly evening also includes keepsake crafts to take home, helping prepare a snack for Santa’s reindeer, favorite stories read by Mrs. Claus, a corps of elves making merry, and special appearances by the most famous reindeer of all, Rudolph.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and Santa packs up the sleigh and departs at 9 p.m. Advance registration is strongly recommended, as space is limited. Register early online, by phone or at Visitor Services at the Aquarium.

Santa by the Sea admission is $9 per person, all ages. Memberships and daily admission tickets, passes and discount coupons do not apply to this special event. See the website or call for more information.

The North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores is five miles west of Atlantic Beach at 1 Roosevelt Blvd., Pine Knoll Shores, NC 28512. Regular hours are 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily, except closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s days.  Daily admission is $8 for ages 13-61; $7 for ages 62 and up; $6 for ages 3-12; no charge for ages 2 and under and North Carolina Aquarium Society members. For more information on Santa by the Sea or the Aquarium, see www.ncaquariums.com/pine-knoll-shores or call 252-247-4003.

Editor’s note: The above is a press release from the N.C. Aquarium.

On Thursday, November 17, Dr. Reginald Hildebrand presents “The First Year of Freedom in North Carolina: Pursuing Freedom with the Hoe and the Sword, the Book and the Lord” in the African American Lecture Series at Tryon Palace. The lecture begins at 7 p.m. and takes place in Cullman Performance Hall at the North Carolina History Center, 529 S. Front Street in New Bern.   Admission is free.
Dr. Hildebrand, Associate Professor of African American Studies and History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, uses first-hand accounts to illustrate some of the ways in which freedom was experienced in North Carolina in 1865. Included are the accounts of black soldiers entering Wilmington in February, the first 4th of July celebration of the freed people, and a ‘watch night’ service in Raleigh to mark both New Years and the first anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Professor Hildebrand received his BA and MA from Howard University and his PhD from Princeton. He has served as Interim Director of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History at UNC – Chapel Hill, and now serves as chair of the Advisory Board for the Institute of African American Research at that university. His research focuses on the period of Emancipation and Reconstruction, although he is currently working on a collection of essays entitled “Engaging Blackness: Body, Mind, and Spirit; the Perspectives of Malcolm X, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Howard Thurman.”

Editor’s note: The above is a press release from Craven County

All visitors are admitted to the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores free of charge on Veterans Day – Friday, Nov. 11. No past or present military affiliation is necessary.

However, the Aquarium encourages visitors to return the favor by bringing donations for Martha’s Mission Cupboard. The local food pantry helps many families through hard times all year long, and is especially busy during the holiday season.

Cereal, peanut butter, powdered milk, canned fruit and vegetables, dried beans, rice, saltines and other staples are particularly in demand. Please check the expiration dates to assure food items can be used. Aquarium staff will collect and deliver the donations.

Donations are not required for free admission on Veterans Day. The Aquarium is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and dive presentations, live animal programs and feeding demonstrations are scheduled as usual throughout the day.

Regular admission policies resume Nov. 12 – $8 for ages 13-61; $7 ages 62 and up; $6 ages 3-12; no charge for ages two and under and members of the North Carolina Aquarium Society. The Aquarium is five miles west of Atlantic Beach at 1 Roosevelt Blvd., Pine Knoll Shores, NC 28512. See the Pine Knoll Shores section of www.ncaquariums.com for more information or to buy tickets and register for programs online, or call 252-247-4003.

Editor’s note: The above is a press release from the N.C. Aquariums.

A Nov. 10 workshop at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores shows you how to help frogs by cataloging their croaks. The Frog Call Workshop, from 5 – 8 p.m. at the Aquarium, outlines ways to distinguish the breeding calls unique to each of the 30 frog species and toad species in the state.

The workshop also covers methods to report your findings so they can be used in developing conservation programs. The workshop is free but space is limited and advance registration is recommended.

Pollution, habitat loss and disease imperil frogs, toads and other amphibians worldwide. Tracking the number and diversity of frog and toad calls in various places portrays how different populations are faring. The Aquarium is a chapter of FrogWatch, a national program surveying local sites for breeding frogs and toads through a network of call-tracking volunteers. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission manages a similar statewide volunteer-based survey program, the Calling Amphibian Survey Program (CASP).

The two programs team up to offer the special training and recruit new volunteers with the Nov. 10 workshop. It is geared toward conservation-minded residents, ages 12 and up, interested in learning more about frogs and toads and possibly in volunteering for frog-call survey programs. Current volunteers who would like to refresh their skills also are encouraged to attend. In addition to field identification of frog and toad calls, the workshop covers species identification and ecology, and FrogWatch and CASP protocols.  Register online or call 252-247-4003.

The Frog Call Workshop is a special after-hours event. Exhibit galleries will be closed and admission to the Aquarium will be limited to workshop participants.

The Aquarium is five miles west of Atlantic Beach at 1 Roosevelt Blvd., Pine Knoll Shores, NC 28512. Operating hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s days. Admission is $8 for ages 13-61, $7 for ages 62 and up and $6 for ages 3-12. Children 2 and under and members of the North Carolina Aquariums are admitted free.  See the Pine Knoll Shores section of www.ncaquariums.com or call 252-247-4003 for more information on the workshop or the Aquarium.

Editor’s note: The above is a press release from the N.C. Aquariums.

Press release

Tryon Palace is pleased to announce that the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival will present “Trios at Tryon” on Friday, November 4, in Cullman Performance Hall at the North Carolina History Center, 529 S. Front Street in New Bern. Performance time is 8 p.m. Doors open and seating begins at 7 p.m.

“Trios at Tryon” features Ara Gregorian, violin; Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello; and Benjamin Hochman, piano; performing Brahms’ Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8 and Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 49, in addition to special selections announced from the stage.

This Tryon Palace Performing Arts Series performance is the first in New Bern for the highly popular Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival, which is entering its twelfth season in Greenville, NC, featuring internationally renowned classical music performers.
 
Now on sale, tickets are $25Adults, $22 Council of Friends Members, $10 Students. Seating is limited. For tickets, call 1-800-ECU-ARTS (328-2787), 252-328-4788; or purchase online at www.ecuarts.com . Media Sponsorship is provided by Public Radio East.

Press Release

On Saturday evening November 12, the Friends and Staff of Fort Macon State Park will host “A STROLL THROUGH TIME–FORT MACON in WWII.” This rare after-dark event will be an educational and entertaining  trip back to the time when U-boats menaced our ships and coastline, and when the Fort was activated once again—this time  as a base for the US Army to protect North Carolina and the mid-central east coast.

The entire evening will be designed to give visitors a surprising look back to Fort Macon in WWII—military vehicles will await in the parking lot, 1940s swing music will greet people entering the Visitors Center, and a documentary of interviews with North Carolina veterans recalling their experiences will be shown in the auditorium.

Visitors will be divided into groups for a guided “Stroll” through the Fort. Luminaries will light the pathway and outline the Fort in the darkness, and actors portraying real characters from the time will lay out the story for all to see and hear. Some of the storytellers  include:

–Park Superintendent Virginia B. Humphrey setting the stage for passing over the keys of the Fort to the US military.

–Colonel Henry G. Fowler, 244^th Coast Artillery, explaining the Army’s mission and the dangers off the coast.

–The choir of the Franklin Memorial Methodist Church of Morehead City singing carols to the troops just as they did during the War.

–Caretaker Jesse Long and soldiers reenacting the cannonball explosion inside the Fort…the “last shot fired in the Civil War”.

–Kapitanleutnant Johannes Mohr recalling the actions undertaken by the U-boat in his command, hunting allied ships right off our coast. During the early phases of WWII, 495 ships were sunk by U-boats off the U.S. coast, many along the North Carolina coastline.

Come see and hear about this chapter in Fort Macon’s storied past. The evening will begin at 6 PM. We strongly encourage visitors to consider coming later (at 7) so we can spread out the tours and keep any waiting time to a minimum.

A $5 donation per adult is requested to defray some of the expenses.