Heppingstone-Brown Challenge 2014

The Charles W. Morgan restoration project is done, and she returns from her 38th voyage in early August after a victory lap around southern New England. The Browns’ son-in-law, Nelson Cole Haley, sailed as a boatsteerer on the Morgan’s 3rd voyage and chronicled his adventures in Whale Hunt. Haley’s original manuscript is part of the seaport archives. Whether or not you've been there before, this is the perfect time to visit Mystic Seaport!

Join Us at Mystic ! August 22–24

We’ve also arranged with the good people of Ledyard to have some of the festivities at Sawmill Park on the site of the old Brown family business.

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So far, the plan looks like this:

(Although not all of it is etched in stone ... will post updates as we have them and certainly interested in any ideas of feedback people might have to offer.)

Friday evening August 22	Meet & Greet – Soundings Lounge Mystic Hilton, 20 Coogan Blvd, Mystic, CT   We’ll be hanging out in the lounge, adjacent to the reception area as folks arrive. The food’s pretty good, too. Stick around for dinner, or try one of many restaurants within easy walking distance from the hotel. If the lounge gets too noisy or crowded, the hotel has a hospitality suite reserved for our use throughout the weekend. We can easily move upstairs.
Saturday, all day August 23	Heppingstone-Brown Challenge – Mystic Seaport 75 Greenmanville Avenue Mystic, CT More than enough to fill the day here! In addition to touring the museum, let’s get out on the water and make our ancestors proud. The seaport has a fleet of sail and row boats available for rent. If you want to match your seafaring prowess against other whaling descendants, please let us know so we can have boats waiting for us. We may add a test of maritime knowledge based on museum exhibits. The seaport opens at 9 AM. If enough folks request it, we can get a group admission rate, but that needs to be arranged in advance. The rate is about $5 less per person than standard admission. Please let us know if you want in on this. Rather than waiting in line at the Galley Restaurant (which does get busy), we’ll arrange to have lunch delivered to us on a private patio behind the membership building, which will be reserved for our use. We’ll need a head count in advance to order the meals.
Saturday evening	Options to gather in the hospitality suite and “talk story”, head out for dinner, or both.
Sunday mid-day August 24	Picnic & Tour – Sawmill Park 172 Iron St. (Route 214), Ledyard, CT Beside the final resting place of our Brown ancestors in the Peckham-Brown cemetery is a replica of the old family sawmill & smithy, all of which is surrounded by a lovely town park. The local parks department provides basic picnic facilities, and the local history volunteers have agreed to show us around the old mill. The picnic is a pot luck. Please let us know if you can contribute to the feast.
Accommodations	Hotel space will be at a premium, so book early! We have a block of rooms set aside at the Hilton-Mystic on Coogan Blvd. (a mile or so from the seaport).  Call (860-572-0731) or go online (http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/connecticut/hilton-mystic-MYSMHHF/index.html) to book a room. Give them the booking code of “HBC” to get the group rate. (Best to call if you plan to stay more than two nights, as their system doesn’t handle mixed rates very well.)
Travel	The closest major airports are Boston-Logan and Hartford-Bradley International. If you don’t plan to drive, there is train service from either airport, but service is limited. The Hilton-Mystic offers shuttle service to and from the local Amtrak station and the seaport. Click here for a link to Google maps showing the three event locations If you find yourself stuck, get in touch, and we’ll try to connect you with a ride.

For more information, please refer to the discussion under our Gam area or contact the us by email at admin@captainbrown.net.

 

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