THIMBLE ISLAND AND MAUTILUS MUSEM

Presented by Tye’s Top Tour & Travel

Only $69

Join us for an adventurous 45 minute narrated tour around 25 enchanted islands. In the tradition of an old time story teller Captain Bob retells the stories of the Thimble Islands. Hear about Tom Thumb's island tryst's, how Mother-in-Law Island got its' infamous name and the very real possibility that Captain Kidd may have buried some treasure here in the late Spring of 1699 . The island chain, within a three-mile radius of Stony Creek, has long attracted the rich and reclusive, the famous and infamous, from President William Howard Taft to P.T. Barnum's circus star Tom Thumb to cartoonist Gary Trudeau and his wife, television journalist Jane Pauley.

During the Victorian era, the Thimble Islands were hopping with people traveling on steamboats from New Haven to day trip or spend a weekend at one of the island hotels that sprung up during that period. At one point, there was such a demand for islands that people began building manmade ones. Development continued on through the early 1900s until 1938, when a hurricane destroyed the Connecticut coastline and took the lives of several islanders. The history of the islands has been told orally for generations but there is very little written documentation. That makes the line between fact and fiction somewhat blurred. Money Island was supposedly its own village back in the late 1800s, with its own chapel and general store. There was also a post office, hotel, barroom and bowling alley on the island. Now, there are some 30 privately owned homes. In fact, all the islands are privately owned. Some are just dots of pink granite bedrock where seagulls perch and where bright, orange-beaked American oyster catchers stop by to feed. Others are more than 10 acres, with dozens of houses from which people wave casually to passing boats and kayakers.

After your cruise we will have a hot lunch followed by a visit to the Nautilus Museum.
Visit the Submarine Force Museum and peer into the lives of the men who sail the ocean depths in their "sharks of steel." Trace the development of the "silent service" from Bushnell's Turtle, used in the Revolutionary War, to the modern Virginia and Ohio class submarines. Look through one of three operating periscopes and perhaps you'll see one of the Navy's newest submarines going by on the Thames River. Relax in one of our theaters and enjoy films of submarines past and present. Even learn how a submarine operates on an interactive computer display. Aboard NAUTILUS, experience first-hand the thrill of being a submariner as you walk the decks that made Naval history: the world's first nuclear powered vessel, first ship to go to the North Pole, and first submarine to journey "20,000 Leagues under the sea." Explore the spaces where the crew of this amazing ship worked, ate, slept, and entertained themselves on their long voyages far beneath the ocean's waves. The Submarine Force Museum, located on the Thames River in Groton, Connecticut, maintains the world's finest collection of submarine artifacts. It is the only submarine museum operated by the United States Navy, and as such is the primary repository for artifacts, documents and photographs relating to U.S. Submarine Force history.

Departure time 7:30am
Return time 5:00pm

Motor coach/ Cruise of Thimble islands/ lunch / included.
For reservations and information contact: 800 374 6819

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A deposit of $25 per person is due at time of reservation and final payment is due on May 10
Make checks payable to: Tye’s Top Tour & Travel

Cancellation insurance is available and recommended. Cancellation within 30 days of departure loss of deposit, cancellation within 14 day of deposit 50% penalty, cancellation within 7 days of departure 75% penalty. No refunds will be given on cancellations made within 48 hours of departure. All cancellations must be in writing and may be faxed or emailed.

Tyes’s Top Tour & Travel,
9 Riverside Dr.
Merrimack, NH 03054603 424 4043

1 800 374 6819

www.Tyestravel.com

Email: tyes@tyestravel.com Fax 866 571 1796