You can get there from here, but you have to stick to the schedule. Here is the 2008 schedule for those who want to catch an official ride and tour the restored garden on Appledore Island at the Isles of Shoals, home of Victorian poet Celia Laighton Thaxter. (see below)
Each year dedicated volunteers bring Celia Thaxter’s garden back to life at the Isles of Shoals, ten miles out from Portsmouth Harbor. Her cottage is gone, as is the grand Appleodore Hotel built by Celia’s father Thomas Laighton in 1847. Today the island is leased to the Shoals Marine Lab (SML) for it summer student programs in marine biology. But the garden returns, again and again, as it appears in the famous oil paintings by Childe Hassam. Celia and her parents sleep in an island grave not far from the gardens, but her memory lives on.
In partnership with the Portsmouth Harbour Cruises, SML offers select guided tours aboard the MV HERITAGE. There are a limited number of trips and limited seating on each journey, so it is important to make your reservations in advance. To check the number of seats available and to make online reservations CLICK HERE. The cost, including the ferry to the island, the guided tour, lunch and time to explore Appleore is $95 per person. Remember, this is an island without paved roads, vehicles or amenities, so visitors should be prepared and able to spend the day hiking on rough terrain in unpredictable weather.
Boat departs from Portsmouth, NH. Scheduled dates for 2008 include
June 26
July 1, 10, 17 & 29
August 7, 14, 21
QUESTIONS? Contact Pam Boutilier: (603) 430-5220 and say "I saw you on SeacoastNH.com"
FROM: AN ISLAND GARDEN (1894)
Introduction by Celia Thaxter
At the Isles of Shoals, among the ledges of the largest island, Appledore, lies the small garden which in the following pages I have endeavored to describe. Ever since I could remember anything, flowers have been like dear friends to me, comforters, inspirers, powers to uplift and to cheer. A lonely child, living on the lighthouse island ten miles away from the mainland, every blade of grass that sprang out of the ground, every humblest weed, was precious in my sight, and I began a little garden when not more than five years old. From this, year after year, the larger one, which has given so much pleasure to so many people, has grown. The first small bed at the lighthouse island contained only Marigolds, pot Marigolds, fire-colored blossoms which were the joy of my heart and the delight of my eyes. This scrap of garden, literally not more than a yard square, with its barbaric splendors of color, I worshiped like any Parsee. When I planted the dry, brown seeds I noticed how they were shaped, like crescents, with a fine line of ornamental dots, a "beading" along the whole length of the centre,--from this crescent sprang the Marigold plant, each of whose flowers was like
Mother Courage May 16 - 17, 2008 Our mainstage season wraps up in May with the Senior Youth Repertory Company production of Bertolt Brecht’s epic masterpiece Mother Courage and Her Children. Through Brecht’s stark vision, the play relentlessly questions the distinctions between war, bu...
Remembering Oney Judge May 17, 2008 PORTSMOUTH -- In commemoration of the Bicentennial Anniversary Year that ended the legal U.S. Atlantic Slave Trade and Annual Spring Symposium From Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 9 am to 1 pm -
Keynote: Cheryl LaRoche describing him life at Presid...
Books & Blooms Sale May 17, 2008 BRENTWOOD -- Our Annual Books & Blooms Sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 17th from 9 - 11:30 am! Come to the Mary Bartlett Library, 22 Dalton Road in Brentwood, to purchase lots of books for little money - and purchase great plants at great prices. Pl...
Lighthouse Cruise May 17, 2008 Lighthouse cruise from Portsmouth aboard the Thomas Laighton, sponsored by the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company. This cruise will leave from the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company dock at 315 Market Street in Portsmouth, across from the Sheraton Harbors...
American Lighthouse Foundation Annual Dinner May 17, 2008 Portsmouth Elks Lodge, 500 Jones Ave., Portsmouth, NH. Buffet dinner featuring garden salad, baked stuffed haddock, chicken breast with fruit glaze, roast beef, and more. The featured speaker at the dinner will be Chris Mills, author, former lighthous...
2nd Portsmouth Peace Treaty Commemorative Concert May 17, 2008 Seacoast Wind Ensemble presents “Peace & The Presidency: Music for Washington, Lincoln & Theodore Roosevelt” featuring Aaron Copeland's "Lincoln Portrait" narrated by Phillips Exeter Chaplain Robert Thompson. At The Music Hall. In 1905, diplo...
Free Gaelic Football Clinic May 18, 2008 Gaelic Football is a FUN, fast moving high scoring game that incorporates the skills used in playing soccer and basketball.
When- Sunday, May 18th, 2008
Where- Stevens Field-Stratham, NH
Ages- 5-12-Boys & Girls
Cost- FREE!!
Prior Expe...
Mother Courage and Her Children May 18, 2008 Our mainstage season wraps up in May with the Senior Youth Repertory Company production of Bertolt Brecht’s epic masterpiece Mother Courage and Her Children. Through Brecht’s stark vision, the play relentlessly questions the distinctions between war, bu...
4 Walls 1 Roof Meeting May 19, 2008 Join the new "seacoast chapter" of 4 Walls 1 Roof, a network of women business owners and professionals who collaborate on a variety of marketing initiatives for our respective businesses. Members offer services or products for home owners, fr...
Greenability Lecture & Soup May 19, 2008 EXETER -- Blue Moon Natural Foods, 8 Clifford Street, Exeter, celebrates its thirteenth year with “an intergenerational green initiative” that includes three different cooking series running through May. The anniversary schedule of events promoting h...