Cheshire Library has a collection of museum & state park passes that are available for Cheshire residents to check out. CPL Staff member Lisa is writing a series on our blog about the museum passes we offer, along with related reading material. Thanks, Lisa!

Featured Museum Pass:                             The Maritime Aquarium

This pass is good for $2.00 off for up to 6 people.

The Maritime Aquarium is located at 10 North Water Street,Norwalk, CT 06854.
Visit an aquarium different from all others in that its focus is Long Island Sound.  Through exhibits and education, the Maritime Aquarium hopes to bring an awareness and appreciation of Long Island Sound to all who visit.
Their Vision: “The Maritime Aquarium is the only aquarium focused on Long Island Sound. From this core, it explores related animals and conservation issues from around the world. Its exhibits, admired for their quality and dramatic elegance, are carefully designed to give people of all ages entertaining, educational, and emotional experiences with animals in order to instill a sense of wonder in the diversity of nature.
A constantly evolving facility, The Maritime Aquarium offers visitors personal interactions with animals and interpretation by knowledgeable staff and volunteers. With its welcoming atmosphere, focus on service to visitors, and outstanding amenities, The Maritime Aquarium is the premiere family destination in the region, attracting large numbers of return visitors. As it grows, it retains its intimate scale, and remains a beloved institution with deep ties to its community. The Maritime Aquarium’s ultimate goal is to help people recognize that Long Island Sound enriches the quality of their lives, and must be protected.
Anchored by its collection, The Maritime Aquarium offers a preeminent visitor experience and education programs widely admired for their depth and innovation. To add to the experience, he Maritime Aquarium also has the largest IMAX® theater in Connecticut, with a screen as tall as a six-story building!

For additional information, including Hours of Operation,  check out their website at http://www.maritimeaquarium.org/ or contact the Aquarium at 203-852-0700.

If you enjoyed your visit to the Maritime Aquarium, you may also enjoy reading:

Beyond the Blue Horizon by Brian Fagan.  Archaeologist and historian Fagan tackles his richest topic yet: the enduring quest to master the oceans, the planet’s most mysterious terrain. We know the tales of Columbus and Captain Cook, yet much earlier mariners made equally bold and world-changing voyages. From the moment when ancient Polynesians first dared to sail beyond the horizon, Fagan vividly explains how our mastery of the oceans changed the course of human history.

What drove humans to risk their lives on open water? How did early sailors unlock the secrets of winds, tides, and the stars they steered by? What were the earliest ocean crossings like? With compelling detail, Fagan reveals how seafaring evolved so that the forbidding realms of the sea gods were transformed from barriers into a nexus of commerce and cultural exchange. From bamboo rafts in the Java Sea to triremes in the Aegean, from Norse longboats to sealskin kayaks in Alaska, Fagan crafts a captivating narrative of humanity’s urge to challenge the unknown and seek out distant shores. Beyond the Blue Horizon will enthrall readers who enjoyed Dava Sobel’s Longitude, Simon Winchester’s Atlantic, and Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel.

The Long Island Sound by Marilyn E. Weigold. From the discovery of the Sound in 1614, to the adventures of Captain Kidd, to the sinking of the Lexington in the sound in 1840, the Long Island Sound also holds a unique place in American history. This book traces the growth of fishing and shipbuilding villages along the sound to the development of major industrial ports, resort towns, and suburban communities along the sound. Marilyn Weigold discusses the subsequent overcrowding and pollution that resulted from this prosperity and expansion.

Originally published in 1974 as The American Mediterranean and long out of print, The Long Island Sound has been updated by the author with a new preface and final chapter describing the Sound in the twenty-first century. In this new edition, Weigold particularly focuses on environmental concerns, and describes more current milestones, like the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, who fought and won in 1995 to set aside 100,000 acres as NY State’s first forest preserve.

Through over 40 stunning photographs and many fascinating stories, The Long Island Sound tells the history of a vastly populated, but underdiscussed, part of America.