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Counting down to launch

We are in countdown mode for launching our second Water Taxi season at the Park. Getting ready for the season has been a master class in coordination and collaboration.

Starting with the boats. As anyone who owns a boat knows (or smarter yet, anyone who has a friend with a boat) they require a lot of maintenance and attention. With two boats operating this year that’s twice the care. That said, with our first trial run of the season behind us hosting CT Innovations last week, we are primed to launch Friday, the 26th at 10 a.m.

The boats have NEW awnings and NEW sound systems to make the ride enjoyable and informative. We are collaborating with local experts and our partner heritage sites to host tours on the Water Taxis, some of which are listed in our NEW Events calendar with more to come. The first will be hosted by Deborah Donovan, Treasurer of New London Landmarks and past President of the New London County Historical Society. “Four Centuries in 90 Minutes” will be leaving from City Pier on Thursday, June 8th at 6:30 p.m. It’s $30/pp and sure to sell out. Get tour details and tickets here.

There will be weekly sunset and daytime cruises, too. Grab some friends, pack a snack, your favorite beverage and get out on the water in an historic naval vessel.

Thames River Water Taxi Launch Celebration

On Sunday, July 3rd we gathered with many stakeholders and members of the community to celebrate the official launch of the Thames River Water Taxi. We put together a video to mark this wonderful occasion.

 

Thanks so much to all the members of the Transition Team, Steering Committee, Foundation Board, local government, Thames River Water Taxi LLC, and the community at large for helping make this dream a reality!

If you haven’t yet had a chance, please come down for a ride. Schedules and information can be found on the water taxi page.

Launch Party set for July 3–don’t miss it!

Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 12.47.25 PM

The Transition Team hopes that everyone interested in the new Heritage Park can join in celebrating the “official” opening of the water taxi service on July 3rd, even though it will already have been running for a few weeks. But at the time of the party all the kinks should be ironed out (if there are even any kinks to iron) and the taxi will be running smoothly and on schedule.

There’ll be a ribbon cutting at Pier 7 in new London’s Fort Trumbull and a short program from 3-4pm. Your faithful blogger does not know if there will also be cake, but she hopes so. Never pass up the opportunity to eat cake at Fort Trumbull, is what I always say. View the complete invitation here.

And for those of you who haven’t heard, the newly formed agency, the Thames River Heritage Park Foundation, is offering Charter Memberships, which entitle you to unlimited water taxi rides, an end-of-season exclusive cocktail party and other discounts and incentives, so be sure to look into this too. Find more info on our website here.

memb card

But whatever you do, stop by Fort Trumbull on July 3rd and meet the crew of the water taxis, hear what we’ve got planned all along the river for the summer, and enjoy Fort Trumbull, one of the area’s great parks.

 

It’s not only the Water Taxi that’s embarking on a shakedown cruise . . .

The Communications Committee of the Transition Team met with Thames River Water Taxi Captain Jackie Dietrich last week, as we went over scheduling and pricing plans for the summer. The Water Taxi should be taking its “maiden voyage” on June 10th, and depending on passenger interest they’ll be adjusting their pick-up and drop-off schedule as the season progresses. But expect it to run from Friday to Sunday starting at 10AM and going till 9PM. One “loop” of the sites takes approximately an hour.

water taxi line drawing

Here’s a link to their schedule page.

One of the ways in which we hope that the public (that’s YOU), the heritage sites, and local businesses help us with as the summer progresses is by providing as much feedback as possible. This is the first Heritage Park in the state, and all of us are on a shakedown cruise—no one has done this before. We need your suggestions, comments, questions, concerns (praise is good too) on anything you can think of: park accessibility, hours of operation, water taxi issues, prices, signage, access to businesses, information services, transportation, lack of ice cream vendors . . . anything you can think of, let us know! We want to make this Heritage Park a success for everyone.

You can use the comments section of this blog, or visit our Facebook Page, or write write to us at [email protected].

Contact

Thames River Heritage Park Foundation
P.O. Box 851
New London, CT 06320

Administration
(860) 444-4401 / Email

General Inquiries/Boat Operations

(860) 333-6706

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