Step back in time and experience the unique beauty of Celia Thaxter’s Appledore Island! Experience the serenity of Celia Thaxter’s garden by the sea. Visit the Laighton family cemetery and learn their history with many of the islands in the Isles of Shoals. Hike the paths Celia herself wandered and explore the cultural history of the Appledore Hotel.
Although fire claimed Celia’s cottage, piazza, and garden in 1914 along with many of the original hotel buildings, the garden and piazza are reconstructed and maintained by Shoals Marine Laboratory. The garden sits just where it was during Celia’s lifetime and the raised beds and flowers follow the plan laid out in her acclaimed book, An Island Garden. Some of Celia’s original plants are still in the garden: the snowdrops, the hops vine, and day lilies. Six-foot tall hollyhocks spill down to the water’s edge, and brilliant red poppies are planted each year so that the garden echoes the famous paintings of impressionist Childe Hassam.
Celia Thaxter’s Garden Tour participants (32 per tour) will be transported to and from Appledore Island aboard the Research Vessel Gulf Challenger. Passengers will meet the vessel at UNH’s Judd Gregg Marine Research Complex adjacent to the U.S. Coast Guard Station in New Castle, NH. As a part of this unique tour, you will enjoy a fully-catered lunch in Shoals Marine Laboratory’s dining facilities at Kiggins Commons, offering expansive water views and an open deck should you wish to dine en plein air!
Important information: This tour involves a 45-minute boat trip aboard a research vessel and requires 2-3 miles of walking over a rugged island environment.