The Tuckerton Seaport Museum
The Tuckerton Seaport is full of fun things to do, while learning the heritage of the baymen in our local community. We visit the Seaport as often as we can, and always learn something new each time we go. There is an annual membership fee, or you can just pay as you go. Take a leisurely stroll around the grounds and visit some of the quaint fishing shanties and shacks, all designed to tell a story about how these men and women of our past lived, and earned a living on the water in the bayside communities of Tuckerton and Little Egg Harbor. There are ongoing demonstrations of decoy carving, basket weaving and oyster and clam shucking all along the way. The Tuckers Lighthouse, the largest building at the Seaport, hosts the NJ Surfing Museum and Life Saving Stations exhibits. Climb to the top of the lighthouse, and see spectacular views of the area. There are so many exhibits and events held here each year, it’s impossible to speak about them all in one or two paragraphs. Some of the events held this summer were: The Red, Wine and Blues Festival; The Classic Car Show; Baymen’s Seafood & Music Festival; Antique Car Show; and, of course, the Ocean County Decoy and Gunning Show, held at the end of September. The Seaport hosts classes, demonstration, and boat building seminars, to name a few. We recently attended their chocolate making class for Valentine’s Day. It was great fun. Even in the fall and winter, there is the Haunted Seaport, the Chriskindel market and the Festival of Trees. The Jacques Cousteau Life on the Edge Exhibit is on the third floor of the Visitor’s Center. This exhibit is free and features a video and hands on activities that will make you very much aware of your fragile surroundings in this beautiful area that we live in called the Pinelands and Barrier Islands. This is truly a must see exhibit for nature lovers. On the second Wednesday of each month, they offer a lunch and learn to discuss topics related to the ecosystem, and other science based subjects. Their next lunch and learn is April 19th, 2014, discussion will be about freshwater tidal, brackish, and salt water marshes and their importance in our ecosystem. On the first floor, downstairs, there is the Walk on the Wild Side Exhibit, featuring wildlife of four habitats, woods, wetlands, bay and ocean. The exhibit is filled with taxidermied animals and birds and really is interesting to see all of our local species, including horseshoe crabs and turtles. Parsons Clam and Oyster House is a great exhibit, featuring the way of life of the clammers and a display of tools used for clamming, which was once one of Tuckerton’s largest industries. The Tuckerton Seaport is always looking for volunteers old and young for the many various jobs that need to be done. Over 40 acres and over 23 buildings give the visitors many reasons to come back again and again to this great Museum. Check their website for more information about this great place.
