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Boast the Coast to return to Lewes for 23rd year Oct. 6

October 2, 2018

The 23rd annual Boast the Coast event will take place Saturday, Oct. 6, in Lewes. Boast the Coast was conceived in 1996 to showcase Lewes’ nautical heritage and to feature activities that complemented the University of Delaware’s well-established annual Coast Day event. Coast Day takes place the first Sunday in October on the University of Delaware’s Lewes campus on Pilottown Road with Boast the Coast the day before.

Free deck tours of the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment’s research vessel, the RV Joanne Daiber, will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the city dock. More vessels may be added, pending availability.

The Cape Water Tours vessel, Discovery, will offer hour-long cruises at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., leaving from the city dock, not the Cape Water Taxi dock on Anglers Road. A knowledgeable Lewes Historical Society guide aboard the Discovery will recount tales of the early settlers to the area and pirate visits from the past. The cruise will go south along the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal. With the wetland scenery as a backdrop, tour-goers can imagine Lewes’ most famous historic event, the bombardment by the British during the War of 1812. Participants will see wildlife along the way and enjoy the changing season on the quiet back waters.

Reservations for each of the two tours are available for 45 passengers per trip. Advance sales have already begun, and there will not be any other tours available. To make reservations, call Cape Water Tours at 302-644-7334 and reference the Treasured Tales & Lore Tour or go to www.CapeWaterTours.com. The tickets are $5 each. If there are unsold seats Oct. 6, tickets will be available on the vessel at the city dock.

There will be a number of free tours available on Boast the Coast day including at the Lewes History Museum, 101 Adams Ave., under the auspices of the Lewes Historical Society, as well as two other LHS museums - the maritime history museum in the historic Cannonball House on Front Street and the Life-Saving Station, 2 Shipcarpenter St. on the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal. The Lightship Overfalls, just down Front Street on the canal near the Life-Saving Station, will also be open for free tours Saturday, Oct. 6.

There will be free activities for children and their families from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in 1812 Park, including nautical-themed face painting by Catherine Flaherty and balloon art by Chuckles the Clown. Event goers can purchase lunch at a Seafood Tasting held by participating Lewes Chamber restaurant members Irish Eyes and Jerry’s Seafood.

The Friends of the Canalfront Park are again bringing Bavaria to Lewes from 2 to 6 p.m. on Boast the Coast day. Under the Oktoberfest tent, there will be German music and dancers, great food from local restaurants and of course, Dogfish Head draft beer. General admission tickets to the tent are $25. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www.LewesCanalfrontPark.org or stop by the Lewes Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center in the historic Fisher-Martin House in Zwaanendael Park next to the Zwaanendael Museum. It is a rain-or-shine event.

The annual Lewes Merchants’ Fall Sidewalk Sale has long been associated with Boast the Coast. It is a three-day event wrapped around Saturday’s Boast the Coast events, from Friday, Oct. 5 to Sunday, Oct. 7. 

Other events associated with Boast the Coast day are: the Historic Lewes Farmers Market from 8 a.m. to noon in George H.P. Smith Park; the Zwaanendael Museum’s Maritime Program; the Lewes Library Book Sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 111 Adams Ave., the Lewes Historical Society’s Craft Fair from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on its campus at Second and Shipcarpenter streets; the Cape Artists’ open house from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., 110 Third St., with light refreshments; and the Peninsula Gallery’s opening reception for its Interpretation exhibit, featuring work by Howard Eberle, Steve Rogers and Richard Calvo, from 5 to 7 p.m., at 520 E. Savannah Road.

For more information, go to www.LewesChamber.com or call 302-645-8073 or 877-465-3937.   

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