Since Monday, the Florence Griswold Museum at 96 Lyme Street has been closed while staff set up Holiday Magic. That means hundreds of artist-designed palette trees and Miss Florence's boardinghouse dressed for a 1910 holiday. The doors stay shut through Thanksgiving. The museum calendar lists the closure as November 9 through November 26. Holiday Magic opens Friday, November 27, and runs to January 3, 2027.
Two museum programs keep running through the closure, the Lyme Art Association opens its holiday show next door, and the library has something on almost every week. The museum's December teas are also selling. At least one seating sold out before the museum had reopened at all. If you live here, these weeks are when you plan December, so it pays to use them that way.
The Museum Is Closed, but Its Calendar Isn't
Tonight, November 12, the museum still hosts Art•Bar Happy Hour: Paint the Masters #2 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 96 Lyme Street. Tickets are $40, and members get 10% off once they log in. Light fare, drinks, a pre-outlined canvas and all the other painting materials are included. Registration is through the museum's online ticket page. It's the second session of the month. The first ran November 5, before the galleries closed.
The bigger program has moved out of town. The Annual Samuel Thorne Memorial Lecture is Saturday, November 21, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main Street in Old Saybrook. Victoria Johnson will talk about Frederic Church and her biography of him, Glorious Country. The lecture is free, but you need a reservation. Reserve now rather than counting on walking in.
Ninety Lyme Street Becomes the Gallery Stop
While the museum is closed, the Lyme Art Association is the open gallery on the block. Its building at 90 Lyme Street is free to visit, takes donations, and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment.
Its annual Deck the Walls show runs November 13, 2026, through January 1, 2027, alongside the association's other current exhibitions. The show is representational art picked with gift-giving in mind. The opening reception is Sunday, November 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. That gives you two clean weekends, before the museum reopens and before Black Friday, to see the work while the walls are still full.
For families, the association's REPRESENT! program is free, with a suggested $10 donation. Registration is recommended. One session is Tuesday, November 24, from 2:30 to 4 p.m., which works for a short school week. Another is Saturday, December 12, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The Old Lyme Inn is across the street at 85 Lyme Street. It serves lunch on Fridays, dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, afternoon tea on Saturdays and brunch on Sundays. If you're going to the November 22 reception, Sunday brunch fits right before it.
The Library Covers the Rest of the Week
The Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library at 2 Library Lane has the hands-on events. Here's the schedule from now through mid-December:
- Friday, November 20, 5:30 to 8 p.m.: Kintsugi Workshop
- Saturday, November 21, 2:30 to 4 p.m.: Musical Masterworks family concert, no registration required
- Tuesday, December 1, noon to 1:30 p.m.: Winter Greens Wreath Making Workshop. Bring your own evergreens. Decorations, ribbons and wreath forms are provided.
- Wednesday, December 9, 6:30 to 8 p.m.: Gift Wrapping Workshop. Bring your gifts and your wrapping paper.
- Saturday, December 12, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Holiday Ornament Workshop. Registration is required because supplies are limited.
Some of these events overlap, and that affects your planning. On November 21, the library concert starts at 2:30, while the Thorne lecture in Old Saybrook runs until 3. On December 12, the library's ornament workshop and the Lyme Art Association's REPRESENT! session share the same 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. slot. Your household can make one of each pair, so choose before the registrations fill.
The Tea Is the Seat to Claim Now
All of this is free or cheap, and walking in usually works. Miss Florence's Teas are different. They run December 1, 2026, through January 3, 2027, Tuesday through Sunday, with two seatings a day in the decorated rooms of the museum's Marshfield House. Gourmet Galley caters, and the menu includes tea, sandwiches, treats and the museum's well-known warm scone.
| Detail | What the museum lists |
|---|---|
| Seating times | 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. |
| Price | $45 for the December 2, 11 a.m. seating |
| Included | Tea seating plus admission to the museum |
| Status on opening day | Tuesday, December 1, 2:30 p.m. seating sold out |
Your ticket includes museum admission, so one booking covers both the tea and a walk through Holiday Magic. With the opening-day afternoon seating already gone and nearly three weeks before the museum reopens, you're competing for seats with everyone else booking ahead. Tickets are on the museum's Miss Florence's Teas calendar.
Reopening Weekend and the Tree Lighting
When the doors reopen, a lot happens in a short window. Here's what's on the calendar from Thanksgiving weekend into December:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, Nov. 27 | Holiday Magic opens; food drive begins and runs through Jan. 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme Street |
| Saturday, Nov. 28 | Forest Bathing Along the Artists' Trail, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | Florence Griswold Museum |
| Sunday, Nov. 29 | Museum Store Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Florence Griswold Museum |
| Tuesday, Dec. 1 | Miss Florence's Teas begin | Marshfield House at the museum |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Holiday Tree Lighting, 4:30 p.m., free and open to the public | Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, 84 Lyme Street |
Forest bathing starts mid-morning, which leaves time for breakfast first. The Hangry Goose at 11 Halls Road opens at 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday and serves until 2:30 p.m. On Sunday it's open 7 a.m. to noon.
The December 5 tree lighting is more than an annual event this year. Lyme Academy of Fine Arts lists it as its "Tree Lighting & Thank You for 50 Years." It comes after the Academy's October 24 anniversary open house, which invited the public to spend an evening as students. Fall-term classes at the Academy end December 12. If you have a painter on your list, de Gerenday's Fine Art Materials and Curiosities, the Academy's shop, is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
This week, reserve the Thorne lecture and a tea seating. Between now and Thanksgiving, see Deck the Walls and register for whichever December 12 workshop your family picks. The museum's galleries reopen with Holiday Magic on November 27.
I'm Skyla Gagnon, and I follow the Shoreline's calendar as closely as its market. If you'd like a tea-and-gallery afternoon added to a weekend of looking at homes in Old Lyme, or you'd like to know which Lyme Street dates are worth planning around before you list, Skyla Gagnon can help with the timing. Let's Connect.
