Why October 24 Is Lyme Street's Fullest Saturday This Fall

"On October 24, we open the Academy to you." That is how Lyme Academy of Fine Arts announces its 50th Anniversary Celebration. Guests spend an evening as students, moving through the classrooms to draw, sculpt, and study the figure, then stay for dinner and a silent auction.

On their own, those details make a good fall evening. But Lyme Academy at 84 Lyme Street has two neighbors, the Lyme Art Association at 90 and the Florence Griswold Museum at 96. On that same Saturday, both of them have family programs running from late morning through the afternoon. These three institutions usually keep separate calendars. This October, a weather delay and a 50th anniversary have pushed their busiest stretches into the same weeks, and October 24 is the day they overlap completely.

Three Addresses, Three Calendars

The three institutions sit a few doors apart and plan their seasons independently. The Florence Griswold Museum builds its fall around the Wee Faerie Village. The Lyme Art Association rotates gallery shows. Lyme Academy runs a teaching calendar that this year carries a string of 50th-anniversary events, including a fall launch for its reissue of Deane G. Keller's Draftsman's Handbook, first published in 2002, and a December tree lighting.

In a typical October, a weekend on Lyme Street means choosing one of them. This year the timing favors doing all three in a single day.

The Week the Faerie Village Lost

The museum's 2026 Wee Faerie Village, "Gemstone Station: A Town that Rocks," was scheduled to open September 26. Weather made the conditions unpredictable, so the museum closed the village on September 26 and 27 and listed October 3 as the new opening day. The closing date stayed at November 1. A season planned at roughly five weeks now runs four, with every Saturday of it in October and the final Sunday on November 1.

The concept this year is a village made from "precious gifts of the earth," with gemstones, rare minerals, and shiny metals worked into faerie-sized houses. The museum says more than 250,000 visitors have walked the trail since 2009. Teams of local artists build at least two dozen installations from scratch, often from natural and found materials. Visitors get a map at check-in that leads to each house, tells the story of its faeries, and asks them to find a hidden object.

Practical details for the run:

• Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays but open for the holiday on October 12.
• Admission during the village: $23 for adults, $22 for seniors 62 and over, $21 for students 13 and over, and free for children 12 and under.
• Free admission: SNAP/EBT cardholders, up to four people per visit, and active duty military, veterans, and their families through the Blue Star Museums program.
• Reduced admission: $5 per adult with a participating library pass, which covers two adults and two children.

October 24, Hour by Hour

On Saturday the 24th, the block's events hand off from one door to the next:

1. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme Street. "Ahoy! Ahoy!" Pirate Day takes over Gemstone Station.
2. 1 to 4 p.m., Lyme Art Association, 90 Lyme Street. Pumpkin Day brings pumpkin painting, live music from the Wandering Fiddlers, a scavenger hunt, face painting, light snacks, and an art demonstration. A donation to Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries gets each child a pumpkin. Families can also buy one at LAA or bring their own.
3. Evening, Lyme Academy, 84 Lyme Street. The 50th Anniversary Celebration opens the classrooms and gives guests a chance to meet the faculty and the artists they are training, followed by dinner and the silent auction. Tickets and RSVPs go through the Academy's anniversary page.

The first two programs overlap from 1 to 4 p.m., so a family can move between the pirate trail and the pumpkin tables in the same afternoon. The Academy's evening event follows and keeps the block busy after the museum closes. On the following afternoon, Sunday the 25th, the museum offers a docent-led gallery tour of its main exhibition from 1 to 2 p.m., along with a Wee Faerie Crafternoon from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Rest of October on the Same Block

October 24 is the peak, but the whole month is full. Here is what is scheduled on and around Lyme Street:

• October 4 through November 1, Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Wee Faerie Crafternoons at the museum.
• October 6 to 11 and October 27 to November 1: Members' Double Discount Days in the museum shop.
• October 8 and 15, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Art•Bar Happy Hour, the museum's adult crafting series, builds a "Bespoke Faerie Dwelling."
• October 9, 1 to 3 p.m.: A Pumpkin Party for school-aged children at the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, 2 Library Lane, with games and mini-pumpkin painting.
• October 9 through 31: The library's all-ages Halloween Costume Swap, open during regular library hours.
• October 10, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Gem Collection Study Day at the museum, included with admission. Later that day, from 1 to 3 p.m., the museum's film series with the Kate screens Lucio Fontana: The Final Cut.
• October 12, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Meet the Artists Monday, when Wee Faerie artists are on hand near their creations. The day also includes a live sculpture presentation of the Statue of Liberty.
• October 14 through November 6: The Lyme Art Association's 2026 Plein Air Group Exhibition.
• October 17, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: A "Conjuring Faeries from Clay" demonstration at the museum.
• October 18, 1 to 3 p.m.: An Autumn Tree Tour for families on the museum grounds.
• October 31, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: "Rock a Costume: Halloween in Gemstone Station" at the museum.

The gallery shows run longer than the faerie village. The museum's main exhibition, Patchwork: Connecticut Artists Consider 250, brings together work by 86 Connecticut artists and stays up through November 8. At LAA, the New England Landscape exhibition and the food-themed Bon Appétit show run September 18 through November 6.

Lunch Between Addresses

The closest lunch on the block is Café Flo, on the museum grounds. The museum lists it as seasonal, May through October, open Tuesday through Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The café page carries a September 2026 menu but no final service date, so the last weeks of October are worth confirming before you go.

The Old Lyme Inn's restaurant lists Friday lunch, Friday and Saturday dinner, Saturday afternoon tea, and a Sunday jazzy brunch. Its page still shows fall 2025 menu images, so checking current hours ahead of time is sensible.

Halls Road is a short drive away and has more options:

• The Hideaway Wood-Fired Pizza, 19 Halls Road. José Plasencia took over in 2025. A May 2025 LymeLine report listed daily hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and the restaurant takes reservations and online orders.
• Hangry Goose, 11 Halls Road. Breakfast, lunch, and coffee seven days a week.
• Andy's Deli & Market, 19 Halls Road. Breakfast, lunch, coffee, and baked goods.
• Chestnut Market, 85 Halls Road. Grab-and-go meals and bean-to-cup coffee.
• The Stumble Inne, 90 Halls Road, with online ordering.
• Long River Local, 96 Halls Road. Breakfast, lunch, and local coffee.

One newcomer is still on the way. Epic Pizza CT plans a brick-oven pizzeria at 284 Shore Road with dine-in, delivery, coffee, baked goods, and mocktails. When Patch reported it in February, the target was late May or early June. As of early October, the company's own site still says "Coming late summer 2026."

Walking to Halls Road may get easier later on. The state awarded Old Lyme $800,000 for sidewalks on the north side of Halls Road connecting Lyme Street to the commercial strip, and in March 2026 the selectmen appointed a committee to administer the grant.

After November 1

The faerie village closes on November 1, and the three calendars separate again over the next few weeks. LAA's current shows close November 6, and Patchwork follows on November 8. The library's schedule moves to quieter workshops. A kintsugi session on November 20 is already full with a waitlist, and an adult Pumpkin Arranging Workshop on November 22, from 10 a.m. to noon, requires registration. Lyme Academy closes its anniversary year on December 5 at 4:30 p.m. with a Holiday Tree Lighting and a thank-you for 50 years, free and open to the public.

Living within reach of Lyme Street means seasons like this one are a few minutes away. If you're wondering how that location shows up in your home's value, Nancy Mesham and the team can walk you through it. Ask us: What Is My Home Worth?