Creative Arts

Fairs, Events and Amusement Centers

Museums & Exhibits

WHOI Exhibit Center

School St., Woods Hole; 508-289-2663. A few research-related exhibits, with several models of underwater vehicles in use at WHOI. Suggested donation: $2/person aged 10 and over. Small gift shop. Open from May through September; hours posted at http://www.whoi.edu/calendar.

Aquarium of the National Marine Fisheries Service

Albatross Street, Woods Hole; 508-495-2001, http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/omi/aquarium/. Hours: Mon–Fri 11:00–16:00. Excellent small aquarium, with more attention paid to the fish and other specimens than to their presentation. Many of the tanks are actively being used in research. A rescued seal lives in a pen outside the aquarium. No admission charge, and no parking.

Woods Hole Historical Museum

579 Woods Hole Rd., Woods Hole; 508- 548-7270. Hours: Tue–Sat 10:00–16:00, June through Labor Day. Depicts the history of Woods Hole through an audio-visual presentation, displays and dioramas. A scale model of the town as it was in 1895 is on display. A boat museum and a gentlemen’s workshop of the 1890s are also on the grounds.

Falmouth Historical Society

55–65 Palmer Ave., Falmouth; 508-548-4857, http://www.falmouthhistoricalsociety.org. Hours: Jun 10–Sep 13, Tue–Sat 10:00–16:00; Sep 20–Oct 27, Sat/Sun 13:00–16:00. Society maintains a museum and offers historical tours of Falmouth. Also has extensive archives including ships logs, maritime records, manuscripts, and family genealogy records. Excellent website with Falmouth lore.

Libraries

For research and study, the MBL/WHOI Library has perhaps the best marine sciences collection in the world, but requires an MBL OneCard for access (see listing below). The Cape is also littered with public libraries; the two closest are in Woods Hole and Falmouth. A CLAMS (Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing) card gives you membership in your local library plus access to the collections of all the 26 CLAMS libraries: http://www.clamsnet.org.

MBL/WHOI Library

Lillie Laboratory, MBL St., Woods Hole; 508-289- 2455. Open 24 hours a day/seven days a week. Arguably the best marine sciences library in the world. Enormous selection of journals (and if they don’t have it, they’ll get it for you). Great reading rooms; great place to study. The rare book room is pretty cool too. You’ll need an MBL OneCard to get in. These can be acquired from the Digital Processing Center on the second floor of the Lillie Building weekdays between the hours of 8 AM and 5 PM. Online databases, journal list, and other services at http://mblwhoilibrary.mbl.edu.

Woods Hole Public Library

581 Woods Hole Rd., Woods Hole, 508- 548-8961; http://www.woodsholepubliclibrary.org. Fantastic book sales on a fairly regular basis which are well-worth checking out. Hours: Mon noon– 17:30 and 19:00–21:00, Wed 10:00–17:30 and 19:00–21:00; Tue/Thu/Fri/Sat 15:00–17:30.

Falmouth Public Library

123 Katherine Lee Bates Rd., Falmouth (visible from Main St.); 508-457-2555, http://www.falmouthpubliclibrary.org. Hours: Mon/Thu 9:30–17:30, Tue/Wed 9:30–21:00, Fri/Sat 9:30–17:00. Closed Sundays (check hours online or by phone – sometimes they are open Sundays depending on the season). Good selection of books, CD’s, movies, Internet, magazines. A real multimedia library. For movies, they have lots of musicals and classic films and an eclectic selection of some recent films. Best of all you can check out 2 flicks for 3 days for FREE! Access to online CLAMS catalogue through website.