Sept. 29, 2025

Episode 87 - Avery Point Lighthouse

Episode 87 - Avery Point Lighthouse
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Episode 87 - Avery Point Lighthouse

Although this was the last lighthouse built in Connecticut, it is the first for us to cover in the state, and the first we've covered that skipped straight to 200 Watt bulbs! Avery Point Lighthouse was built by the Coast Guard in 1944 as a part of their training center, later becoming a physics laboratory for the University of Connecticut.

Thank you to all who left us reviews! Merch (and a giveaway) is coming your way.

References:

  1. Avery Point Light | American Lighthouse Foundation
  2. Avery Point Lighthouse | Lighthouse Friends
  3. Avery Point | USLHS
  4. Avery Point Light | Wikipedia
WEBVTT

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84? No, 87. Oh my gosh, 87. Hi everybody, I'm

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Emily. And I'm Vince. And this is The Lighthouse

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Lowdown. I missed. Just seeing that I forgot

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to look up how to pronounce something. But, you

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know, I'm only barely over the wheel to live

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today, so I think. Hi, everybody. It's Wednesday?

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Tuesday. Tuesday. It's a rough week so far. Happy

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to be here with you. And you know what makes

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it worse? I don't have a history, Bowie. No,

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Bowie, that's all right. No, Bowie, no problem.

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But we did get some more reviews as a result

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of our bid in our Chris Point episode. So thank

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you to all of you who left a review. for our

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podcast, all positive. And none of that was on

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our part by manipulation. That's nice. Well,

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I mean, it was, but. Well, I mean, we asked for

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reviews. If they happen to be all positive, that's

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great. I think we asked for five -star reviews.

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That's where I think the manipulation came in.

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Somebody's got to throw in a four -star so that

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it's not suspicious. Yeah, they're like, they're

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paying people for reviews. Except we're not.

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Since we have some reviews that were left, then

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Vince has got to start getting work on some merch.

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I say it every time. And then we'll do a giveaway

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of maybe like a t -shirt or a hat or something.

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Yep. Okay. Good. It's in the works, everybody.

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Get ready. Fall is here, so it could be a, we

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could do a hoodie maybe. We'll see. Oh, I thought

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you were going to say like fall themed. I'd be

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down for, hey, I'm down for whatever. So in true

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Emily fashion, we're going to no history buoy

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and it's a tiny episode today. A short episode.

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A short episode. Yeah. Thank you for bringing

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that back. We love those. That's what I called

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it. Our lighthouse today was one of the later

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towers built in the U .S. but has a unique design

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going on. Unique. Unique. A little bit of Latin

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and dancer coming out of there. This is why I

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didn't look up how to pronounce it. But we're

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going to Connecticut, the town. It's like Groton.

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How do you spell it? G -R -O -T -O -N. So it

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could be like a lot of stuff. Groton. Groton.

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Groton. Groton. Groton. Should we look it up,

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you think? I don't know. Here, hold on. Hold,

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please. I can't change. Let's say Groton. Okay,

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yeah. I mean, I never have to say it again. So

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it's not that it's, it's not that I'm messing

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it up. It's just that the world, that our listeners

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won't know the answer. And they'll still look

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it up themselves. Anyway, is this our first Connecticut

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lighthouse? I can't remember. We have to pull

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up the map. I feel like, genius. Why didn't I

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look at that? Wait. Yeah. For those of you who

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don't know, while we look at this, if you go

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to thelighthouselowdown .com. You're going to

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see a map under, is it resources? Episode map.

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Episode map, of course, which shows a physical

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map. And then you can click on locations, zoom

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in, zoom out, and actually see what episode is

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recorded for that location. And the answer is

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that, yes, this is our first Connecticut lighthouse.

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Good job, everybody. Nice. Oh, I like it. Another

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map. So we got a map pulled up showing Connecticut.

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We're right across from Montauk Point Lighthouse.

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We know this area. Long Island. Over on the right.

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Yeah, just inside the Connecticut line there.

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Cape Cod. We're looking at Avery Point where

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that little thing, this little point is Avery

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Point. Very nice. Avery Point was named after

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an early settler, Captain James Avery, which

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the reason why I only just now realized why that's

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familiar to me is because all the jewelry I got

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in high school was from James Avery, the brand.

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His name was also James? It was just the brand

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name. But yes, Captain James Avery. Oh, must

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be the same person. I hope that was right. And

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that wasn't just like the sub cons, just... part

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of my brain coming out and being like, Avery,

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it must be James. I don't know. I'm pretty sure

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that's right. But he had 73 acres, like this

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plot of land. And when he passed away, that was

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given to a wealthy industrialist, Morton Plant.

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Okay. And he died in 1918. So it wasn't until

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1942 that the land was sold to the state of Connecticut,

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which gave it to the Coast Guard to use. And

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in the same year, they built the United States

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Coast Guard Training Center, which was there

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until 1967. So when they built this training

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center, they wanted a lighthouse to mark it.

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And also it was like on a point and it's right

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at the mouth of the Thames River. I'm assuming

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it's the same as the one in England. Yeah. Thames.

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And faces a tiny island called Pine Island, which

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you can see on our... Little map that we have

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pulled up. But also the lighthouse was a symbol

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of the Coast Guard's light keeping duties, which

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by that point were dwindling. Yeah. I mean, they

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had taken over in 39, but so it wasn't that long

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after that they were like, oh, let's build a

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lighthouse to commemorate the fact that we are

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also lighthouse keepers. Did they use the lighthouse

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that they erected for training purposes, perhaps?

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Maybe. It doesn't say anything about that. There

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wasn't much on the life of the lighthouse while

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it was. in the Coast Guard Training Center. Oh,

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okay. Yeah. But it was also kind of like a memorial

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for light keepers. And according to the Avery

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Point Lighthouse Society, it was also built,

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quote, to fulfill a contingency of the quit claim

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deed, so for this land, for receiving the property

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from the state of Connecticut and was the last

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lighthouse built in the state of Connecticut.

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So we have our last lighthouse and the first

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one that we cover in Connecticut. So nice little

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bookend there. Nice. So there was something in

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the deed that said that there had to be a lighthouse

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built. I don't know. Just interesting. While

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Avery Point Lighthouse was completed in 1943,

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worries about drawing in enemies from the water

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in World War II meant that it wasn't lit until

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May 2nd, 1944. And so the tower actually had,

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I think because it was so late, it had an unusual

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light characteristic, which was a cluster of

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eight 200 -watt bulbs. So like nothing crazy.

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Very low candle power. It's like a very symbolic

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lighthouse. Yeah, it's more just for show than

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for actual utility. The light list mentions that

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the number of bulbs vary depending on your angle

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of approach, which really points out that it's

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not that powerful if you can pick out light bulbs

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from each other, I think. It was originally fixed

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to white and changed to a green flash every four

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seconds in 1960. How did they do that if there

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were individual bulbs? Probably electric current.

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In the 60s. They didn't have LEDs yet, so they

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didn't have color -changing lights. No, but we

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had colored panels long before we had light bulbs.

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Oh, it was just green. It wasn't like changing.

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No, no, flashing. Never mind. How do they do

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that? I see now what you're saying. I thought

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you were saying like, yeah, in the 60s, they

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had color changing bulbs, which I'm not familiar

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with that. Yeah. No, none of that extra stuff.

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This looks militant, which I guess kind of makes

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sense. Yeah. Yeah. So Coast Guard. Avery Point

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is 41 feet tall and it's an octagonal tower made

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of concrete bricks. Same diameter from top to

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bottom until we hit the lantern room, which of

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course is a little smaller. And this lantern

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room is also octagonal. Decorative and made from

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wood. That's unique. Yeah, the lantern gallery

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was made from concrete and lined with 32 Italian

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marble balusters. Balusters? Baluster? The balusters?

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What is it? Ballast? Like a baluster? B -A...

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Balusters. Now you got me all tripped up. You

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know there's the word banister. Yeah, yeah. It's

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attached to that. Those are the long ones that

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go from top to bottom. Now I want to look this

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up. Like the black behind you. Yeah. On the staircase.

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Yeah. Staircase rods. Balusters. B -A -L -U -S

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-T -E -R -S. Wait. Wait. No. Yes. Okay. Yeah.

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Those are still, like Home Depot has those. Yep.

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Ballister. Ballister? Well, I just realized.

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Oh, hold on. Oh, no. Ballisters. Ballisters.

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B -A -L -U -H -S -T -R -Z. Sorry, everyone. I

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am not on top of everything all the time. I didn't

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say it right either, did I? No, you did. Ballisters.

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From the hip. Like a banister. Huh? Like banister,

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which is the... So these balusters were imported

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from Italy in 1900. So they were like this nice

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little decorative addition, try and spice it

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up a little. Not much utility, but it's a looker.

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And that's what I have a picture pulled up of.

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This picture is from when it was starting to

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get a little more decrepit. Concrete blocks and

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stuff. I really slowed you down in the description

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of this lighthouse. But it's a recap. So it's

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octagonal tower, 88 feet? 41 feet. All right.

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We're both tired. And it's the same diameter

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from the bottom to the top rail, which is brick.

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And then it turns into marble, they said, for

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the balusters. It's all concrete. The balusters

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are marble. Man, it looks like brick. Yeah, they're

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concrete bricks. And then the lantern room itself

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is wood. Yeah, and wood. You said it's decorative.

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So does that mean it's well -decorated or ornate?

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Yeah, I mean, look at it. Look at arched windows.

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We got some bar stuff going on here. Octagonal

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cupola. We love it. Yeah, the cupola's always

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been metal, though. Like, I've never heard of

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a wood... I don't know if the cupola is wood.

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Well, okay. The lantern room. I've never heard

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of a wooden lantern room. Oh. Have I? Maybe not.

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Yeah, I guess that's strange. So, pretty cool.

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This looks like a home project. Oh. No, no. I

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mean, like, with a lot of honor. I mean, like,

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you could have this. How did you say that? Like,

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you could put this in your backyard. Yeah, if

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you're rich. Yeah, rich, rich. Like, two riches.

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Anyways. That's crazy. I did read that it has

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two windows facing south and one window facing

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every other direction. Kind of fun. Suspect.

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Suspect. It's just facing the water. A little

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extra protect. So, yeah, that is the extent of

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what I have for when it was under the Coast Guard

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training center. Yes, just a couple years. Yeah,

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I mean, I guess they wouldn't be like, here's

00:11:51.529 --> 00:11:53.289
what we did with the lighthouse. It's just probably

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like... Just happenstance. Yeah, they just do

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whatever they do. And it was deactivated in 1967

00:12:00.179 --> 00:12:02.519
when the training center was moved from Avery

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Point to Governor's Island in New York City,

00:12:04.679 --> 00:12:06.639
which I think we talked about Governor's Island.

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Yes. In our Statue of Liberty episode. We did.

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Everybody go check it out. It was a lighthouse.

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It was a terrible lighthouse. Probably one of

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the worst, but a lot more life left in it for

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other purposes. You have to say about that. 1969.

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Two years later, the land was returned at no

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cost to the state of Connecticut. So Coast Guard

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finished with it and handed it back off. And

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the lighthouse was marked a building used at

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the University of Connecticut at Avery Point,

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which... Of course. Yeah. Local. So they marked

00:12:42.429 --> 00:12:44.289
it, I think it was building, it was either 14

00:12:44.289 --> 00:12:48.230
or building 41. And they used that as a physics

00:12:48.230 --> 00:12:51.580
laboratory and air sampling station. I'm like,

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so cool. Can you imagine if you went to college

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and they were like, oh yeah, the physics lab

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is in the lighthouse. I'd be like, excuse me.

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Yeah, they're probably dropping shit in there.

00:13:01.899 --> 00:13:08.620
Yeah. Acid. I was thinking like gravity. Like

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they have a high point to drop things from. Maybe

00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:16.559
a pendulum could be going on. Air sampling so

00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:18.590
they can go up there and be like. Fourth grade

00:13:18.590 --> 00:13:20.889
physics? What's the air? They drop stuff from

00:13:20.889 --> 00:13:23.750
high up and there's a pendulum. 1969, we landed

00:13:23.750 --> 00:13:27.470
on the moon, supposedly. Allegedly. Allegedly.

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I'm really reaching here. Air sampling lab, huh?

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Yeah. And this is a picture I pulled up. This

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woman is doing maintenance on their air sampling.

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But this is a more modern picture. This is after

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renovation and everything. So it looks pretty

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good. We're going to be chasing that. Very cool.

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By 1997, because during that time, I don't think

00:13:52.980 --> 00:13:57.340
anybody was in charge of upkeep. So 1997, the

00:13:57.340 --> 00:14:00.679
university labeled the lighthouse as in dangerously

00:14:00.679 --> 00:14:04.100
poor condition. And by 1999, the American Lighthouse

00:14:04.100 --> 00:14:07.120
Foundation and the newly formed Avery Point Lighthouse

00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:10.019
Society began fundraising for the restoration

00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:12.679
to bring it back to its future glory. And the

00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:14.700
university gave them permission to work on it.

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So they still... owned it but we're like sure

00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:20.500
fix it up oh that's nice we're cool with it so

00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:24.159
i pulled up a photo of what it used to look like

00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:29.460
this is uh from my understanding there used to

00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:33.799
be i mean the lantern room was still up there

00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:36.259
it ain't got no time oh and then they took it

00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:40.179
off okay because wait let me this let me i'm

00:14:40.179 --> 00:14:41.740
getting too far into my notes i just want to

00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:47.350
like The assessment was estimated to be $25 ,000.

00:14:47.470 --> 00:14:49.590
So just like looking at it and being like, here's

00:14:49.590 --> 00:14:51.370
what we have to do with it. Dang. And then the

00:14:51.370 --> 00:14:54.269
restoration was going to be at the high end $200

00:14:54.269 --> 00:14:58.590
,000 from what they were estimating. An engineering

00:14:58.590 --> 00:15:01.769
firm did the study, which ended up being worth

00:15:01.769 --> 00:15:05.629
an estimated $40 ,000 totally for free just to

00:15:05.629 --> 00:15:08.490
help out. And for the restoration, the funds

00:15:08.490 --> 00:15:11.259
that were raised were like... Raised by selling

00:15:11.259 --> 00:15:14.460
2 ,000 personalized bricks that would make up

00:15:14.460 --> 00:15:16.759
the walkway of the lighthouse. Which I know St.

00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:19.740
Augustine does that as well, right? I think so.

00:15:20.019 --> 00:15:24.840
I think it's a great idea because people, it's

00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:27.240
hard sometimes for people to donate because it's

00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:30.019
like your money goes into the ether and you're

00:15:30.019 --> 00:15:33.299
like, are you using it? Well, yeah. Sometimes

00:15:33.299 --> 00:15:36.139
when it's so expensive, these big projects, it

00:15:36.139 --> 00:15:38.500
feels like you can't contribute. And of course,

00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:40.940
that's actually... The best contributions are

00:15:40.940 --> 00:15:45.139
crowdsourced from a bunch of enthusiasts. I actually

00:15:45.139 --> 00:15:47.039
have a brick with my name on it somewhere. What

00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:49.840
are you talking about? I do. Where? Hayes, Kansas.

00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:53.059
Oh, my gosh. With your family or just you? My

00:15:53.059 --> 00:15:56.279
family, but my name has my own brick. Oh, my

00:15:56.279 --> 00:15:59.860
gosh. On the public library on the left side

00:15:59.860 --> 00:16:03.100
if you're so inclined to go find it. Why didn't

00:16:03.100 --> 00:16:04.740
you show me that when we first started dating?

00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:06.519
That would have gotten you a lot of extra points.

00:16:07.019 --> 00:16:12.269
I would have been like, you're famous. i'll keep

00:16:12.269 --> 00:16:14.049
that in mind next time we're in haze we'll make

00:16:14.049 --> 00:16:17.649
a stop there's also um i'm sure there's many

00:16:17.649 --> 00:16:20.909
of them but there is a statue of liberty nearby

00:16:20.909 --> 00:16:24.149
that it's about eight feet tall anyways back

00:16:24.149 --> 00:16:29.110
to connecticut back to back to emily in connecticut

00:16:29.110 --> 00:16:35.940
thank you vince Pretend we're not sitting across

00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:38.519
from each other, three feet away. Like we're

00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:41.059
in a news channel. And we'll go back to Emily

00:16:41.059 --> 00:16:44.360
covering Connecticut lighthouses. All I was saying

00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:47.600
is that I am much more likely to donate when

00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:50.059
it's like, I could go to the lighthouse in the

00:16:50.059 --> 00:16:52.000
future and be like, oh my gosh, here's a brick

00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:54.419
with my name on it. Yep. And you know, everyone

00:16:54.419 --> 00:16:56.600
likes to get something for what they put in.

00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:58.940
Yeah. Even if it's just like a, I don't know,

00:16:59.100 --> 00:17:01.629
a sticker. I'd be like, cool. Like a sticker

00:17:01.629 --> 00:17:03.490
that says I donated. I would be like, hell yeah.

00:17:03.610 --> 00:17:07.190
Well, like the USLHS passport system that we

00:17:07.190 --> 00:17:09.650
adore so much. Like you donate, what is it, $2?

00:17:09.990 --> 00:17:12.490
And then you get a stamp. I'm a different member

00:17:12.490 --> 00:17:14.490
level this year because I wanted a different

00:17:14.490 --> 00:17:17.789
patch. So I'm a keeper, I believe. You're renewed?

00:17:18.170 --> 00:17:20.950
I need to renew. I forgot. Is it time? It was

00:17:20.950 --> 00:17:24.410
a long time ago. Everybody, renew your passports.

00:17:24.829 --> 00:17:29.789
No, well, not the passport. I forget. I'm selling

00:17:29.789 --> 00:17:32.509
them short. But they give you a patch. The membership

00:17:32.509 --> 00:17:34.930
for the USLHS. Sorry. Which level did you do?

00:17:34.990 --> 00:17:37.390
Was it Prism? No, no, no. That's above where

00:17:37.390 --> 00:17:39.789
I'm at. I'm Keeper now. Okay. Last year I was

00:17:39.789 --> 00:17:45.150
the first one. I have it somewhere. Anyways,

00:17:45.269 --> 00:17:47.230
these patches, I'll have to do something with

00:17:47.230 --> 00:17:49.250
them at some point. I really want to do Prism.

00:17:49.529 --> 00:17:51.710
I wanted like a field jacket with the patches

00:17:51.710 --> 00:17:54.829
on it. Like you were talking about a long time

00:17:54.829 --> 00:17:57.990
ago. Long time ago. Never came to fruition. Anyways.

00:17:58.710 --> 00:18:01.049
We're really off topic. Okay, sorry. I just said

00:18:01.049 --> 00:18:03.529
patches aren't fun. Yeah, personalized bricks,

00:18:03.789 --> 00:18:07.069
and that's how we got there. Then the concrete

00:18:07.069 --> 00:18:10.130
blocks in the lighthouse, as you can see, are

00:18:10.130 --> 00:18:15.309
misshapen. And it's because they had high sand

00:18:15.309 --> 00:18:17.990
content. So over time, they had started to crumble.

00:18:19.049 --> 00:18:21.430
So these were addressed first. So the first thing

00:18:21.430 --> 00:18:23.769
they did was replace the entire outer layer completely.

00:18:24.650 --> 00:18:27.650
And make new concrete blocks with custom molds

00:18:27.650 --> 00:18:30.349
so that they perfectly match the original bricks.

00:18:30.710 --> 00:18:33.849
Yeah. That's extra. And they strengthened the

00:18:33.849 --> 00:18:36.190
inside with steel and cement. So they left the

00:18:36.190 --> 00:18:38.589
ones on the inside. But obviously with the sea,

00:18:38.769 --> 00:18:41.349
air and everything, the outside ones were a lot

00:18:41.349 --> 00:18:43.809
more affected. Huh. I've never heard of that

00:18:43.809 --> 00:18:46.930
process. Yeah. I'd like to know what a custom

00:18:46.930 --> 00:18:51.210
mold looks like for concrete blocks. Well, I

00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:54.680
know. Um, if you look up like a custom home,

00:18:54.700 --> 00:18:58.279
uh, fireplace, like a stone, like my dad's, that

00:18:58.279 --> 00:19:00.700
one, for example, that that's all concrete. And

00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:03.420
so each one of those was shaped by hand, um,

00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.240
after a form was used. Yeah. So I assume they

00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:08.940
could make a general form and then they like

00:19:08.940 --> 00:19:10.920
make it look rugged with their hands. Okay. Yeah.

00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:14.059
So lightweight concrete, cause it's not structural

00:19:14.059 --> 00:19:16.480
this way or on the lighthouse. I'm not sure.

00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:18.700
It might be a little heavier, but pretty cool.

00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:20.500
Something that'll last. It's a lot of effort

00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:22.859
that went into that. Yeah. So this is what I

00:19:22.859 --> 00:19:25.660
was about to run away with. But the lantern room

00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:28.059
was deemed too damaged to repair. So instead,

00:19:28.299 --> 00:19:31.099
they lifted it by crane off of the lighthouse

00:19:31.099 --> 00:19:34.380
and transported it to West Mystic Wooden Boat

00:19:34.380 --> 00:19:37.220
Building Company, which is owned by a former

00:19:37.220 --> 00:19:39.859
lighthouse keeper and at the time, an English

00:19:39.859 --> 00:19:41.940
professor at the University of Connecticut. Oh

00:19:41.940 --> 00:19:46.980
my gosh. So we had like a very focused connection

00:19:46.980 --> 00:19:51.190
to this lighthouse. Can you say that again? Wood

00:19:51.190 --> 00:19:56.049
building? West Mystic Wooden Boat Building Company.

00:19:56.450 --> 00:20:00.269
My gosh. So I'm assuming they make boats, but

00:20:00.269 --> 00:20:01.890
I guess I didn't look too deep into it. That's

00:20:01.890 --> 00:20:07.490
a mouthful of a website. Yeah. WMWBBC. Yeah.

00:20:07.609 --> 00:20:11.109
Okay. Yeah. So anyway, he was invested and thus

00:20:11.109 --> 00:20:14.150
he did it completely for free. Oh, nice. Yeah.

00:20:14.170 --> 00:20:17.920
Rebuilt the... lantern room using the old one

00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:20.319
as a template. That's really cool. Yeah. And

00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:22.180
did it all for free. So the new lantern room

00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:25.900
was lowered onto the tower in 2005 and the inside

00:20:25.900 --> 00:20:27.640
had to be completely redone. Like the inside

00:20:27.640 --> 00:20:30.140
of the tower, they needed new wiring, custom

00:20:30.140 --> 00:20:32.819
doors and windows, paint, cosmetics, all that

00:20:32.819 --> 00:20:35.859
stuff. Very fancy. Yeah. So it's still on a university.

00:20:36.660 --> 00:20:40.740
Yes. And I just pulled up a photo of the, I think

00:20:40.740 --> 00:20:42.319
it was 2009 or something. Someone took these

00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:45.049
pictures. Beautiful. So very nice. You can see

00:20:45.049 --> 00:20:48.230
the red brick walkway that has people's names

00:20:48.230 --> 00:20:50.329
on it that donated to the restoration. Shout

00:20:50.329 --> 00:20:52.430
out to those people. Yeah, it's very pretty.

00:20:52.509 --> 00:20:55.450
I like the colors a lot. It's like natural, but

00:20:55.450 --> 00:21:00.349
not just not plain. It's really nice. Honestly,

00:21:00.589 --> 00:21:03.349
this it's been put into my head, but it really

00:21:03.349 --> 00:21:05.950
looks like a setting of a university. It does

00:21:05.950 --> 00:21:07.930
look like a university lighthouse. It's like.

00:21:08.619 --> 00:21:11.319
When old universities have towers built to the

00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:14.500
side, I get that same vibe. So it's interesting

00:21:14.500 --> 00:21:17.500
that it wasn't built originally for a university,

00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:20.779
but it does have those. Well, and Emily and I

00:21:20.779 --> 00:21:23.460
both went to University of Kansas, which has

00:21:23.460 --> 00:21:26.559
a tower called the Campanile, whatever you want

00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.680
to call it. It's a French word, I think. Anyways,

00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:31.700
it looks a lot like a lighthouse. Fresnel, Fresnel,

00:21:31.799 --> 00:21:35.839
Fresnel. Yes. Fresnel. And it's made of limestone.

00:21:36.019 --> 00:21:38.309
Most of the... properties of the university of

00:21:38.309 --> 00:21:41.789
kansas are limestone um so that's probably what

00:21:41.789 --> 00:21:43.670
we're seeing here it's a lot of it's very much

00:21:43.670 --> 00:21:47.809
a limestone color it's cute yeah it's nice right

00:21:47.809 --> 00:21:49.710
on the water yeah and a lot of this the work

00:21:49.710 --> 00:21:52.150
that they did people either gave them discounts

00:21:52.150 --> 00:21:57.069
or gave them or did it for free so i'm where

00:21:57.069 --> 00:22:00.029
a normal restoration in which you basically rebuild

00:22:00.029 --> 00:22:02.509
the entire lighthouse would be millions of dollars

00:22:02.509 --> 00:22:06.069
these days i think this one was 500 000 At the

00:22:06.069 --> 00:22:10.410
end of everything. So still a lot, but probably

00:22:10.410 --> 00:22:13.849
like a third of what it would have cost. Yeah.

00:22:13.930 --> 00:22:17.230
If people weren't like pouring everything they

00:22:17.230 --> 00:22:19.089
had. There's so much money involved. I know.

00:22:19.750 --> 00:22:22.890
500 ,000. But if you try and think really hard

00:22:22.890 --> 00:22:26.490
about the past numbers we've heard for lighthouse

00:22:26.490 --> 00:22:28.789
restorations, it's not that bad. It's actually

00:22:28.789 --> 00:22:33.430
great. The question is like, just from my curiosity,

00:22:33.569 --> 00:22:36.029
let's say you wanted to build a 40. Foot tall?

00:22:36.410 --> 00:22:39.670
Yeah, 41. 41 foot tall. Let's call it 40. Okay.

00:22:39.670 --> 00:22:42.150
Let's call it 40. Sure. A 40 foot tall lighthouse.

00:22:42.430 --> 00:22:47.690
Yeah. Like made out of brick or steel and concrete.

00:22:47.869 --> 00:22:49.910
And yeah, like, you know, the modern construction

00:22:49.910 --> 00:22:54.009
with a wood lantern room and potentially cupola.

00:22:55.849 --> 00:22:57.670
If you're like, how much is it going to cost

00:22:57.670 --> 00:23:01.349
me? I was like, uh, half a million dollars sounds

00:23:01.349 --> 00:23:05.559
like too much, but I'm wrong. Clearly. It's a

00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:13.279
four -story tower, okay? You're wrong. I am wrong.

00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:15.059
If anyone out there wants to provide us a quote

00:23:15.059 --> 00:23:18.420
to build that lighthouse, please do. That'd be

00:23:18.420 --> 00:23:20.019
fun to share, actually. It actually would be.

00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:22.259
Even if you want to remain anonymous. You work

00:23:22.259 --> 00:23:24.880
in an engineering firm, so actually you'd have

00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:26.500
a pretty good idea of how to estimate something

00:23:26.500 --> 00:23:29.220
like that. Talk to people and be like, hey, here's

00:23:29.220 --> 00:23:31.839
the blueprints for this lighthouse. What would

00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:35.039
you build this for? That'd be hilarious. Price

00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:39.079
it up. Price it right up. Got to prove how good

00:23:39.079 --> 00:23:44.640
the discounts were on this construction. They're

00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:46.099
going to be like, it was going to be $5 million.

00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:50.319
Actually, it's just $500 ,000. It's easy. But

00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:53.140
they completed it and relit as a private aid.

00:23:54.519 --> 00:23:58.640
Private aid to Navigation. To Navigation, October

00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:04.500
15, 2006. That's crazy. Yes. It's awesome. So

00:24:04.500 --> 00:24:07.019
we still have a green flashing light, but now

00:24:07.019 --> 00:24:10.380
it's a solar -powered LED. Oh, I have a picture.

00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:13.920
Very nice. You can see the university's greenhouse

00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:17.039
and all kinds of fun stuff. That's cool. It's

00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:20.940
still being cared and loved today. The grounds

00:24:20.940 --> 00:24:24.880
are open to the public, so you can just go check

00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:26.700
this out whenever you want, but the lighthouse

00:24:26.700 --> 00:24:29.140
cannot be climbed or entered because it's private.

00:24:30.259 --> 00:24:32.869
Travesty. Got to save it for those physics tests.

00:24:32.869 --> 00:24:36.289
The university owns it? Yeah. Yeah. I'm pretty

00:24:36.289 --> 00:24:38.730
sure. I wonder if they use it for anything on

00:24:38.730 --> 00:24:42.730
an annual basis. If they decorate it or. Oh,

00:24:42.730 --> 00:24:45.309
I did see some Christmas decorations. I saw Santa

00:24:45.309 --> 00:24:49.809
visited and played a saxophone. Of course he

00:24:49.809 --> 00:24:53.130
did. Santas that go to lighthouses are always

00:24:53.130 --> 00:24:56.549
like the outskirt Santas. That's a very artistic

00:24:56.549 --> 00:25:00.259
Santa. Yeah. Remember the. Well, Christmas is

00:25:00.259 --> 00:25:02.420
kind of coming up. Do you remember the Flying

00:25:02.420 --> 00:25:05.400
Santa episode? Yes. Super fun. Yeah, and then

00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:09.039
I started doing Christmas at Lighthouses. Today,

00:25:09.180 --> 00:25:12.799
this year is going to be our third installment

00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:17.759
of that. So buckle up. Maybe we'll see this lighthouse

00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:20.920
at every point. Yeah, last one. Did we talk about

00:25:20.920 --> 00:25:23.420
St. Augustine? Mm -hmm. Nice. That might have

00:25:23.420 --> 00:25:25.720
even been the first one. Oh, the first Christmas

00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:27.640
at Lighthouses. Yeah, we talked about all of

00:25:27.640 --> 00:25:30.279
their... There are Christmas trees you can walk

00:25:30.279 --> 00:25:31.579
around. Yeah, the tree inside. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:25:31.579 --> 00:25:34.940
Cool. But yeah, that's it. Avery Point Lighthouse.

00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:37.779
Got it all covered. A lot of people, even though

00:25:37.779 --> 00:25:39.579
it's newer, a lot of people love this lighthouse

00:25:39.579 --> 00:25:43.579
because it's unique in its appearance. I wonder

00:25:43.579 --> 00:25:46.640
if it's the only lighthouse that is on university

00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:53.630
grounds. I doubt it. I feel like... I feel like

00:25:53.630 --> 00:25:55.049
that'd be hard to research because you know how

00:25:55.049 --> 00:25:56.950
AI pops up and it's like, here's what I found.

00:25:57.069 --> 00:26:00.230
It's like, you just pieced together words. I'll

00:26:00.230 --> 00:26:06.150
use that as the excuse for why you didn't laugh

00:26:06.150 --> 00:26:08.490
at my joke. Yeah, I was busy yawning. It's not

00:26:08.490 --> 00:26:11.089
personal. Avery Point Lighthouse, the first one

00:26:11.089 --> 00:26:16.569
that popped up. Boom, confirmed. Lots of posts

00:26:16.569 --> 00:26:22.349
about it. Avery Point. Milne. Berg Lighthouse,

00:26:22.490 --> 00:26:28.029
also known as Port Potchartrain. Why did I do

00:26:28.029 --> 00:26:34.369
this to myself? Anyway, from my slight scrolling,

00:26:34.650 --> 00:26:37.470
it seems to be one of the few, at the very least,

00:26:37.490 --> 00:26:40.569
if not the only one. That's good. At least there's

00:26:40.569 --> 00:26:42.930
more than one. We have lighthouses on golf courses,

00:26:43.289 --> 00:26:48.400
lighthouses on universities. What's next? What

00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:50.319
could be coming next? And that's how we'll keep

00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:52.339
you guys looped into the Lighthouse Lowdown.

00:26:52.339 --> 00:26:54.299
And you'll catch us next time. What could be

00:26:54.299 --> 00:26:57.319
coming next? And the answer to that is merch,

00:26:57.500 --> 00:26:59.700
apparently. Merch. So keep an eye out for that.

00:27:00.039 --> 00:27:02.940
And check out our website, thelighthouselowdown

00:27:02.940 --> 00:27:06.839
.com, where you can leave a review or watch our

00:27:06.839 --> 00:27:10.339
videos, listen to our podcasts, and you can check

00:27:10.339 --> 00:27:14.539
out our episode map. Yeah. In this episode, so...

00:27:15.099 --> 00:27:17.220
We're hoping that we're going to catch you next

00:27:17.220 --> 00:27:21.759
time on The Lighthouse. Thanks for coming.