Thursday, April 25, 2013

Field Trip: Titanic Exhibit


We visited the Titanic Exhibit that is on display at the NC Science museum in Raleigh.  We went there once a number of years ago - but its been awhile and we were looking forward to seeing it again!

 A fun display for photo ops.
 George serves as a stand-in.  lol
 We were there on the 101st anniversary of when it was sailing.  It was wild and sobering to think that on this very day people were on this ship so many years ago, happy and enjoying the beauty of the vessel.
 There were no photos allowed in the exhibit so I don't have much to show you.  We were each given a ticket when we entered the exhibit.


 It was the ticket of an actual passenger on the ship.  The ticket listed the name, age and a little bit about the person.

It was interesting to all of us to find out more about "our person".  Most of us survived, but not all in our family.  Eliana had the card of the "oldest living Titanic survivor" who just died in 2009.

Some of the people in the exhibit were wonderfully helpful and informative and others seemed a bit stressed by the crowds.  One of the silliest comments I've ever heard in an educational setting happened this day.  Near the beginning of the exhibit there was a bottleneck of people waiting to get in.  (And nobody was complaining about the wait, we were all just waiting.)  I then heard one of the docents say to the other that the delay was  because "they are all stopping to read the information.  We are going to have to get them to stop reading the signs".  Seriously?!  lol

Thankfully the design and flow of the exhibit was much improved from this point on so that we could stop and read and enjoy learning more.  There are artifacts and photographs from the ship.  There is also a large iceberg that you can put your hand on to get an idea of how cold the water was that night.

It is an informative and sobering exhibit.  I do recommend it if you are in the area.  I highly recommend going in the afternoon.  It was quite busy in the morning and very quiet in the afternoon.

After touring, we went outside to have a picnic lunch.  There were so many groups there that day.  We decided that the next time we went back to the museum that it should be in the afternoon when it really cleared out.

I bought two books about the Titanic since the boys seemed really interested.  They poured over these books when we got home too!  Love it when a new book is really enjoyed!



We decided to go back in and explore the newest area of the science museum.  Another photo op with the Titanic exhibit.

 This new area is fabulous.  Very colorful and lots of things to explore.  Loved all of the hands-on exhibits.
 There was more to see than we had time for that day.  It will be fun to return on another day.
 Thankful for these resources in our backyard!  We are so fortunate!
Blessings
Leslie