Got cabin fever? Now that wintry whether is here, it’s the perfect time to take advantage of local cultural attractions.

This month let’s explore two family-friendly venues: Nauticus National Maritime Center in Norfolk, currently exhibiting its blockbuster show “Real Pirates,” and Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach, which recently opened its new exhibit “Restless Planet.” Recently my son, Ross, 14, and I decided to spend a day visiting these two attractions. Thankfully he’s still at that age when he gets excited about exploring museums and spending the day with Mom—especially if we stop for pizza and wings for lunch!

BURIED TREASURE

“I was looking for treasure,” said Barry Clifford, who discovered the pirate shipwreck Whydah off the coast of Cape Cod in 1984, “and I found more treasure than I ever imagined. The whole bottom of the ocean was covered with it.”

I’d attended a preview of Nauticus’ sizzling exhibit “Real Pirates,” organized by National Geographic, and met Barry Clifford, who has been excavating the Whydah for 25 years—and he says there’s even more gold buried under the sand.

As a boy, Barry had heard about the legend of Captain Sam Bellamy, who together with his gang of pirates looted and pillaged ships along the Atlantic seaboard. He captured the Whydah, a slave ship, near the Bahamas and was headed to see his lady friend in New England when, as legend has it, a powerful nor’easter crippled the ship and send it crashing under the sea. It was April 1716, and the Whydah lay under the sea for nearly 300 years before Barry found it in 1984.

Besides showcasing artifacts from the Whydah, the exhibit also tells many stories—of the slave trade, of 18th-century pirate lifestyle, of punishments faced by pirates who were caught, of the work involved in restoring artifacts buried under the sea for three centuries, and finally of modern pirates off the coast of Somalia, who present a dangerous threat to container ships even today.

The exhibit starts with a film, after which a screen rises dramatically to reveal the ship’s bell, the first artifact found by Barry’s crew. Heady days followed when gold and silver pieces of eight were found along with cannons, guns, shackles, navigational equipment, teapots, spoons, bowls, tools, pipes, game tokens, even gunpowder, providing an amazing glimpse into what life had been like aboard the Whydah in the early 1700s.

Many artifacts are on view, and both Ross and I were amazed at how well preserved they are. Of course seeing the pieces of gold is thrilling. Brilliant yellow reals, Spanish coins, depict faces of Spanish royalty; some coins have holes drilled in them, having been worn as necklaces by the pirates. There was also a glass case with treasure chests full of thousands of silver pieces of eight. A boy walking by said, “I bet that’s enough to buy a house, maybe three houses.” In fact, the Whydah’s gold and silver is the only authentic pirate’s treasure ever recovered.

I enjoyed the stories that “Real Pirates” tells as much if not more than the artifacts. For example, there’s an old ledger showing a list of 30 or so slaves sold at auction. Ross and I stopped to read their names: Dicky, Fanny, January, Moses, Rosy, Sam, Plato, Appie, Judy, Tom, and yes, even Peggy. We also learned that many escaped slaves joined pirate ships, as did freedmen, resulting in crews that were 50 percent African American—or more.
There’s lots to see, but you’ll have to explore the exhibit for yourself. Make sure you allow time to visit Nauticus, too, which offers insight into man’s ongoing relationship with the sea. Plan to spend at least three hours. Trust me, it’s well worth the price of admission.

CONNECTING WITH NATURE

After lunch Ross and I headed to the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center. Always a favorite when my kids were little, this attraction opened in 1986, the same year my oldest son, Scott, was born. Spread across 89 acres, the Aquarium has undergone two expansions since then: one in 1996 that tripled its size and the recent one, completed in November, that expanded the Journey of Water exhibit and added The Restless Planet gallery. The Aquarium’s animal collection is now double the size it used to be, numbering 12,000, and represents over 700 species. Ross and I were excited to see new faces from the animal kingdom on this visit.

No matter what the season is, the Aquarium is always humming with activity—starting with the playful seals that swim around the tank at the entrance and continuing into the reception area, where the happy buzz of families is contagious. Ross and I had planned to make a beeline for the new Restless Planet exhibit, but we got sidetracked by a cool exhibit about a two-mile-wide meteor that slammed into the Chesapeake Bay hundreds of millions of years ago at a speed of 70,000 mph. Ross liked the sound effects of the interactive exhibit that showed the meteor smashing into Earth, leaving a two-mile-wide crater that scientists are still studying today.

After stopping to pet a few stingrays, we entered the Restless Planet and found ourselves face to face with animal exhibits including a scary-looking frog with pointed peaks above his eyes. We were in the Malaysian Peat Swamp habitat, where a squishy floor, low-hanging plants, and the sound of thunder made it feel eerily real.     

Off to one side a brightly lit Science Shack beckoned, a mock-up of a field research station, where interactive exhibits teach budding young scientists lessons about geological changes, specifically the Silurian period, when Virginia was a desert, and the Carboniferous period, represented by the Peat Swamp habitat. A brief film showing how continents evolved and moved into the positions they occupy today helped me understand why Virginia’s climate and geology changed so markedly: we were slip-sliding across longitudinal lines and up and down latitudes. Ross showed off his geographical prowess by assembling a puzzle map of the globe and beating the clock, winning admiration from smaller kids nearby.

Next we visited the tomistomas, crocodiles from Malaysia who are among the world’s most endangered reptiles. “Look at those teeth,” Ross said. “That guy needs some braces.” The Virginia Aquarium hopes to become involved in breeding tomistomas to increase their dwindling population.

The new Komodo dragons are a real crowd pleaser. Ross and I took turns crawling into a bubble dome, where you can get an up-close look at these giant lizards. A larger Komodo, about six feet in length, drowsed sleepily, closing his eyes and then opening them to stare back at us—while nearby another dragon stared out through giant windows at an idyllic scene of trees and marsh grasses alongside Owl’s Creek.

Beyond the Komodo dragons, a sea turtle exhibit offers a chance to stand right next to these regal creatures as they swim in their aquarium. A young couple seemed particularly fascinated by the loggerhead turtle, who kept bumping his nose into the corner of the tank as if seeking an escape.

After checking out the shark tank and the gift shop, my son and I scooted over to the Virginia Aquarium’s south building to see Ross’ favorite furry friends, the river otters. These capricious critters swam and cavorted in the water, tumbling around and around like spinning logs, as if they didn’t have a care in the world—which now that I think about it, they probably don’t.

This building also has lots of interactive opportunities including tactile exhibits, where you can touch mud and sand with thick rubber gloves. Ross, of course, had to leave his mark: a smiley face in the sand. There were also opportunities to feel animals’ skins: from fur to shark skin; to smell swamp smells and red cedar; and to hear the various calls and sounds birds and frogs can make. We heard the screech of a blue heron and realized it was the mystery sound we hear on occasion from the creek behind our house.

That’s what I love about heading out to science museums like Virginia Aquarium and historic exhibits like “Real Pirates” at Nauticus National Maritime Center: there’s always so much to learn. It’s easy to get caught up in the electronics age, to think that we can learn all we need from flat screens and keyboards, but experiencing the real world up close—watching a Komodo dragon from a few feet away or touching real gold—makes you connect with life in a way computers can’t match. Plan a trip to these inspiring attractions with your family or some friends, and you’ll see what I mean.

For more information:
• nauticus.org
• virginiaaquarium.com