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Showing posts with label Newport News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Newport News. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Visiting the Mariners' Museum in Newport News (Virginia) with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News (Virginia) with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Laurent, Florence, and I went on a field trip to the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News (Virginia) to see the Titanic exhibit.

Florence was ga-ga over the Titanic movie, so I knew this outing would be met with enthusiasm.  At the exhibit, we all received a ticket with the name and photograph of an actual passenger on the Titanic with a scavenger hunt questionnaire.

The exhibit featured lots of photos and biographies – not too child-oriented, but I saw the film and read several history books about what happened, so I made up commentary to go with the photos.

However, finding John Jacob Astor’s gold pocket watch earned us the right to place a big, gold sticker on our scavenger hunt sheet.

In Florence’s favorite exhibit, you could put your hand in a sac surrounded by water that was the same temperature as the water the Titanic passengers found themselves in when the ship sank.

This exhibit explained that hypothermia puts you into a trance-like state.  It is not a painful way to die supposedly.

We watched a slideshow that said the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 made people less optimistic about technological progress.  The sinking of the Titanic happened when the first skyscrapers were being built.

The most chilling exhibit showed how many people died in each class of passengers.  You definitely had an edge for survival, if you were in a first-class cabin.

Several things happened regarding cruise ships after the Titanic sank.  First and foremost ships had to have enough lifeboats for all the passengers. 

From then on, the Marconi Wireless Communication Centers on ships had to concentrate on safety rather than sending messages for first class passengers as well.

The same centers also had to stay open 24/7.  The ship that was close to the Titanic did not receive a dispatch signal, because its communications center was closed.

Cruise ships had to run on a more southern course after the sinking of the Titanic as well to avoid icebergs and winter storms.

After the Titanic disaster, there were many fundraising benefits for the survivors and their families.  The tour guide said that every street in Southhampton (England) lost someone on the Titanic.

After the Titanic exhibit, we looked at miniature ships and the testing pools to see how the miniature ships would withstand waves, winds, and collision.  Florence had fun moving the ships in the water.

We spent 3 hours at this great museum and had fun eating at an Italian restaurant afterwards.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books




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