Last weekend, my wonderful wife Sandy came down to stay with me for a couple of days. We went out with the rest of my classmates to a restaurant in Richmond and had a wonderful Cuban dinner.
The next day, was quite nice so we decided after breakfast at the Keystone Diner (located in the Keystone Tractor Museum) to trek to Newport News and visit this particular museum.
Located on a 550 acre park, this museum is also engaged in conservation of artifacts, most notably those recovered from the wreck of the USS Monitor. Yes, THAT USS Monitor.
It was, for me, quite moving.
And the price of admission was staggering. One whole United States Dollar. Yes, that's right. $1 USD.
The photo above showing my darling bride with a Spanish 24 pounder mounted outside the museum entrance.
The museum has several other galleries in addition to its focus on the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (nee USS Merrimack) They have a wonderful separate building with small craft from literally around the world. Ranging from the original Criss Craft motor boat, to dugouts from Polynesia, to Dutch and Italian pleasure craft, to my personal favourite, a dory from New Engalnd.
There is also a hall dedicated to the modern America's Cup. And another couple of halls dedicated to models of cargo ships, some four to six feet or more in length and incredibly detailed.
But back to the CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor...
There are several galleries dedicated to the two vessels as well as a full-scale model of the USS Monitor outside of the museum and several artifacts like the propeller from the USS Monitor, a gun from the CSS Virginia, etc.
The USS Monitor exhibits include short films on the recovery process, interviews with the commander of the Navy unit assisting in the salvage, and clips talking about various members of the crew.
One of the guns from the USS Monitor in the conservation process. The turret is in another bath and they hope to display it in the future. To say it was very moving would be an incredible understatement.
They have reconstructed the turret to show how it worked, since the USS Monitor was so unique and revolutionary.
And finally, they made a full scale model of the USS Monitor, which is located outside of the museum, and you are able to walk on her deck. You cannot go inside, but it's still amazing.
If you find yourself anywhere near Newport News, Virginia, I would highly recommend visiting this museum. This was an amazing experience and I was very moved by the way the exhibits were presented.
Congratulations Eric, regarding your new blog. I appreciated the information about the museum which I knew nothing about. I paid attention to the America's Cup racing you mentioned in the mid 1980s when I sailed and raced on Lake Michigan. 12-meter yachts were gorgeous. Bravo,
ReplyDeleteBill P.
Great pictures; thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteA museum I knew nothing about. It sounds quite fascinating. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteStephen
Fantastic photos Eric and $1 dollar entrance fee think of all the other dollars you can spend on hobby stuff 😀.
ReplyDeleteGreat report. Now I need to find my way to Newport News.
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