The651.com

If I have learned anything as a parent about children it’s this: kids love pirates. The swords, eye patches, prosthetic hooks and pegs, boots and pirate hats, not to mention tales of plunder on the open seas are guaranteed entertainment and certain to spur their imagination. While vacationing in South Carolina a couple of years ago, my son Leo read a story of the legend of the fame local pirate Blackbeard, and fantasized about seeing his glowing beheaded torso floating (as legend has it) in every body of water he came across over the next two years.

So, the new exhibit coming to the Science Museum of Minnesota next weekend, Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship is sure to deliver on fun and fascination. The exhibit follows the journey of the Whydah, a slave ship that was captured on her maiden voyage by the pirate Sam Bellamy. His crew converted the ship to a pirate vessel that plied the waters of the Caribbean until sunk by a storm in 1717. Nearly 300 years later, the ship was discovered and her treasures that were painstakingly salvaged help to reveal what life was like for an 18th century pirate. Visitors will explore the wreck of the Whydah and wander through more than 200 fascinating artifacts in the world’s first exhibition of authentic pirate treasure.

Real Pirates opens next Saturday, February 18 and runs through Labor Day. Tickets are $12 for members of the Science Museum, and range from $22-$32 for non-members and are available online, by phone, or at the SMM box office. As with other major exhibits at the Museum, tickets are timed and dated, so plan accordingly. Admission includes access to the rest of the Museum’s exhibits, plus a Real Pirates audio tour.

For more information, go to smm.org.