BEAUFORT, N.C. (WNCT) – With over 3000 miles of shoreline, North Carolina has plenty of maritime history. And there’s no better place to get a taste of it all than at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, where you’ll find some things you might expect.
“We focus on traditional boat building of North Carolina,” said Benjamin Wunderly with the North Carolina Maritime Museum. “We cover the history of life saving and Coast Guard service.”
And some you might not.
“The whale skeleton is one that I hear a lot about,” added Christine Brin with the North Carolina Maritime Museum. “It is a sperm whale. He was 15 years old. He came up on our coast here. We have a lot of the story of that whale.”
Right down to its once beating heart. But by far one of the biggest attractions centers around Blackbeard.
“People just have a fascination with piracy,” said David Moore, curator of nautical archaeology with the North Carolina Maritime Museum.
“One of my favorite artifacts to show the public here at the Queen Anne’s revenge exhibit is this cannon right here, C3,” said Brin. “C3 has been with the museum for a few years now.”
But there’s one artifact here that really stinks up the joint.
“My favorite artifact we have on display is the remains of Blackbeard’s toilet,” said Brin. “This artifact is the one that really makes him human because this is the remains of the toilet from Queen Anne’s Revenge. What you’re looking at is actually the tube that would have gone from essentially the seat and down to the ocean.”
“It all tells a story, and that’s the story we’re attempting to put together like a huge jigsaw puzzle and tell a much better story of who these pirates were, how they operated, and why they ended up where they did,” said Moore.
One of the newest exhibits examines the surprisingly long history of the guys and gals who hang 10 off the North Carolina coastline.
“A lot of people just automatically think or assume that surfing started here in the 1960’s,” said Wunderly. “But that really wasn’t the case. There were people attempting the sport of surfing there at Wrightsville Beach in the first decade of the 1900’s. The exhibit is set up to explain the sport to someone who may not know much about it or have ever tried it.”
Whether it’s surfing, a 33 and a half foot sperm whale skeleton or the 300 year old remains of one infamous toilet, something is sure to draw you in.
Pierce is always looking for interesting and unique people and places to visit. If you have an idea, send him an email or a message on Facebook or Twitter.
