Titanic

On Saturday, I went to the Arizona Science Center to see the new Titanic Exhibit. I'm not sure why, but I've always been intrigued by the story of the Titanic. It was SO amazing. Too bad we weren't allowed to take any pictures. They did such a great job with it. At the entrance of the exhibit, I was handed a 'boarding pass' with the name and description of a person who was aboard the Titanic. I was Miss Dagmar Jenny Ingeborg Bryhl, age 20, from Sweden. I was traveling with my brother and fiance, and we were in the 2nd class cabins. As soon as I walked through the entrance to the exhibit, I 'felt' like I was on the ship. On display were things found on the ocean floor some 80 years after the Titanic sank - things like china, clothing, paper currency, bottles with the champagne still in the bottles (must be well-aged by now!), steel door from the ship, leather suitcase. It's amazing that these remains still stayed intact after all these years and in such a high pressure environment where micro-organisms eat away at things and oxidation (or whatever) happens. Next in the exhibit, was a room describing how the idea of the Titanic came about and the process of getting it from the design stage to its grand finish. Everyone was so hyped about how great the Titanic was, and how it was the most luxurious ship to ever be built. Captain Smith was quoted 'I could not conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel; modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that'. We all know how THAT turned out, clear evidence that one should not boast in anything except in the Lord.

In the next section, we were able to see reproductions of what the 1st class and 2nd class cabins looked like. A 1st class ticket cost $2,500 at the time, which is the equivalent of $43,860 today! If I were to pay $43,860 for a ticket across the Atlantic, there had better be a guarantee that I'd get there alive and on time! Not that there's anything I could do if I died en route. We also saw sample menus of what people ate on the ship, and what the 'garden' area looked like. There were a few descriptions of the more well-known people aboard the Titanic, and why they were traveling across the ocean. I was surprised that the Celine Dion theme song wasn't playing in the background.

And finally, the most dramatic part of the exhibit - the sinking of the Titanic. There were multiple warnings of icebergs from other ships throughout the day, but apparently, the Titanic was still moving at top speed in the dark ocean. The person 'on watch' on the tower was using his naked eyes to watch for danger, rather than with binoculars. Why? Because the binoculars were MISPLACED during the last minute rush to get the Titanic ready for departure! Obviously we all know the rest of the story. One of the most powerful part of the exhibit was a huge piece of an 'iceberg' for people to touch. I can't even describe how cold it was. The sign said it was 20-some degrees, and that the ocean water was probably even colder than that. My hand started feeling numb about 5 seconds of pressing against it. I imagined being immersed in that cold water, I had to stop, cuz it really was just too scary. Poor Leonardo DiCaprio. Why couldn't they just share the wooden door? Sorry, I digress.

On display were many quotes said by the passengers after they found out that the Titanic wasn't going to make it. It was quite sad. One woman said that she felt relief when she heard that women and children were first to get on the lifeboats, but at the same time, she suffered the greatest loss of her life, her husband. At the end of the exhibit, was a huge wall of the list of 1st, 2nd, 3rd class passengers and crew members, and whether they were 'saved' or 'lost'. I found my person's name. She was saved on the 2nd class passenger list. That made me happy. I thought, she and her fiance got married. But then, I remembered that women and children were first to get into the lifeboats. So I went back to the list and looked up her brother's and fiance's names. And sadly, they were both 'lost' on the Titanic. Sigh. I then glanced across the names, and saw that most of the people 'lost' were men. It was a wonderful exhibit and was truly educational. But it was also very emotional and sad at the same time.

After the Titanic exhibit, I spent about an hour walking around the rest of the museum. It's a very interactive museum, so kids love it. You can learn about the human body, the earth, wind, and waves, it's pretty neat. Some of the highlights are below.

This was so gross I had to share it.














I like point 4. Squeezing zits spreads the infection and makes more pimples. Yes we all know that, and yet it's just too tempting.














Look at this crazy big tire!














Okay, the AIR in the inflated tire weights more than me!














The outside of the Arizona Science Center