A Day With Pirates!

My daughter LOVES pirates…truth be told so do I! We especially love the world of Peter Pan, Captain Hook, fairies, mermaids and all the magic that goes along with it. We of course watch lots of Jake and the Neverland Pirates  too. Yes, we love pirates. It was therefore a necessity that we attend Pirate Days at the San Diego Maritime Museum. The collections of the Maritime Museum are vast and engaging. One of our favorites, among the many incredible ships there, is the Star of India. Built in 1863, it is the world’s oldest active sailing ship. It is a beautiful vessel inside and out. Many volunteers were hard at work cleaning and maintaining her in the midst of festivities and tourists. I was surprised that my three year old daughter stopped to take a look at almost every display. She was fascinated with everything on the ship…from stem to stern, so to speak. There were also plenty of pirates on board that were ready to engage in sword fights and playful banter. My daughter, J, wore her finest and was ready to join the crew! She was picked unanimously as the winner of the girls costume contest. I think she charmed just about everyone on board! 🙂 One of the activities was a scavenger hunt that had you follow clues through several ships. Your prize for all of the effort was a visit to the magical mermaid grotto set up on the Star of  India. This was very enchanting for J! The mermaids handed out jewels and a coveted key necklace to her. It was perfect, for she was sure it opened a treasure chest somewhere on board. This necklace is so special we have since redesigned a new and stronger chain of beads for it. It gets worn regularly! Besides exciting encounters with the buccaneers, there were also other re-enactors aboard the ship HMS Surprise. An admiral made his rounds and hosted a “dance” with ladies and gentlemen in period dress.    The San Diego Maritime Museum is a wonderful opportunity to experience hands on history. There are many educational opportunities for the family. They have many exciting events to attend throughout the year. It is a great day trip and makes for a fun homeschool field trip as well.

Civil War Battle Reenactment

We did something very fun and really interesting this weekend. We went to a Civil War battle reenactment. I grew up in the South and have visited many historic Civil War battlefields, but I have never been a spectator to a reenactment, complete with period dress, mounted cavalry and cannon fire! I’m a total history buff…nerd actually…so I was loving all aspects of this performance. I also love photography and the photo opportunities here were plentiful!

It was plain to see the volunteers were all very passionate about their history. They were quite knowledgeable about the people and the battle they were portraying. They were also generous with their time, explaining the artillery, equipment and details about their group. There was also a mock camp set up with other period activities to learn about.

                                  

Even though much of this was beyond my three year old daughter’s understanding, my hubby and I were excited to take her to see this. My love of history started with my parents taking me to historic places when I was little.  There were many things at this event that she had never experienced before and I could see the wheels turning! That evening when we talked about our day, she could recount many things she saw, such as cannons and horses. She was also excited to look through my pictures and with those I introduced her to the names of Abraham Lincoln and General Lee. So, in my book this was a 100% successful homeschool (weekend) day! I firmly believe that seeing “living history” like this is very exciting and engaging for kids of all ages. I really hope we can catch another performance from this group again. They put on an exciting and educational show!