Titanic!

P studied the Titanic in school this fall, and he quickly became really interested in the historic shipwreck.  He's read - and practically memorized - several books about it, and he can tell you a litany of interesting facts.  For example, did you know that part of the reason the Titanic sank was because they used cheap iron rivets?  Or that the lookout was fired just before the ship left the dock and he accidentally took his locker key with him, so the binoculars were locked up with no key and the lookouts on the ship didn't have any binoculars?  Well, now you do.  You're welcome.

Since P had a cheerleading competition in Tennessee on his actual sixth birthday, we decided to go halfway on Friday night and stop at the Titanic museum in Pigeon Forge as one of P's birthday presents.

The entire visit is an experience.  You receive a "boarding pass" when you enter, and it contains the name and information of someone of your gender and roughly your age who traveled on the Titanic.  At the end of the museum there is a wall documenting what happened to each person on board, so you can discover your fate.

I suspect, without children, that it would have taken us a little over two hours to travel through the museum.  With P and C, we lasted about an hour and a half {which I still thought was impressive}; although we did stop at each exhibit, we moved more quickly than we might have alone. Both of the boys enjoyed the experience.  There were lots of hands-on activities, such as touching the cold water and an iceberg, shoveling coal, and trying to walk on a slanted deck.  Plenty of knowledgeable "crew members" were available to answer questions.

P and C {and Daddy A and I} all learned new things, and we had a blast doing so.  P has already requested a return trip.  If you're anywhere near that area, I suggest you check it out.  While you're there, you can find out how many dogs were on board the Titanic.  {I won't give that one away!}