NAUTICUS and the USS WISCONSIN

To celebrate it's 15th Anniversary, Nauticus invited people in the area to come down free Saturday June 6th, 2009 and so we went with our granddaughter AnnMarie. On the second floor of the museum, there is a second museum for the USS Wisconsin and from there, you can board the USS Wisconsin and have limited access. When we went, you could only go into one room but you could look through the doors etc to the galley and other bunkrooms etc. Mostly, you get to walk the deck and people are on hand to talk you through the parts of the ship. The view from the ship is lovely and worth the walk. I did discern how easy it would be to fall off the ship!

Nauticus itself, is mostly the Naval history of the area and does have some other smaller exhibits and a couple tanks, and some hands on things for the kids. There's not much in the way of anything specific other than really local Navy info. But there was a small shark tank, some very large crabs and other some a few fish to look at. There was a very small exhibit of Jamestown as well and a place to see movies. There was a nice gift shop with lots to choose from (typically expensive but had a mix of tacky touristy stuff people buy for kids etc to home good/decorative objects and even some local artisan items). One cool thing was a huge globe of the world that had graphics moving on it. Nicely done. My granddaughter was enthralled with that. That and the Lego table. She did play with ropes, electricity exhibit (where you touch and it lights at your fingertips showing how you conduct electricity), and played in the two boats for kids to climb on. See photos below. Because of the small child we had, I couldn't look and read stuff (she had to be watched every second) and so I don't know what a lot of the stuff is below (if you know, please email and I'll update the info).

It's open Memorial Day - Labor Day: 7 days a week, 10 am - 5 pm Rest of the year: Closed Mondays, Open Tuesday - Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm; Sunday, Noon - 5 p.m.

Nauticus and the Battleship Wisconsin are closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. Please call for other holiday hours.

Battleship Wisconsin Hours: Exterior Open Closed Monday Tuesday - Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm, Sunday, Noon - 5 pm

Cost: Adults - $10.95, Children (4-12) - $8.50, AAA/Military/Seniors - $9.95, Children 3 and under free.

There's no charge to visit Hampton Roads Naval Museum, located on the second floor

Left to Right: 1) Various Local Artifacts from the colonial period 2) Battle of Hampton Roads Exhibit 3) A big unattractive fish 4) Bell (not sure what bell; maybe the Wisconsin?) 5) A replica of a room in a ship

Left to Right: 1) Flag 2) Jamestown exhibit 3) Uniform exhibit 4) Shark Tank 5) USS Wisconsin Lifering

Left to Right: 1) Looking towards aft I believe 2) Looking towards Starboard end 3) Center of USS Wisconsin 4) Guns and Aft section 5) 221-foot White Cloud yacht has power boats and a helicopter. Built 1983 for Leo Van Leeuwen of Lignac, France, it was sold in 2003 to an undisclosed buyer for $17.5 million. People think it belongs to Barry Diller, the TV programming guru who is married to fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg. It's the US's 18th largest Yacht.

Left to Right: 1) AnnMarie Playing with a Ship's Wheel 2) AnnMarie in a small boat designed for kids to climb on 3) AnnMarie Looking at fish 4) AnnMarie and Grandpa waving bye to Nauticus