Before our delicious seafood meal at The Dock House Dining At the Dock House, we went to the Maritime Museum. The Maritime Museum had an interesting display of life on the sea. There was a lot of information about Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, who was the most famous and most ruthless pirate of the area.
Blackbeard was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain’s North American colonies. Little is known about his early life, but he may have been a sailor on privateer ships during Queen Anne’s War before he settled on the Bahamian island of New Providence. Teach captured a French slave ship known as La Concorde, renamed her Queen Anne’s Revenge, equipped her with 40 guns, and crewed her with over 300 men. He became a renowned pirate, his nickname derived from his thick black beard and fearsome appearance; he was reported to have tied lit fuses (slow matches) under his hat to frighten his enemies. He formed an alliance of pirates and blockaded the port of Charles Town, South Carolina, ransoming the port’s inhabitants. He then ran Queen Anne’s Revenge aground on a sandbar near Beaufort, North Carolina. Teach was a shrewd and calculating leader who spurned the use of violence, relying instead on his fearsome image to elicit the response that he desired from those whom he robbed. Easily the most famous buccaneer on the list and possibly the most terrifying pirate of all time, Blackbeard had a reputation of horrific magnitude in his day. He was romanticized after his death and became the inspiration for an archetypal pirate in works of fiction across many genres.
Some of the other things featured in the Maritime Museum were artifacts recovered from the sea, and from Blackbeard’s “Queen Anne’s Revenge” specifically, as well as replicas of the many boats and ships from the area and a skeleton of a sperm whale along with its heart.
This is an actual heart of a sperm whale that has been well preserved. Looking at the heart gives you an idea of just how big these magnificent creatures really are.
There was even a replica of one of the first rescue boats ever used.
Strolling around outside the museum was beautiful too. There were so many beautiful and colorful flowers.
Since it was out last day, we just had to see more of the seashore before heading home, back to our mountains and lakes. I love the sea and I have the waters of the oceans flowing through my veins, as did my dad. I can never get enough of the salty seas.
Two sandpipers combine the beach.
I don’t know the language of flags, though I am sure my dad did, but we think these flags spell out Beaufort.
I have one more post from our trip and then it will be time to start more new adventures. In the meantime, you know I am safe and sound, back home and back in my kitchen, cooking up all kinds of good things to share.
Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
A Jeanne in the Kitchen 