City: Newport News, VA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (757) 591-5124

Address: 100 Museum Dr.

Description: This is one of the largest maritime museums in the world, with more than 61,000 square feet of gallery space and 35,000 artifacts, many one-of-a-kind. It is international in scope, with vessels from all over the world represented, and was founded and funded by the son of the railroad and shipping magnate who built and ran the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. If you have any interest in boats and nautical art, this place is a must see.The International Small Craft Center is one of the leading collections in the world, with 150 boats from 36 countries rotating in and out of exhibits arranged by nine different themes. You can see how different cultures approached boatbuilding, the way materials influenced their vessels, and examine boats used in various competitions as well as craft used for surfing. On display are everything from racing shells to recreational yachts. You can see real Native American birch bark and dugout canoes as well as Arctic kayaks and umiaks. There are sampans and a gondola and gleaming Chris-Crafts.As amazing as the full-sized boats are, you will be astounded by the miniatures.The museum features a collection of elaborate models by artist/carvers August F. and Winifred Crabtree. They trace the development of boatbuilding from primitive rafts to a Venetian galleass that has 359 carved figures. Or you can wonder at the detailed model of a Chinese sampan carved from a small nut and the 33-foot-long model of the Queen Elizabeth that was displayed at the British Pavilion during the New York World’s Fair in 1930.Larger carvings abound throughout the museum in the form of 92 rare figureheads from the bows of sailing ships. There’s also a wide range of maritime paintings and a legendary collection of navigational instruments, including a pair that may have been used by Capt. James Cook. In the days of GPS and satellite phones, it is humbling to look at a brass sundial sailors used around 1680 or the silver-coated mariner’s astrolabe that dates to 1645 in Portugal. Interested in marine communications? The museum has that covered too, with an early wireless two-way radio made by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company.The museum has the steering wheel used when the CSS Virginia battled the USS Monitor off Hampton Roads, and a life vest from the R.M.S. Titanic. Then there’s the library, at nearby Christopher Newport University, a resource for anything nautical, with 1.7 million items and staff members ready to assist your research.The museum is open Wed through Sun, and Mon when it’s a federal holiday. Admission is $12; $11 for seniors, military, AAA members, and students; $7 for 6- to 12-year-olds.