GWIZ - It's the Titanic

My heart began pounding when I saw that GWIZ, a museum in Sarasota, was going to be hosting a Titanic exhibit. I was thrilled beyond belief. My 9-year-old son and I are both very big Titanic buffs, and I was excited about seeing some of the artifacts from the famous ship with him. Both of us have read many books about the Titanic - and of course I've seen various movies about the disaster as well. I had visited a Titanic exhibit years ago in Kansas City and was very impressed with the entire exhibit.

I was excited when I saw some local media coverage about the exhibit. From what I read, it appeared that the exhibit was going to be pretty much the same one that I had seen in Kansas City. That made me really excited about going.

Today we loaded up the entire family and headed off to visit GWIZ and the Titanic exhibit. As we approached the entrance, the Titanic exhibit banners were very stoic and elegant. The glass doors were covered with beautiful art that made you feel like you were boarding the ship as you entered the museum. That was very impressive.

Then, came the first disappointment. We were told that even though we were members of GWIZ, we would have to pay to see the Titanic exhibit. I had promised my 9 year old son that we would visit the exhibit MANY times while it is in town - but now we sure won't... it cost our family more than $30 to view the exhibit. UGH! I asked if they had been crowded and the worker said, "No, the economy has really hurt attendance." I was hoping that our payment could get us a pass to come back again, but she said it's for one time only. My son's face sank.

We got our little tickets and headed up to the exhibit. The entrance of the Titanic exhibit had a greeter who handed each of us a booklet of info and activities for kids. Each of us also received a Titanic Boarding Pass that had information about someone who was actually on the Titanic. As you exit the exhibit, you learn the fate of your person. I was excited because my passenger was Mrs. Bucknell, a first class passenger who was traveling with her maid. My poor hubby was a 3rd class passenger.

I'll give you the rest of the bad news now before sharing the good... the exhibit seems a bit sparse in places. But, I think it was designed to allow flow for a large crowd - which there were very few people there. I kept wanting to see more artifacts - but I could actually go down to the wreck itself and would probably want to see more artifacts than are there. Also, in Kansas City, they had actors leading the tours and they had some sound effects too in various parts of the exhibit. It definitely added some magic that's lacking at this one. But, the exhibit at GWIZ is well done and is super educational for kids and adults.

Anyway... the exhibit starts with information about how the Titanic was built and has a few artifacts proudly displayed. It's awe-inspiring to see items that were actually on the ship and then actually on the bottom of the ocean floor. Just really powerful - especially some of the more delicate items. It's really amazing to see them still intact and recognizable.

Large photographs and stories about the different "players" of the Titanic tragedy are found throughout the exhibit. They also have a recreation of a first-class cabin and a 3rd class cabin. My kids were fascinated by those. They also got a kick out of the menus for each "class" that are posted.

I was amazed by some perfume bottles they had on display. The case had little holes in it so you could actually smell the flowery scent of the perfume.

There is a room that has an "iceberg" that you can touch. My kids LOVED this. It gives you a strong sense of how cold the water must have that night and how awful the final moments must have been for those who perished.

The last room showcases stories about people from the tragedy - survivors and those who died. Then you see the lists of all of the people and you find out if your person survived or not.

I highly recommend visiting this Titanic exhibit at GWIZ in Sarasota!