by Terri | January 5th, 2012
I gotta tell you about the Shipwreck Museum on our Florida Keys Vacation. It was kind of rainy and gloomy and so we didn’t get to go out on the glass bottom boat as planned. Well, we could have went out but I overheard the Captain of the ship telling people that the waters could be a bit rocky and it’s been years since I was on the water, so we opted to visit museums instead.
So we found this awesome museum on 1 Whitehead Street right in the center of Key West Square. It didn’t cost too much to go in, maybe around twelve bucks each and as we waited for them to take us in we met these cool guys who were dressed up in period clothing.
Now the story goes that at least one ship per week would wreck somewhere along the Florida reefs. There were at least 100 ships to travel through the Keys each day. These men would watch from observation towers and then ring the bell and race to salvage the goods to sell at auction. This became their way of living back in the 1800′s. One man, Asa Taff you will see in this fun video. The Shipwreck Museum adds fun to the tour by having actors recreate a period in time that many people wondered about. You’ve got to see this one on your Florida Keys Vacation!
Now, if you enjoyed that, watch how he recruits this cute little kid……
We also got to go up in the look out tower, which rises about 65 feet above the museum. That was fun. I have some videos of that I will show you in a new post. Here is a photo of me ringing the bell at the top of the tower. When a wrecking crew member spots a ship that has wrecked, he rings the bell and everyone scrambles to get out on their little ships to start the work of bringing in the cargo.
What a great Florida Keys Vacation! We haven’t even skimmed the surface yet of all the things to do in Key West. Check out the booty from the wrecked ships!
Ready to take a walk up the tower? Come along with me up the tower of the Shipwreck Museum….
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