Today we had a pretty neat once-in-a-lifetime type experience at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.  They just opened a really great exhibit on maps, put on by National Geographic.  The basis for a large part of the exhibit was history, which is always exciting.  It was laid out by type of explorer, as well.  Amelia Earhart, Lewis and Clark, jungle explorers, pyramid explorers, and even a shipwreck explorer. 

It was not overly crowded, as we were there during school hours on a rare day when 400 buses were not lined up outside.  While son (age 7) galavanted from one part to another, daughter and I went through the shipwreck area and learned a lot about the discovery of Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge that sunk off the coast of North Carolina. 

SOOO.. we're about ready to leave and this man with a "large" camera comes up to us and tells us one of the explorers has just entered the exhibit and would like to talk to us.  We follow him and meet Phil Masters, the shipwreck explorer.  Of course, crowd gathers, but we sat on the floor and he and my sweet boy had this incredible conversation about the shipwreck and what was found.  I was so proud of my boy for asking any questions, let alone good ones!  (Note: the whole time the camera is flashing...very nerve wracking!)

A the jaw dropping moment for me was when Mr. Masters mentioned that part of the remains of the ship included barrell hoops.  Only yesterday--totally true--we read a book that gave a detail explanation on barrells (The Village, by James E. Knight):  how and why they were made and how their construction evolved.  Well, as you can imagine, son jumped on this and while Mr. Masters and his partner dropped technical words and the correct names of barrell parts, son answered intelligently on the subject.  Proud Mama moment!

Unthinkingly, being a bit star-struck, I signed the photo waiver while neglecting to find out possible uses and how to get copies.  Major bummer!  If I only knew someone, who might know someone, who might know???(hint, hint Angel?!!)

Despite our personal adventure, the exhibit is very interesting and ranks as one of the better traveling exhibits we've seen.  The museum is on the ball too, for they have posted downloadable lesson plans on the subject.  If you're in the area, don't miss it!