Friday, May 1, 2009

Pirates of Nassau

Pirates have been synonymous with the Caribbean for years now, and this perception was no doubt boosted by Disney's popular Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise.

Nassau, the capital city of the Bahamas, is home to one of the many homages to (former) pirate life--Pirates of Nassau.

Pirates of Nassau museum downtown Nassau
(webshots.com)

Located at the corner of King and George streets, Pirates of Nassau is a museum and gift store that was opened in 1998. It is one of the largest pirate museums in the world, and is a convenient ten minutes from the cruise ship pier.

By all means, if you enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean or simply enjoy pirate lore even slightly, try to visit. The museum is highly informative and, while it does not have a large amount of actual artifacts, it has a "to scale" (Is it? Well, I've never seen a real pirate ship, so I couldn't honestly tell you) pirate ship inside!

Nassau - Pirate Museum
(webshots.com)

Apparently, during the heyday of the pirate, Nassau was one of the most important ports for the common pirate. Thus, there's a lot to say here--both concerning Nassau's role and otherwise.

Much of the content concerns pirate lore rather than artifacts. The museum makes much use of mannequins for this task. This is one of the aspects I remember most about the museum when I visited. The mannequins are sufficiently designed--nothing exceedingly creepy for the kids.

An extensive gift shop can be found at the end of the museum tour. It's got some nice stuff, though honestly nothing exceedingly different than you might find elsewhere in the Caribbean. Still worth a gander, though!

The museum opens early (9 a.m.) and closes at around the time when most ships will be leaving the port of Nassau (6 p.m.), with a closing time of noon on Sundays. Prices run at $12 for adults and $6 for ages 4-17.

For more information, visit Pirates of Nassau's main website.