The Titanic (14 cents)

We went to the Maryland Science Center to see the Titanic exhibit today. Three of us. The cost for admission for the three of us was $60.00. That is more than it cost to see a major league baseball game. And the MSC employees are not averaging $1 million in salary a year.

OK, so I exaggerate. In fact, I got in on a senior discount. For anyone 62 or older.

So, we didn't pay $60. We only paid $59. As my wife said, "sometimes, it doesn't pay to get older".

We also ate at the Beaker Cafe at the Science Center. Baltimore has many, many good restaurants. And some that are not so good. And a few that are bad (I am certain). And the Beaker Cafe is not quite as good as the bad ones. Enough said about that.

Was anything OK, you ask? (I am not even going to mention that there is now no parking lot at the science museum, so that you need to park in commercial lots a hike and a half from the museum. OK on a nice day like today, but in inclement weather (every day in Baltimore is not 76 degrees and cloudless) it could be a problem. They do stamp your parking ticket, so that two hours cost $6 to park, instead of $8.

But, in any event, parking, tickets and sort-of lunch cost us $100.

Back to the main question. Was anything good, you ask?

And the answer is that the Titanic exhibit (one more week to go, I understand) is terrific. It is based on items actually dredged up from 2 1/2 miles deep in the Atlantic, as well as photographs, a few posters, and a couple of videos.

It was well designed, well signed, respectful and informative.

The artifacts ranged from a rusted deck door, to china and glassware, and jewelry, tools, money and clothing. Each was interesting on its own account, as well as having intrinsic interest as being pulled from the sea.

Both the story of the Titanic, and of the salvage operations, are told, with a combination of hard data, and human interest stories, in the form of mini-biographies of crew members, and passengers from first class to steerage. As an added matter of interest, when you go into the exhibit, you are given a boarding pass with the name of a passenger and some vital information. At the very end, there is a large wall, where all passengers and crew members are listed, divided by those who died and those who survived. You can look for the name on your boarding pass and see how you fared.

By the way, it is interesting to note that about two thirds of the first class passengers survived, a little than half of the second class passengers, and a much smaller percentage of third class passengers and crew members. It is also interesting that first class passengers paid (in today's dollars) almost $50,000 per person, while third class was under $100.

As a final matter, there is a Titanic gift shop, with surprisingly nice momentos, including replica china, silver and glassware.