Physics and Ships

Yes, that is kind of a weird combination, but 19 May, we visited two new places, the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and the Mariner's Museum.

The Jefferson Lab is the home of a physics think tank and a particle accelerator (similar to CERN in Switzerland, but smaller). Every other year, they have an open house and let the public come in and have a look around. A lot of it went over our heads, but it was a fun tour. And it didn't start pouring until we were leaving!

After lunch, we headed up to the Mariners' Museum, which is near CNU. They are most famous for being the current home of the USS Monitor, the Civil War ironclad which took on the CSS Virginia (formerly known as the USS Merrimack) in the Battle of Hampton Roads, which took place right off our coast. Most of the salvaged Monitor is in water tanks as they work to conserve it, but you can see into some of the tanks, and there are replicas.

Model of the CSS Virginia

Outside there is an actual size replica of the Monitor that you can walk on. For a submarine, it was pretty small!

See-through version of the Monitor's conning tower and cannon

The museum also has items from other ships and an extensive model ship collection.

Phoebe had trouble with this ship's wheel--she could really see through it

and over didn't work either!

Some science and some history--not bad for a Saturday!