Museum of pirate lore a nice fit in St. Augustine

On 29/01/2011
In Museum News
0 comments

The St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum was originally a tourist attraction in Key West

By Jim Abbott - sun-sentinel

In 1668, Jamaican-based pirate Robert Searle captured a Spanish ship and sailed into St. Augustine for a raid that inspired the Spanish to build the massive fort that now sits across the street from the museum.

Inside the relatively compact but attractive attraction, there's more than a nod to that history.

In the Rogue's Tavern, visitors can gander at the stories of a dozen famous pirates in one of eight electronic books stationed at a heavy wooden table in the center of the room. On the walls, glass cases contain artifacts, including a display on Drake's raid.

History can be dry, but the museum dresses it up with some style.

"Are you tired of spoiled meat and weevil-infested hard tack?" inquires one of the tavern signs.

And the gross-out factor in these tales can be high:

Captain Kidd, for instance, was unlucky until the end, strung up twice at his execution because the noose snapped under his weight. Thomas Tew, the Rhode Island Pirate, was killed by a cannonball to the gut that disemboweled him. In another room, Blackbeard's disembodied head tells his story.

As another sign points out: "Piracy was a very dangerous calling."