Day One: May 18, 2011

My First Day At The Maritime Museum:

I am an intern at the Marquette Maritime Museum for Summer 2011. I will give lighthouse tours, work in the gift shop, work in their collections and design the exhibits for the second floor of the lighthouse.

I arrived at the museum at 10:15. I was a little confused on where I should park, and worried that the museum doors would not be open. Technically the museum does not open until this Saturday, May 21st. All went well and I made my way into the museum. Once inside, I was introduced to three other staff members that will be working this summer.

A group of second graders were scheduled to arrive at 10:30 for a special tour of the museum and lighthouse. We broke the children into two groups. I tagged along with the first group to tour the lighthouse. I have toured the lighthouse when I was growing up, but I have not been there in several years. It was exciting to see it again, and to realize that eventually I will get to give tours! While walking up to the lighthouse I chatted with several of the kids. They were all very excited to see the lighthouse, but disappointed in the weather [it was drizzling and cold].

We had some time before we switched places with the other group of children, so I asked all of them to tell me their favorite part of the lighthouse tour. It was a general consensus that the catwalk was their favorite part. [in the picture above]

After the tour of the lighthouse the groups switched places and I followed them into the museum for a guided tour. As we walked through the museum's displays, they listened and learned about:

• Native American Birch Bark Canoes
• Marquette & Lake Superior Shipwrecks
• Early Life Saving and Coast Guard History
• Edmund Fitzgerald
• Marquette’s Lower Harbor Diorama ca. 1950s
• Area Lighthouses
• 2nd, 3rd and 4th Order Fresnel Lenses
• 3-D Diorama of the Wreck and Rescue of the Maryland off Marquette’s Shoreline demonstrating the breeches buoy life saving technique used in early lifesaving.
• Line-Throwing Gun Collection
• Yachting and Passenger Vessels
• Henry B. Smith
• Cleveland Cliff Collection
• World War II McClintock/Darter-Dace Silent Service Memorial

In the World War II McClintock/Darter-DAce Silent Service Memorial room there is a usable periscope. The children seemed to really enjoy that part. When you look through the periscope you can see the lighthouse! 

I had a wonderful first day the the maritime museum and I am excited to go back in a couple hours!