THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 6, 1995 TAG: 9508050071
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: STAFF WRITER LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
THE CAMERA WAS ON, the teleprompter rolling - time for the weather report at the Nauticus National Maritime Museum on the Norfolk waterfront.
``I gave the heat wave,'' on the Nauticus weather channel, recalled Alfred Gamble, 9, after his Suffolk group's visit.
One of his friends - the group was from the Christian Home Baptist Youth Camp in Chuckatuck - had less success as weather man.
``The words were going too fast,'' said Charles Gamble, 7 years old. ``I couldn't keep up with it.''
The scene the day of their visit was the same as any other day's: Hundreds of children streaming in and running excitedly from one exhibit to another.
The museum - which allows kids to play virtual reality, pet sharks, battle each other on a Navy ship and force submarines to surface and dive with the pump of a lever and push of a button - celebrated its first anniversary in June.
The museum is a top tourist attraction for the city and a favorite stop for children visiting, or living in, the area.
Their favorite stops: the many interactive exhibits, aquariums, touch tanks, games and theaters.
About one-third of the 436,000 people who visited Nauticus during its first six months were children, between 5 and 17. About 60,000 came as part of school field trips, but exit interviews indicate that many visitors have been there more than once.
``Nauticus really is a great place for kids, but I'd say it appeals to people of all ages,'' said Sara Lowe, manager of public relations at Nauticus.
If you ask the kids their favorite part of Nauticus, the answer is almost universal: Virtual Adventures, the virtual reality computer game.
Players wearing 3-D glasses climb into a fake submarine to rescue the eggs of the Loch Ness monster while trying to avoid underwater monsters, mines and other subs.
About 20 children, ages 3-13, visited from the newly formed Suffolk youth camp.
Reporting the weather on the Nauticus channel was a favorite of the group.
``I talked about it being a sunny day and told the temperature,'' said 8-year-old Adrianna Jordan.
Games abound at Nauticus.
``My favorite was where I gave answers and it told me if I was right or wrong,'' said George Wertz, 8. ``I was right most of the time.''
The children also spent a lot of time peering through a periscope. ``I saw a big building in Norfolk,'' George said. ``I saw a whole lot of towers.''
``I saw all the way to the moon,'' said 5-year-old Jamar.
His twin brother, Jeremy, ``saw a boat crash'' as he was ``re-creating'' a naval battle at the Aegis Theater.
In the theater, viewers make split-second decisions in fighting a dramatic Navy battle.
Nauticus is a comfortable mix of education and fun.
``There were some good pictures and stuff,'' George Wertz said, referring to photographic wall displays about such things as shipbuilding and naval battles. ``Some of `em I took the time to read,'' he said.
The children also watched ``The Living Sea,'' a movie that tells ``how our ocean gets salty,'' Adrianna said. ``It tells how jellyfish get trapped in the ocean and how they travel in the ocean.''
``I got to pet a starfish,'' Alfred Gamble said. ``It was kind of spikey.''
His brother, Charles, said, ``I petted a shark,'' referring to the comparatively docile nurse shark.
``Lunch was good, and the gift shop was nice,'' Adrianna said. ``I got a flattened Nauticus souvenir penny.''
Jeremy Wertz, with some 5-year-old wisdom, offered his summation of the trip:
``We had fun,'' he said, ``and thankfulness for God.'' MEMO: Correspondent Jane Harper contributed to this story For more
information, call Nauticus at 664-1000.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by PAUL AIKEN
Patrick McNeal, 10, of Central Baptist School in Portsmouth looks
through the periscope at Nauticus.[color cover photo]
Brooks Abbott, right, takes control in the Virtual Adventures
theater at Nauticus, while his friend, Cade Brummett, far right,
watches. Both boys are from Oxford, N.C.
Staff photos by VIVKI CRONIS
After a group from Christian Home Baptist Youth Camp watches the
film ``The Living Ocean,'' Kevin Robinson, left, is tickled by his
friend Jeremy Wertz.
Dyrell Robinson, below, lags behind his group from Christian Home
Baptist Youth Camp in Chuckatuck to take a longer look at one of the
gigantic fish tanks.
Children file into Nauticus-National Maritime Center on Waterside
Drive in downtown Norfolk. Thirty-seven children from Christian Home
Baptist Youth Camp spent the day at Nauticus recently.
William Chapman, 5, peers through a periscope at the Exploratorium.
by CNB