Photos provided by Titanic Museum
While in Pigeon Forge I had the opportunity to visit the Titanic Museum. This museum exhibit is one of the largest permanent collections of Titanic artifacts and memorabilia. As I entered the museum I was given a boarding pass with the name of an actual Titanic passenger. Often, as you are walking through the museum, you can check to see if anything from your passenger was located and is on display in the museum. I didn’t find anything belonging to my passenger, a governess to a 19 year old girl, but at the end of the tour is a wall with information about all the passengers – those who survived and those that did not. My passenger survived.
I was really touched by this museum. I have always been interested in how real people lived, not about the mechanics of a certain situation, but what their day to day experiences were. This museum not only tells you about what happened to the Titanic, but it gives you a glimpse into how magnificent the ship was, and the types of people about her.
Several installments in the museum were particularly interesting to me. The first is a simple stairwell modeled after one on the ship. As you stand looking at this stairwell water begins to pour down the stairs. It is haunting to watch and of course your mind wanders to imagine yourself in that very real and very scary situation. I can still feel the panic rising in my stomach as I type this. Another very haunting exhibit are pictures taken by a young priest who got off the Titanic at it last port of call before heading out into the Atlantic. His photography brought real people into the exhibit, they were no longer names or objects left behind, but they were humans captured on film.
Two other exhibits were fascinating and enlightening, but equally powerful. One is from the bridge. You get to see what the Titanic’s captain and officers must have seen that fateful night and you get a chance to feel how terribly cold the water was. I can not imagine being dumped into an ocean so cold and so black. And for me the other impactful installment is a miniature deck where you get to experience the degree at which the Titanic was tilted in the water. There was no way you could remain upright as the floor slanted so violently upward.
Photo provided by Titanic Museum
I had the audio tour provided for me by the Titanic Museum and I would highly recommend it, although it is not necessary when enjoying the museum. All opinions are my own.