Pirates at the Maritime Museum

This March break, be you a buccaneer, corsair, freebooter, scallywag or scurvy dog, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic has something for everyone.

From March 10 to 18, the Museum will offer a swash-buckling program designed to immerse visitors in the world of those sea-going scoundrels, the scourge of honest sailors -- pirates.

Although Nova Scotia was sparsely populated 300 years ago, it was located between the pirate hotspots of the Caribbean and Newfoundland, making it the perfect stop for a number of real pirates.

"There are several fascinating pirate cases in Nova Scotia's history," said museum curator, Dan Conlin. "I've wanted to do this exhibit for many years because our museum, unique in the world, has real artifacts from those real pirate cases."

Program highlights of "Pirates!" include a reconstruction of the captain's cabin from the ill-fated barque Saladin, a lively pirate play for children, a foreboding life-size model of a gibbet, examples of pirate weaponry, treasure hunting adventures, tales of pirate folklore, a fragment of Nova Scotia pirate Edward Jordan's skull and pirate dress up.

"The exhibit covers a number of topics," said Conlin. "We've taken a compelling approach to explore both the powerful romantic myths of piracy, and the grim realities."

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is located at 1675 Lower Water St., Halifax.