Last Weekend for Pirates! at Maritime Museum

This Saturday, March 17, and Sunday, March 18, will be the last days for little buccaneers, scallywags, and scurvy dogs to take part in Pirates!, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic's special March break exhibit.

Since the program's opening on March 10, nearly 6,000 visitors -- many dressed in pirate garb -- have come to the Museum eager to discover all the fantastic myths and grim realities of piracy.

One daycare group arrived in costume and ready for adventure during their trip to the Museum. When asked what they liked best about the program, the children, aged five to nine years old, were quick to announce how much they loved digging for treasure and Merlin, the Museum's parrot mascot.

Other notable program highlights 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, tales of pirate folklore, a fragment of Nova Scotia pirate Edward Jordan's skull and pirate dress up.

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.

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is located at 1675 Lower Water St., Halifax. The Museum will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during the weekend.