Real Pirates Salem — Attraction in Salem

I'm a Salem resident and I am on a mission to tour all the local attractions. About this one:

I visited it with friends on its opening weekend. We did not know what to expect, and we were all actually very much impressed by the level of quality of this exhibition! (I also visited it a second time in 2023! Still impressed!)

What it is: This is a museum-quality exhibition on the history and legend of “Black Sam” Bellamy, a pirate who gained a great fortune at the beginning of the 1700s, but met his death off the coast of Cape Cod where his ship Whydah sank, with all his treasures. Fast forward to a few decades ago, archaeological explorer Barry Clifford dedicated time, money and energies to retrieve what was left of the Whydah, bringing back to life the world’s only fully authenticated pirate treasure ever discovered. Part of this treasure is on display here (the rest is part of his private collection). The person at the ticket window gave us a brief but informative introduction before entering the museum, and he did show up again a couple of times while we were visiting the exhibit to answer our questions and gave us additional information. The exhibit begins with a video about Bellamy, and I remember that I thought that the quality of the video, of the sound, of the special effects (I believe there is some lighting effect) reminded me of my trip to the Universal studios in Florida (I mean this as a compliment! 😊) A door opens to the exhibit - specifically to the reproduction of a bell found on the ship. The exhibition is fairly big - if you stop and read everything, you'll need at least an hour to see everything.There is a mix of archeological finds and reproductions of objects, a reproduction of the inside of the ship, there is a scene of a tavern, some interactive activities, videos and photographs etc.

PROs This is extremely well presented and informative. Although it was never mentioned inside the museum, I believe this show was originally organized by National Geographic (maybe a slightly different version/the original version of it?), as the book about the exhibition that I purchased at the gift shop mentions National Geographic. Compared with several of the other Salem attractions, it is soooo much cooler. I highly recommend this. Also, now pictures (no flash) are allowed!

CONs There are no real cons. The only thing to mention is that this exhibition has literally nothing to do with the history of Salem ---EDIT - actually, I should have said that the facts of the Whydah didn't take place in Salem, as it is more accurate. Thanks to the museum for pointing that out! (See comment below) --- I do understand why it was opened here - Salem is associated with piracy, and the exhibit definitely nicely matches the spirit...

I learned quite a bit about pirates and the sea fairing history of the area. I had a much more interesting experience than I expected. There was a couple from Florida in the line waiting to enter the museum 🖼️. There was an introduction at the beginning with an explanation of the founding and operations of the museum. There is still archeology going on at the underwater 🫧 site of the Whydah Gally. The Whydah Gally was a former slave ship ⚓ launched in 1716 and was captured in 1717 and used as a pirate 🦜 ship. It was captained by Black Sam Bellamy. In his time he captured over fifty ships . He was captain of the Whydah when it ran around, capsized and sank during a Nor'easter off the coast of Cape Cod. April 26th, 1717. All but a few survived. Samuel Bellamy was one of those who died. The Whydah Gally was discovered by Barry Clifford in 1984. The Army Core of Engineers granted salvage rights to the area the ship was discovered for one square mile in each direction. The introduction also talks about the possible romance between Sam Bellamy and Maria Hallett. The museum is looking to hire a new 🆕 lead diver since he is retiring because of the great white 🦈 sharks. There is a short film 📽️then with some fanfare, the doors, 🎵 break on through to the other side! Break on through 🎵 Oops! Sorry 😐! open and you are in the museum. Cannons, guns, treasure 🪙 and all sorts of artifacts from the ship are on display with paintings and exhibits to view. I learned a lot of history and that there were women and former slaves who were pirates. I learned about the techniques that are being used to retrieve the artifacts. You are not allowed to take photos of the treasure 🪙 but you can take photos of everything else. You can move at your own pace and there is space to move around. There is a gift shop at the end. I had a great time! I recommend a visit if you are into history or want to learn...

I was truly not expecting this type of experience in my trip to Salem. Me and my husband were disillusioned with all of the other witch museums in Salem so we decided to come here. My husband has been interested in pirates since he was a small kid and he is a history lecturer who has a short lecture on pirates. For me, I only have passing knowledge.

This was an incredible museum. From the moment you stepped in and were greeted by the front desk to when you stepped foot into the first theater. Wow, what a great way to begin your experience, especially if you have someone who is unfamiliar with anything about piracy.

My favorite part of the museum was that everything was done so thoughtfully. I did not expect to see the slave trade talked about or the myths and truths about piracy sprinkled throughout the museum. We spent an hour in the museum because we had to stop and read every single text and look closely at every single display. The mannequin displays of pirate life were incredible to look at. i also loved that even though this was focused on Sam Bellamy, the museum talked about various other pirates as well.

I think what truly astonished me was seeing my husband's face surprised by this museum. Like I said, he's been interested in pirates since he was a kid. He learned a few new things because of this experience and he absolutely loves that! Any time he brought up something about pirates, bam, we would turn the corner and they would start talking about it.

Overall, a great experience. The museum is mostly flat and could be shown to all ages. The end part with the science behind excavating the Ouidah was a surprise as well. We took home some goodies from the gift shop as well. Even though this might be out of the way from Downtown Salem, I would highly recommend anyone to experience this, especially if you're on your way to the House of Seven Gables or just...