"Real Pirates" closes at the Milwaukee Public Museum



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Pirates had taken over the Milwaukee Public Museum, but now they're walking the plank and saying goodbye.

"We wanted to see the pirate exhibit. We heard it was closing soon and it was a nice day for being inside," says "Real Pirates" visitor Lou Branch.

The exhibit "Real Pirates" tells the story of the Wydah pirate ship, which sank off the coast of Cape Cod more than 300 years ago.

"This exhibit explores the life of a pirate, the democracy aboard the pirate ship and then has over 150 artifacts that come from it including the treasure," says Milwaukee Public Museum Director Laura Wake Wiesner.

Some of those artifacts included weapons and pirate treasure you could actually touch.

"Every artifact, every piece of history has a story and now the next part of the story is it`s here it`s for us, we've touched it, it`s been here, it`s been in Wisconsin," says "Real Pirates" visitor Kathryn Breitenfeldt.

Re-enactors were also walking around teaching visitors about life as a pirate.

"I didn't know that kids were allowed on the ship. I thought there was only adults and there was an age limit but nope," says 9-year-old John Breitenfeldt.

Kids also got to learn how to tie knots and hoist a pirate flag.

As Memorial Day marked the last day of "Real Pirates" some were not happy about it leaving.

"That`s horrible. That is horrible. I`m just wondering where it goes. I will travel the world to find where it goes," says John Breitenfeldt.

But everyone who attended the exhibit appeared glad that they went.

"Real Pirates" closed at 5 p-m on Monday.

The next exhibit coming to the Milwaukee Public Museum is "The Scoop on Poop," which shows visitors what exactly poop is and how animals and humans use it.