Just returned from a few days on Tilghman Island on the beautiful eastern shore of Maryland. While there, I picked up a copy of the Winter-Spring 2007 issue of “Dozier’s Waterway Guide Magazine.” It contains a terrific article by Capt. Bob Cerullo titled: “Code Name Anaconda: the USS Monitor’s 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads Heralded a New Era of Naval Warfare.” A side bar to the article announced the opening today of the new USS Monitor Center in Newport News:

“In Newport News, not far from the clash between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia took place...”the $30 million Monitor Center officially opened” today, "...exactly 145 years after the historic battle that brought ironclad vessels into combat.”

When the remains of the Monitor were discovered by a Duke University recovery team aboard the research vessel “Eastward” in 1973, "...the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News were made custodians of "...the Monitor artifacts.” “When the USS 'Grapple' recovered the Monitor’s engine and turret,” it was “transported to its final resting place at the new Monitor Center in the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News.”

The Monitor Center houses “...artifacts, original documents, paintings, personal accounts and interactive exhibits that will bring the story of the Monitor alive for generations to come. Visitors will be able to walk the deck of a full-size reproduction of the Monitor and crawl through a replica turret. The may navigate a wooden frigate in heavy winds, walk down a mock dock between a wooden sailing frigate and the Virginia or step inside the battle theater and experience the Battle of Hampton Roads.”

“The Monitor Center will not only be fun for the whole family, but also a valuable resource for researchers. A variety of educational programs will be provided, including a glimpse of the tanks in which the original turret and engine are being preserved.”

The Monitor Center is located at 100 Museum Drive, Newport News. If you are traveling by boat (remember this is from a boating magazine), the nearest marina is the Leeward Municipal Marina at 7499 River Road in Newport News. Call the marina at 757-247-2359, or go on-line at www.nnparks.com/boating-lee-ward.php.

For more information about the Mariner’s Museum and The Monitor Center, log on to www.mariner.org.