New Bedford Whaling Museum

A 66ft skeleton of a blue whale and a smaller skeleton of a sperm whale welcome you to the New Bedford Whaling Museum. This excellent, hands-on museum occupies seven buildings situated between William and Union Sts. To learn what whaling was all about, you need only tramp the decks of the Lagoda, a fully rigged, half-size replica of an actual whaling bark. The onboard tryworks (a brick furnace where try-pots are placed) converted huge chunks of whale blubber into valuable oil. Old photographs and a 22-minute video of an actual whale chase bring this historic period to life. Exhibits of delicate scrimshaw, and the carving of whalebone into jewelry, knick-knacks and beautiful household items, are also impressive.