The centennial of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage will be observed at the San Diego Natural History Museum, which will have extended hours tomorrow, continuing into early Sunday.
"The Nat" opens at 9 a.m. Saturday and remains open until 3 a.m. Sunday. An exhibit focusing on the ill-fated voyage runs until September.
Visitors will be able to mark the moments when the luxury liner struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean - 11:40 p.m. - and when it went down - 2:20 the following morning.
Throughout the day, actors in Edwardian-era costumes will roam the museum telling about life in the early 1900s aboard ship. Titanic-themed films will be shown, and radio operators will attempt to contact a vessel positioned above the wreckage.
Admission to the exhibit will be discounted to $19.12. The museum will stop selling tickets Sunday at 1 a.m.
Those interested in the anniversary will have several other events to choose from on Saturday.
At 1 p.m., the U.S. Grant Titanic Tea Experience will be held at the U.S. Grant Hotel in downtown San Diego, including a champagne toast and saber ceremony.
Pieces of wreckage from the Titanic in a private collection will be displayed at 3 p.m. at UltraStar Cinemas at Hazard Center. Items include carved English oak from the first class grand staircase, a section of headboard from a White Star Line deck chair that includes a carved White Star Line logo, and part of a wooden folding deck chair.
At 6 p.m., The Prado Restaurant in Balboa Park will offer a 10-course first-class meal that replicates the final dinner enjoyed by Titanic's first class passengers. Wait staff will done white tuxedo jackets and a piano quintet will play melodies from 1912.
Barbara Chronowski, a Titanic historian who portrayed a first-class passenger in the motion picture, will be on hand in Edwardian costume to mingle with guests.
