A pirate museum from personal loot

Justine Griffin -

Pat Croce has always had a fascination with pirates.

Ever since he saw the 1935 classic "Captain Blood" as a kid he just couldn't stop reading about the history and adventures of sea-loving scoundrels. As an adult, his fascination grew to be a large and impressive collection -- one so great that he decided to share his pirate goods with the public, so he created his own museum in St. Augustine.

The Pirate & Treasure Museum, at 12 S. Castillo Drive, opened after months of construction and preparation.

The museum holds multiple rooms filled to the ceiling with original pirate artifacts, interactive movies and sounds, treasure hunts and games.

The pirate museum operated in Key West from 2004 until earlier this year, but Croce, the former owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, moved it downtown to the former Teepee Town and Christmas Shop location this summer.

"People come to Key West to party, not to bring their families," Croce said. "There really isn't a better place to reach families and really expose the pirate pedigree than in St. Augustine."

Pirate lovers will walk down the cobbled roadway of Port Royal, the trading hub for pirates in the 17th century in southeast Jamaica, and gaze at lifesize replicas of pirates from the time period.

The sounds of pirates grumbling and beer mugs clanking are heard all throughout Rogue's Tavern, a room filled with interactive stories on computer screens, archaeological facts about pirates in St. Augustine and even portraits of the all the pirates who came through the ancient city.

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