Day 16 (November 17th)

Today we went to the Georgia Aquarium. Self-proclaimed as the largest in the World, Mom was very excited to see what it had to offer.

First of all, when we arrived the tickets were *very* expensive. The basic floor access tickets cost $27 for adults, and $20 for children, so this is obviously not a very economical visit for a large family. Fortunately, we bought CityPasses so we didn’t have to pay anything.

When we walked into the aquarium, it was less like an animal exhibit and more like a dance floor. With flashing lights and music booming from curvy painted walls, and signs to exhibits that looked more like billboards, I almost walked up to the information desk to ask ‘Could you please tell me where the animals are?’.

Still, once we did cut down to the exhibits, they were pretty comprehensive. There were several rooms with touch tanks the size of squash courts (and bigger) , which were jam-packed with exotic marine animals.

There was a large exhibit with an overhead freshwater stream, with hundred-pound catfish and schools of minnows alike lazily drifting around the rather turbulent waters. Our favorite part of the freshwater exhibit was the otter exhibit, where a group of several otters were busy catching Z’s on a rock in the middle of the water, piled up on each other.

Another fun exhibit included a large assortment of light-producing jellyfish, glowing and gliding around the water. The exhibit also had a half-dozen cuttlefish, which are famous for being the most camouflaging creatures in the world. The tank was full of black, white and striped substrate and poles, but we must have been there at siesta hour because they were pretty much doing nothing.

Our favorite exhibit was a football-field sized tank, which likely had over 1000 fish including hammerhead sharks, manta rays, a plethora of schoolfish, and four massive Whale Sharks. Whale Sharks are the largest of the shark family; growing up to about 20 feet long and several feet wide. However, they only have throats about as wide as a quarter, because they eat small shrimp and krill. If a fish accidentally gets swallowed by this monstrosity, it can escape by the gills.

After visiting the exhibits, we ate lunch and took a tour of the exhibits. We went over the top of the overhead river, next to the sides of the football-field sized tank, and through the massive filters that keep the tank clean. The filter room (which is nearly the size of the tank) can replace all of the water in this 6 *Million* Gallon tank in a minute. Talk about suction.

Once we were done with the aquarium, we chilled out for the rest of the day at the outdoor ice skating rink. While we were skating, the radio turned on to a Michael Jackson song, and a very impassioned man ran out into the middle of the rink and began dancing. He was actually doing a really good job; he made his legs look like cooked spaghetti and did the perfect head-jerk. He even wore one glove! One might say it was a ‘cool’ experience!