By Leigh
Happy summer to all of our followers in the northern hemisphere! If you live in California, you are aware of the current “heat wave” which is just typical summer weather. To fight the hot and stickys, Jenna and I took a trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific with our children this past Saturday. As a child, I loved going to the Aquarium! All of the sea life and fun facts always aroused my little mind. Now that is a joy that I would like to share with my baby.
The first thing that caught my attention was the massive reconstruction project. They are remodeling the front portion of the aquarium, unfortunately. The construction took away from the amazing structure but luckily it is temporary. The second ‘Woah’ was the entrance fee. For adult, child(3-17), and senior respectively, the prices were $29.95,$17.95,$26.95. I was not expecting those prices at all! But for a experience with my daughter, I’ll bite bullet.
The first stop that we made was lunch! We stopped in to the Scuba Cafe to see what they had to offer. The menus was fantastic; not too complicated and just the right amount of items. I tried the fish & chips. Definitely try the fish & chips! The kids options were tasty as well.
After lunch, we headed to the exhibits. Jenna was our tour guide for the day. We were lucky to catch the end of the scuba diver show in the large tank in the main hall. It’s not very accessible for us stroller baring parents but there is a nice parking area for strollers on the first level if you are willing to live on the wild side.
The new Frogs exhibit was nice for the 8 and up crowd. The exhibit hosts a large number of frogs, many too small for our toddlers to see. Our favorite exhibits were the Shark and Jellyfish, for obvious reasons. The kids loved being able to touch animals!
Before you leave, don’t forget to validate your parking! It will save you so much money with the parking structure
Aquarium of the Pacific: A Member’s Perspective
By Jenna
Birthdays have always been a bit of a let down for me. This past year, I knew exactly what I wanted; a gift that keeps giving. I wanted a membership to the Aquarium of the Pacific so I could visit throughout the year. Our children are still under three, so we were able to get the dual membership, which is two adults for $110 a year. It has only been 6 months and I have already gone enough times to make it well worth the money!
This weekend, me and the kiddos got to take an adventure with Leigh and her lovely family! Parking wasn’t as hard as I expected. Since there are constantly people coming in and going out, there were parking spots available while driving around the structure. I felt confident in passing a few spots further away for a spot closer to the elevator. Once Leah and her SO got to my truck, we let the other adults in our party care for our littles while we took a quick toke!
While Leigh got her tickets, I went through the Member’s entrance. Since I have been to the Aquarium of the Pacific a few times this year already, I was able to map out all the exhibits and stops we wanted. I did manage to get us lost once though, but I covered it up with a restroom break. We ate a quick, but delicious, meal at the Scuba Cafe before heading to the Sea Lions. We also got to touch the sharks and moon jellyfish! We explored the tropical climate aquatic life including the Frogs exhibit! I couldn’t leave without watching the sea otters cuddle and play though!
On our way out we got our ticket validated so we only paid the $8 fee instead of the higher rate the structure offers. The kids ran around and admired all there was to see. I was surprised when my youngest showed so much more interest than my older had shown at the same age. We had a fun filled day, and I can’t wait to get out to the Aquarium of the Pacific again! Since I am a member, my visits can be as often as my kids can enjoy!
STEADY BLOWIN' 