Did you say water? It doesn't matter in what form, stream, river, pond, lake, swimming pool, fountain, puddles, and the best of all, "my" ocean, it draws me in and makes it super hard to remove me.....I just love the whole water/aquatic thing. So when the kids said that we were going to Baltimore to visit the aquarium again, I didn't hesitate.......I was up early and ready to go!!!!! Now in all truthfulness, the real reason we were going to Baltimore is that my daughter had seen some wonderful place, Joe Squared, on Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins that makes square pizzas that are out of this world.....so we made a combo trip.
I am in love with the harbor area of Baltimore. The aquarium is situated in this really eclectic neighborhood, with malls, restaurants, boats........a three story Barnes and Noble (hmmm, better back up, I think it is a three story Barnes and Nobles, as I haven't actually been in it, but that is what it looks like..........hate to assume anything these days) and on top on the same building that holds this famous book store, is the GIGANTIC guitar, advertising the Hardrock restaurant. It is humongous, and I love the industrial look of the four stacks and the weathered brick of the building.......so into the aquarium.
First stop was the gift shop.........lots of variety and price ranges - nothing called out to me enough to open my purse............but some things called out to be photographed.
Little humor here, I didn't pull the sign out from the back that had Welcome on it........lately I haven't been scoring to many points in the graceful department, so I didn't want any scenes in the gift shop.
Now here is my train of thought........EVERYONE had to pay to enter this establishment. Manners should be used. Little children are overwhelmed with this adventure and should be allowed to stand up front and close.....the elderly should not be mowed down because they don't move as quickly. Amen. The other thing is, if you all paid the same amount to enter (ok, some exceptions, but still money was exchanged), if I want to stand in front of the grouper tank for 10 minutes, and as long as I am standing to the side and not smack dab in front of the tank, then what am I hurting.
Will share some other photos that I took..........now please don't ask me the names of the fish.......the above is obvious, some type of eel............below, I have no idea, but this fellow has the most amazing whiskers. They truly are feather like, not hard or sharp (ok, so I didn't touch them, but through the pane of glass, they seemed to wave and wiggle, not sharp and sturdy)
A real seahorse.....and he/she was the only one in this exhibit.....last time I thought there were a whole bunch...but then again, my remember er isn't that great.
I know the name of the following two fish, but for the life of me I can't think of their names..........
This dude seemed to have something stuck in what to us, would be our nostrils. My grandson and I kept standing there and waiting for him to blow it out..........we were having a great time rooting for him.....sigh, sadly we had to move along before he accomplished this feat.
The anemones were beautiful and graceful as always, not as colorful though.....but it is the dreary season of winter (tongue in cheek)
Now this anemone is called a brain anemone (someone shared this information with us - so I am trusting that this person knows his anemones). I could have watched this forever, the outside arms (?) just move so gracefully and it just seems to have an overall swaying to it.
Turtles seem to have a new fascination for me, so had to add these handsome creatures.
See his/her super super long neck? I am sure that his/her facial features are perfectly normal, but to us looking in, it just had this really sad looking expression.
These guys below, they were in with the crocodile....I am sure they are perfectly safe, but they truly did look like they were hiding out.
Here are the last two photos of the aquarium......oooo, you want to see the jelly fish, come back tomorrow.....did I take pictures of the jellies.
Today's blog:
Not only beautiful photos, but good music......no not rock'n roll, but good old gospel/bluegrass. I like all types of music.
Handsome fella, huh? Love the greenery he is sitting on. I wish I could find cool stuff like this....I seem to be only able to find the "normal" stuff. Any ideas where to find stuff like this?
A smile is like tight underwear - it makes your cheeks go up. ~Author Unknown
