TN Aquarium

Last weekend, we were in Chattanooga, TN!

Johnny's dad gave us a Christmas gift this year of going to the Tennessee Aquarium, and it was fabulous fun! We really enjoyed seeing penguins, sharks, angelfish, stingrays, otters, beautiful seahorses, lots of turtles, eels...and plenty of other fish I can't name! This particular aquarium is laid out very nicely, so that it's rather simple to navigate even w/ little children, even though it is quite large! It is divided into 2 parts...there is a fresh water side and a salt water (ocean) side....and then the I-Max theatre is just across the street! So, we saw it all!

This turtle WAS sitting on the alligator's back....but the gator moved and

bumped the turtle off just before we took the picture!

A very large crab....and Allison was going to pick it up?!?!?!?!

No folks, just an illusion!

The jellyfish were fascinating. There were different-colored lights shining into their dark tanks, causing them to light up beautifully!!!

This was the HUGE tank with 4 sharks in it (see them?), among other species. We sat and watched them for quite a while. Very beautiful to watch the underwater world from that level.

The girls were able to stroke and feed stingrays (which had had their barbs removed)

A very unique experience!!!
The penguins were hilarious. They would stand there seemingly bored to death...then suddenly on impulse one would waddle to the edge of the rocks and dive in, rocketing from one end of the water to the other! It is absolutely amazing how fast they can swim!!! It was hard to get a clear picture.

I guess "browsing" fits into any outing, eh?

From what we saw of Chattanooga, I really liked the city a lot. Reminds me of a cross between Lafayette/West Lafayette and Chicago! Now what could be better than that?!?!