In an unlikely turn of events I ended up with several family members coming down from Maine for a visit and they wanted to spend a day checking out the Boston Aquarium so I decided to go with them. I have been to the Boston Aquarium more times than I can remember now but I’m always happy to return especially with people who have never been.
It was a beautiful day to be out and we all got our walking in that’s for sure. I pointed out the Old North Church which we passed on our way. It’s a big tourist attraction attached to the whole Paul Revere legend. In its tower a lamp signaled that the British were coming by land. It was also the sight of the Boston Massacre. We took a few quick photos. This was quite a day out for everyone and being sisters my traveling companions spent much of their time teasing each other and giggling which they certainly deserved to enjoy after one very long week. Plus, I rather enjoyed it all too!
The last time I was at the aquarium they were making a lot of changes and even the main tank was being worked on. This time around everything was in order. We walked in, had our photos taken, and then proceeded to the Touch Tank where visitors are allowed to pet passing stingrays and baby sharks. This exhibit has been up for a while now and it’s a big hit. At least I always enjoy it. The stingrays are weird little creatures with a slimy rubbery texture who swim by quite quickly. There’s now a shark exhibit adjoining where they have nearly ready to hatch shark eggs held up to the light so you can see the babies flipping around within them as well as a few tanks with smaller sharks. They’re kind of cute!
From here it was onto the penguins! As of late I have become rather fond of these birds – mostly because I have learned of their promiscuous nature which breeds just the right amount of scandal to keep my interest. Most of the “infertile” bonded pairs of penguins in captivity turned out to be gay and lesbian couples have been noted as well although they do tend to borrow more from their neighbors than sugar in order to lay fertile eggs, continuing to raise the chicks with their chosen female companions. And if that isn’t enough to raise a few eyebrows perhaps their history of prostitution is. In some species females are known to exchange quickies for rocks to build their nests and who are we to judge? I kept all this hidden penguin knowledge to myself today but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t enjoying the visit! It was about here, barely into the building, that my freshly charged camera battery up and died. I’d use my cellphone for the rest of the visit which is fine because it actually took better photos! I’m not sure why but my camera hates aquarium lighting while my smart phone could care less.
There was a lot to see for someone whose never been. There were seals splashing about out front where the ticket booth was, a tank of ADORABLE baby cuttlefish being fed, a very full tank filled with a colorful array of fish, a jellyfish exhibit, an anaconda, some piranhas, a HUGE arrowana, a calico (chimera?) lobster, blue lobsters, my favorite electric eel, some leafy sea dragons, some other sea horses, some flounder and trout for the foodies out there, and of course two enormous octopuses, one of which delighted everyone when it decided to climb from the back of the tank to the front, it’s arms reaching in every direction with suckers everywhere. It’s hard to describe but the movement was so foreign to land animal such as myself and so bizarre that I couldn’t help but feel a primal fascination with it. I refrained from yelling, “RELEASE THE KRACKEN!” but I was totally thinking it. I took a few snaps, others in my party took a video.
Then there was the main tank which makes up the whole center of the building. A long ramp winds around it so you can peer into it at all levels and angles. In there I found all sorts of big sea fish, some sharks, and at least two beloved sea turtles, one which was sweet enough to emerge from the depths to surface at the top of the tank while we were up there. I didn’t think think turtles grew that large but he or she was a monstrosity! Just GIGANTIC. I swear it was the size of a Smart car. It was breathtaking.
Sadly I did not find the deep abyss tanks, nautilus, or the lump suckers I had come to know as being at the aquarium. Perhaps they no longer have an exhibit? Hard to say. We had spent a few hours there and were hungry but the cafe was egregiously overpriced and contained only the shittiest of fast food. I was looking for fish sticks to see if that’s what happened to the failed exhibits but alas, I only found chicken. We didn’t buy lunch there, nor did we buy our novelty photo which they were asking $33 for three copies. $45 if we wanted a magnet and a key chain with it. All of this was sprung on us as we were exiting. There was no option for a single copy of the photo nor any other affordable choice. This is one of the things I find irritating about the Boston Aquarium. They are super overpriced – the tickets, the food, the photos, but weirdly the gift shop seems to be regular pricing. I don’t honestly get it because after turning down the photo like everyone else they just threw it away. It’s an odd way to go about things – forcing guests to take a photo upon entrance with little explanation and then asking at the end of the day if we’d like a copy for an exorbitant amount…
In any event I had a lot of fun and so did the other girls. On our way back we wandered through Quincy market, witnessed Ted the Bear playing keyboard guitar on the streets, and then rode the T because one in our party had never ridden the subway before. She was thrilled! Even after the usual assortment of shifty characters got aboard – you know, the Guy Who Inexplicably has a Hand Down his Pants as well as another Favorite Dude Talking to Clearly Imaginary People. To be fair he talked to me too. He asked if I was a woman. I said, “I should hope so!” To which we all got a good laugh though I am sure went over our new friend’s head.
It was a LONG day and I am EXHAUSTED. And my knees are suuuuuuper pissed at me. The other thing about the Boston Aquarium that isn’t great is it has the BARE MINIMUM of things they need for disabled access… which means there’s a lot of stairs, a few hidden elevators, and almost no benches to sit down on. Add more stairs at the subway and my shot knees and yeeeah… I’m not in good shape today but it was worth it! Totally worth it and I’d do it again. So until next time… enjoy a few snaps in no order what-so-ever due to uploading issues.
