On Saturday the 10th we made a surprise outing to the Long Beach Aquarium. Matt neglected to tell me until the night before that he needed to go to Long Beach to retrieve something from a friend. I was pretty frustrated, because he’d be playing at church for most of the weekend, so Saturday morning was really the only time we had to spend together as a family. I was a bit frustrated that my single parenting weekend would be extended by another couple of hours, and that pretty much Ben would go a solid two days without seeing Matt. So Saturday morning Matt came up with a compromise: we’d all go to Long Beach together, pick up the guitar thingie from his friend, and then we would all go to the Long Beach Aquarium. While I was looking forward to a relaxing day (since I was supposed to have Adalee for the rest of the weekend starting that afternoon), I was grateful that Matt came up with a solution, and I loved the idea of the aquarium. I’d been there once when I was in Long Beach for a conference several years ago. I wasn’t super impressed, but I had a feeling I’d missed a chunk of it, and I thought Ben would really enjoy it. Plus, here was our chance to play Hometown Tourists. So we packed some snacks and began the 30 minute trek into the heart of the LBC.
We’d purchased discounted tickets online (thanks, AAA!), and when we arrived it wasn’t very crowded. I thought Ben would like it, but I wasn’t prepared for just how much. He went nuts. He ran from tank to tank, squealing, saying fishy, and signing and shouting more. He also named each fish Nemo.
As I suspected, I’d missed a huge chunk of the Aquarium when I went last time. It still wasn’t quite as impressive as the website makes it out to be. But for Ben it was perfect.
After perusing for a couple of hours, we took a walk down to the lighthouse. From there we had a great view of the harbor, including the Queen Mary. Ben loved running up and down the hill, and there was a guy up at the lighthouse who had a bag of Rice Krispies that he was doling out to the birds. He let Ben throw a couple of handfuls, which was comical. He doesn’t have much of a throwing arm. Then again, he’s one.
Highlights:
The outside part is definitely the best. All of the indoor tanks are cool, particularly the seals. But outside were a lot of the things that made the kid’s day, like touchable tide pools and pet-able sting rays and sharks. Ben’s stumpy little toddler arms couldn’t exactly reach to touch the rays and sharks, but we did the best we could. He loved the tide pools. There’s also a weird little play area where you push a button and fake sea creatures spurt water. Ben had a love/hate relationship with it. He’d push the button, then let go so he could play in the stream of water, which of course didn’t work because the water only sprays when you’re pushing the button.
Warnings:
It can get pretty crowded, which makes it a lot less fun. Dozens of fishtanks aren’t really worth waiting and wading through crowds. Also, it’s kind of pricey. But if you have AAA and buy your tickets online it’s a little cheaper. Which is good, because I don’t think it’s really worth the full price, to be honest.
Price:
Regular admission is $28.95. You get $5 off for ordering online and 10% off if you have AAA. 3 and under are free (we’ve got to ride that train as long as we’ve got it). Parking is $8. They do have annual memberships if you really love fish, ranging from $50 for one adult to $110 for the whole family (online prices--$5 more regularly). They also have zoo combos (admission to the aquarium and the LA Zoo)--$29 for an adult and $17 for a child. That’s probably your best bet if you have any desire to do both (I’ve been to the LA zoo before—it’s pretty cool). You have a year to use the tickets.
1 comment:
I've been itching to take the bug there. Thanks for the write up. PS, when life is less crazy (you know, when the kids are in college), we should hang out.
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