Last weekend we went to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.


Apparently the place was almost entirely paid for outright by one of the founders of Home Depot – who is from Atlanta or Marietta or something. I guess a $200 million dollar check can pay for a dope aquarium like this.

He has said the aquarium was a thank you to the city of Atlanta.

First off, let me say that the displays were exquisite. The design of the entire place was fabulous and I really felt part of the displays as I walked through.

However, the price was as much as going to Sea World. Even after it cost almost $90 for the whole family to get inside, you still had to pay EXTRA for a 3-D movie! What?! What kind of “thank you” to Atlanta is that? Apparently they don’t offer Atlanta or Georgia resident discounts either.

On top of that, the place was packed! We could barely move around. We got our hands stamped and left. We came back later that afternoon.

Despite all that, I would probably go again. (Aww man …)

The aquarium is divided into five different “journeys”. The first one we hit was the River Quest (or something like that).

After that we went into the Arctic Deep Quest. There was some pretty killer stuff in there.

The Arctic Quest was the one where we decided we just couldn’t take the crowds anymore. So we got our hands stamped and went to REI – and then lunch. We returned about three hours later and went through the tropical journey:

Now this next pic was pretty cool. This display actually curves back over the top of the onlookers and a mock “surf” is crashing onto the curve of the glass. It gives the effect of the viewer standing directly under the surf and seeing the marine life which lives just offshore. Pretty sweet if you ask me. Plus, more divers – always cool.

After that we went through my favorite quest – which was called “The Ocean Deep” or something. This is where the whale sharks and THE WORLD’S LARGEST AQUARIUM was located. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence – so if they make this claim the aquarium better kick some serious booty:

Next, we came to a large glass tunnel that everyone walked through. It was pretty cool.

After that we came to this area on the backside of the aquarium that looked like a big IMAX screen – but it was a full side of the aquarium where all the fish swam by.

There is a place kids can go unwind – sort of a marine petting zoo and playground.

And it was time to go. We had a good time. Like I said, I would go again. My suggestion to anyone considering it – DO NOT go on a weekend. One of the staffers there said if you go there on a Monday afternoon or something you can pretty much have the place to yourself.

Good tip – albeit a little late for us.

The next day we went to IKEA. I wish I would have brought a camera for that. I can sum up though:

As we checked out at IKEA I asked Amanda, “So was it everything you thought it would be?”

She responded, “OH YEAH!”

Mission accomplished.