Tennessee: Ripley's Aquarium

Without a doubt, the aquarium was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Julia is too young to get a whole lot out of a museum, yet, but she adores all things aquatic. Her absolute favorite movie is Finding Nemo. She was on cloud nine in this place. We're going to have to try the Shedd soon.

This display was a tube that you sit underneath, or stand, if you're as short as a two-year-old.

These fish swam really fast. Couldn't tell ya how they get them to just keep swimming past like that, but it was neat.


Whoa! BIG fish! Julia doesn't look too sure about him. We was creeping ever closer, until...

He sort of charged! He swam right at her, then up and away, and she yelped and about jumped off the ledge! Good thing nana was there to assist!

Pointing out something pretty to Papa.

Petting a horseshoe crab. Julia is at that touch everything age, so all the hands-on stuff they had there was awesome. The guy working right there actually picked one up to let her pet it really well, since she had a hard time reaching in the water.

There were several of these cool tanks with smaller things like seahorses in them. They were ring shaped tanks with a hollow tube up the middle that kids could crawl underneath and stand up and feel like they were inside the tank.

Seahorses. They had longer tails than pictures usually depict, and that is how they hold onto the grass or corral or whatever they are hiding in.

The jellyfish were beautiful and awesome to watch.

We found Nemo! Along with every other character in the movie, I think.

Daddy petting a stingray.

This is Shark Lagoon. From above, it just looked like an open pool of water. But then you can go below in a tube with a moving sidewalk that makes it feel like your underwater and surrounded on all sides. They even painted clouds on the ceiling so that when you look up through the water it looks like the sky. Very cool.