Summer Family Vacation - Part I (Aquarium)

Since summer is in full swing and a long holiday weekend was upon us, we decided to take the entire week off work and go on a family vacation. We left early Monday morning to Chattanooga, which is only 2.5 hours away. There, we spent most of the day at the Tennessee Aquarium. 

The aquarium consists of two buildings - River Journey and Ocean Journey  - and is home to a richly diverse collection of the world's most fascinating aquatic species and terrestrial wildlife ranging from sharks, penguins, otters, frogs, sea stars, reptiles, lots of fish and many more. Our journey began on the Ocean side, where we were greeted by some Lemurs and a Stingray exhibition. 

Amelia and Elliot enjoyed touching the stingrays and we had to stop by there twice. My favorite was the little stingray hanging on to the window like a sea star. 

Next up was the Butterfly Garden, which was another family favorite and one we also visited twice. 

There is a butterfly on my hair and one on Derrick's back

Elliot brought his fidget spinner, the newest must-have toy, to the aquarium and the penguins were totally interested in this light-up contraption.

The shark exhibit was our next stop:

Family picture in the shark cage:

The aquarium actually houses a large exhibition of all kinds of jellyfish, which I really enjoyed watching. They might be the simplest animals alive today as they contain  95% of water, but look how pretty they are floating the water:

After a lunch break at a nearby restaurant, we headed over to the other building, River Journey, where all the freshwater animals are housed.  From tiny seahorses to river giants, this part of the TN Aquarium has fish tanks that stretch over 3 floors.

We caught a live feeding of the North American River Otters, which are fast and feisty little animals. It is so hard to capture them on camera in all their glory.

Like in the other building, this side also offered hands-on exhibitions, which both kids really enjoyed. Touching a shark and a snake:

The alligators may look peaceful here but when one is right behind your back, you can get a little bit scared. Luckily for Elliot, there was a thick window separating them. 

Lots of turtles:

And last but not least, one bizarre looking Paddlefish, who swims with his mouth open:

After spending almost 4 hours at the aquarium, we made sure to enjoy a cold Italian ice before heading to the hotel to rest up for a bit. The day was far from over, but more about our fun time in Chattanooga in my next post.