My first visit to the Georgia Aquarium

An outing that I eagerly anticipated for my trip to Atlanta was a visit to the Georgia Aquarium.

When I left Atlanta in August 2004, plans were underway for the Aquarium. I think they had just broken ground to begin construction. Everyone was talking about it - the largest aquarium in the world - whales and sharks and and and.... It was sure to draw crowds!

For me, the Aquarium was a new amazing attraction, though it was actually completed nearly 2 years ago. So, a few days before my trip to Atlanta was finished, Happy, John and I set out to explore the adventure for ourselves. Albeit, the kids had gone before - but I was super excited to see it for myself.

Indeed, the aquarium turned out to be everything that people had described it to be. There were many touch pools, a variety of neat underwater exhibits and exotic animals. My favorites were the beluga whales and the whale sharks in the huge 8 million gallon aquarium (I could have sat watching it for hours). Here are some pictures from our trip to the aquarium.

Happy and John in front of an aquarium

a leafy sea dragon

Baby beluga in the deep blue sea......

big crabs

Happy and John at a touch pool

where we could touch......

Small sharks (yikes!) and...
stingrays
a cute penguin on a rock
and we go in for a closer look!

Wow! The jellyfish glow under black light!

Even otters need a nap.

John and Happy in a look window

(seen through an aquarium)

and finally - the huge 8 million gallon aquarium

whale sharks and all!