A Day at the Aquarium

Today, we took Mother to the Georgia Aquarium . My original plan was to be out and about this morning by 10AM so that we wouldn't be rushed and stuck in Atlanta rush-hour traffic going home. Well, even the best laid plans get FUBARed. I got logged onto the GA website around 8:45, and there were plenty of tickets available for the 10AM, 11AM and noon slots. By the time Mother got her act into gear, the next available tickets were for the 2PM time slot. Great, just what I wanted to do - take 2 tired girls into a packed, noisy environment.

Anyway, we got to the GA a little before 2PM, and everything went fine getting through the line. Since it's Spring Break, the place was packed to the rafters! Emmy had to go to the potty as soon as we made it into the atrium, so we went. Unfortunately, so did everybody else in the fricken place. We eventually made it in - me with Jilly, Mother with Emmy. Quite funny, let me tell you what.

We made our way through, and I noticed that the doors were open to the Grand Ballroom. I was not going to miss this, so we went in, and it was wonderful! I guess somebody finally got it through their thick skull that it would be a good idea to have the ballroom open for more seating during normal hours. It was quiet, and the views into the whale shark and beluga tanks were fantastic. Even though there were other people there, it wasn't elbow to elbow, and the girls had great views of the many schools of fish. Thankfully, Jilly finally fell asleep (hooray for quiet!).

We wandered through several of the exhibits for the next hour or so, and it was funny to watch Mother with Emily - the elder generation trying to point things out and tell a story or relate a point, and the younger generation flying by with only the slightest glance at an object. I guess that's probably commentary on today's society, in general.

Anyway, we made it through almost the entire GA, when Emily hit the wall and her tantrum button flipped into the "ON" position. Needless to say, we didn't make it through the tunnel and to the Big Tank. I really wanted to go so that Mother could see Jilly's reaction to the fish going everywhere. Oh, well... I guess we'll save that for another trip.