Chattanooga Aquarium

David ended up with a couple of days that he needed to take off before the end of March or he was going to lose them, so we planned one of them for Friday, March 22nd. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a freezing cold, blustery day so we needed an indoor option for our family day. Destination: Chattanooga Aquarium! Collin and Meagan had given us a really neat gift card at Christmas that was accepted at all kinds of places in Downtown Chattanooga, and the aquarium was one of them. So, with our gift card, a couple coupons, and admission discount as Dollywood season pass holders, we ended up with a free day at the aquarium and an almost-free lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger. We had such a great time, and Anthony loved his first trip to an aquarium!

Where do almost all great family outings begin for us?
Breakfast at Chick-fil-A of course!

He's way too busy eating his breakfast to pause for a picture!

We started out by visiting the newer saltwater portion of the aquarium since neither of us had been
to that part since it had been added. That's the original freshwater building in the background.

Starting out upstairs and making our way down.

Anthony's spotted something!

Birds!

The stingray pool

On to the butterfly garden...

So pretty!

Butterflies are fragile.

Next up: penguin exhibit!

The penguins were one of Anthony's favorites things about the aquarium.

*Sidenote: We opted to use the backpack carrier instead of the stroller for our trip, and it was perfect! We could walk right up next to the exhibits and displays, and Anthony could see so much better than if he had been in a stroller. Also, with all of the levels in both buildings, we saved a ton of time by being able to use the escalators and not having to wait to ride the elevators. It turned out to be ideal, and I highly recommend going that route if you have little ones and the option of a carrier.

Shark cage!

Sharks swimming right in front of you.

Anthony's a little unsure. Seriously, he really didn't like the sharks,
and we had to make a beeline on to the next thing before he had a little meltdown.

Jellyfish!

After spending a couple hours going through the saltwater building, we decided to
walk across the street and take a little break with lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger.

What a silly boy!

He's having way too much fun!

After lunch, we made our way back to the original freshwater building at the aquarium. It was late afternoon by this point and all of the school field trip groups had left, and we literally had the whole place to ourselves. We walked through at a leisurely pace, and it was so pleasant!

We started out downstairs at Ranger Rick's Backyard Safari...

...and got to see a possum!

We also saw the seahorse exhibit.

Next we made our way upstairs and started the trek that
takes you from the mountain streams to the ocean.

Another one of our favorites - the river otters!
These guys were so fast, it was hard for me to get a picture!

The sturgeon touch tank

Checking out the River Giants exhibit

The largest fish they have - it doesn't look it, but this arapaima was huge!

We also enjoyed seeing the tree frogs...

...and all the turtles!

We watched this alligator snapping turtle for a long time.
It was one of the scariest things I've ever seen.

Seriously, am I right?

The alligator!

Geehhh! Snakes! (Anthony is making his little "Ahh, Ahh" snake noise here.)

Such a fun family day!