Weekend in Chicago: Part 1 - Aquarium
Current mood: impressed
Rose and I took another little trip up to Chicago in celebration of Spring Break and simply to get away and have some fun. We've been planning this for a little while, well, not necessarily planning as much as merely talking about it. As the weeks have flown by and our depature date coming closer and closer, we realized we had nothing specifically planned out. Nevertheless, our hearts were set on getting out of Champaign and having another mini-adventure.
Our excursion began a bit behind schedule but again, determination boosted our escape. Driving to Chicago always seems to be a wonderful time with Rose. It gives opportunity to really open up and talk which is not always possible at work or at Subversion. It's good having her as my friend. She's a great person and we always have so much fun together. She helps me out so much and is so encouraging. I think to myself how much I want to be like her when I grow up. It makes me sad to know she has hard times and struggles sometimes. I wish I could help her out. The only way I know is to pray for her and just be her friend.
We arrived in Chicago sometime after noonish and headed straight for the Shedd Aquarium. When we got to the front of the building to enter we were shocked to discover that there was a line. And I'm not talking about just a little line.. we must have stood in it for somewhere between 30 - 45 minutes. It's ok though, we eventually got in and it well worth the wait. The aquarium is truly beautiful and wonderful. They have so many different exhibits and animals I've never seen before first hand. At first we stood at the large tank at the entrance and watched the different fishes. We talked about and discussed the different fishes and marveled at the funny sea turtle that for some or another couldn't get its rear end from floating to the surface.
The sea turtle signaled to us to get move on to explore the other wonders that awaited us. We headed straight for the larger exhibits which houses Beluga Whales, Penguins, a Sea Lion, Pacific White-Sided Dolphins, and last but not least.... the most adorable and wonderful creatures... SEA OTTERS! That's right baby.. super cute and cuddly Sea Otters. They were mightly playful and just oh so marvelous bundles of merriment. Have I mentioned lately how much I like Sea Otters?! lol. Viewing the Sea Otters was kind of sad though. Alongside the tank there was displays and information pertaining to the Oil spill a few years back that wiped out much of the Sea Otter population as well as other sea mammals, fishes, and birds.
The aquarium has a large stage set up and does shows with the dolphins. We did not watch the show from above, but from the underwater viewing area. I personally think that these aquatic creatures are much more intersting to view in the water than merely seeing them jump out of it, as amazing as that can be. After, we walked back into the main tank areas and looked at fish from all over the world. It's really amazing. Generally you would think.. you see one fish, you've seen them all. This however is not the case. Fish are fascinating and quite wonderfully unique, species to species. For example, there was a whole section of seperate tanks that had what to the regular person different types of fish. However, genetically, all these fish had come from the same type of fish. Due to flooding, changing of the geography, and time, there were many different varieties of this one fish. Absolutely fascinating. Evolution at its finest.
There was really so much. It took us like 4 and a half hours to look at everything. Well, we didn't even get to see everything! We totally ran out of time and missed the Wild Waters exhibit. That's ok, that just calls for another trip, heh heh.
I can be such a schmuck sometimes. When I was a child I absoltely adored aniamls, stull do. Perhaps I cling much to the Lord's giving us himans dominion over them and feel that it's my responsible to care for all his marvelous creations. Anywho.. I used to study and learn anything and everything I could about them. Because of all that I feel pretty confident in my knowledge of them and of course when I get into environments like that, I always have to show off. Well, it feels like showing off I guess. I hope that's not how I come off. I just love animals. (that does not include insects).
Current mood: impressed
Rose and I took another little trip up to Chicago in celebration of Spring Break and simply to get away and have some fun. We've been planning this for a little while, well, not necessarily planning as much as merely talking about it. As the weeks have flown by and our depature date coming closer and closer, we realized we had nothing specifically planned out. Nevertheless, our hearts were set on getting out of Champaign and having another mini-adventure.
Our excursion began a bit behind schedule but again, determination boosted our escape. Driving to Chicago always seems to be a wonderful time with Rose. It gives opportunity to really open up and talk which is not always possible at work or at Subversion. It's good having her as my friend. She's a great person and we always have so much fun together. She helps me out so much and is so encouraging. I think to myself how much I want to be like her when I grow up. It makes me sad to know she has hard times and struggles sometimes. I wish I could help her out. The only way I know is to pray for her and just be her friend.
We arrived in Chicago sometime after noonish and headed straight for the Shedd Aquarium. When we got to the front of the building to enter we were shocked to discover that there was a line. And I'm not talking about just a little line.. we must have stood in it for somewhere between 30 - 45 minutes. It's ok though, we eventually got in and it well worth the wait. The aquarium is truly beautiful and wonderful. They have so many different exhibits and animals I've never seen before first hand. At first we stood at the large tank at the entrance and watched the different fishes. We talked about and discussed the different fishes and marveled at the funny sea turtle that for some or another couldn't get its rear end from floating to the surface.
The sea turtle signaled to us to get move on to explore the other wonders that awaited us. We headed straight for the larger exhibits which houses Beluga Whales, Penguins, a Sea Lion, Pacific White-Sided Dolphins, and last but not least.... the most adorable and wonderful creatures... SEA OTTERS! That's right baby.. super cute and cuddly Sea Otters. They were mightly playful and just oh so marvelous bundles of merriment. Have I mentioned lately how much I like Sea Otters?! lol. Viewing the Sea Otters was kind of sad though. Alongside the tank there was displays and information pertaining to the Oil spill a few years back that wiped out much of the Sea Otter population as well as other sea mammals, fishes, and birds.
The aquarium has a large stage set up and does shows with the dolphins. We did not watch the show from above, but from the underwater viewing area. I personally think that these aquatic creatures are much more intersting to view in the water than merely seeing them jump out of it, as amazing as that can be. After, we walked back into the main tank areas and looked at fish from all over the world. It's really amazing. Generally you would think.. you see one fish, you've seen them all. This however is not the case. Fish are fascinating and quite wonderfully unique, species to species. For example, there was a whole section of seperate tanks that had what to the regular person different types of fish. However, genetically, all these fish had come from the same type of fish. Due to flooding, changing of the geography, and time, there were many different varieties of this one fish. Absolutely fascinating. Evolution at its finest.
There was really so much. It took us like 4 and a half hours to look at everything. Well, we didn't even get to see everything! We totally ran out of time and missed the Wild Waters exhibit. That's ok, that just calls for another trip, heh heh.
I can be such a schmuck sometimes. When I was a child I absoltely adored aniamls, stull do. Perhaps I cling much to the Lord's giving us himans dominion over them and feel that it's my responsible to care for all his marvelous creations. Anywho.. I used to study and learn anything and everything I could about them. Because of all that I feel pretty confident in my knowledge of them and of course when I get into environments like that, I always have to show off. Well, it feels like showing off I guess. I hope that's not how I come off. I just love animals. (that does not include insects).
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