fish | Finding delight.

Chet’s birthday was yesterday, so this past weekend, we took a day trip to Chattanooga to visit the Tennessee Aquarium. Here are a few pictures I snapped with my phone, if you’d like to see…

The aquarium is separated into two buildings — Ocean Journey and River Journey. The former houses the saltwater habitats and showcases playful penguins, touchable stingrays, beautiful butterflies and a spectacular coral reef with big sharks and schools of fish.

They also had a HUGE jellyfish exhibit featuring every type of jellyfish you could imagine plus a bunch of art inspired by the species! I loved how extraterrestrial these guys looked…

…and these glass blown pieces were STUNNING.

Digger and Louie the otters! You can read more about the Tennessee Aquarium enrichment practices HERE.

If you didn’t know, Chet adores visiting aquariums and creating/maintaining little sea-life ecosystems of his own is one of his most beloved hobbies. (We even visited the Newport Aquarium the day we got engaged!) Needless to say, he had a ball!

The River Journey building included exhibits featuring rivers nearby (like the Tennessee River) and around the world (like the Amazon). The Mississippi Delta exhibit, and Alligator Bayou specifically, felt very familiar.

Random highlights? Pig-nosed turtles…

…a Twitter powered by Electric Eels…

…and a tank dedicated to the very lake we drove across to get to Chattanooga!

Such a magical way to spend the afternoon. Just observing all the beautiful creatures…

…and making wonderful memories!

Thanks Tennessee Aquarium! We had a wonderful visit and hope to visit again soon.

The birthday boy gave this adventure a big TWO THUMBS UP!

Here are a few other adventures we would recommend:

Salato Wildlife Center
Florida Everglades
Festivals Acadiens

As you may remember, item numero uno on my More Delight List was to visit Miami Seaquarium. I wrote about our experience (and the complicated feelings that came along with the visit) yesterday, if you’d like to take a look. However, today I thought I’d share a few pictures.

First up, the reef aquarium…

…then a stroll through the tropical fish aquariums.

The manatees bear a striking resemblance to a cat I know. (And I kept thinking of the British tourists we met on Biscayne Bay who called them floating baked potatoes. Ha!)

The crocodiles and sea turtles were happily sunning themselves…

…with views of downtown Miami right across the bay.

Then we saw Lolita the Killer Whale. [Read more HERE.] (Can you spot the Pacific White Side Dolphins in mid-air 2 pictures down?)

Flamingos just chilling on one leg! Aren’t they prettiest shade of salmony-pink?

“They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than liiiiightning…” [Side note: The house where the trainers and employees hang out is a replica of the house from Flipper the TV show. I would have snapped a pic but there were a couple of gals in wet-suits eating their lunch on the front porch and I thought it would be a little rude.]