Fish and Flamingoes
The day promised to be very chilly, windy, and rainy…not a good day for these arthritic bones to enjoy hiking. The cabin did not have central heat and we finally wised up and put one of the small space heaters in the bathroom so we did not have to work to soap between the chill bumps.
We drove about half an hour or a bit more to the Texas State Aquarium. Glen had been there when it first opened, thought it to be smallish and not to be compared to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago–the first aquarium I’d ever seen and full of art deco details.
We were very surprised when we got to the Aquarium. There is a lot of road construction (isn’t there always) but some of it was repair work due to Hurricane Harvey.
The place is quite large with large glass domes. The ticket price was also a surprise ($35 each and that might have been the senior discount). But inside—-there is a Starbucks and a restaurant inside. We toured the Caribbean area first and were entranced by the 12 coral flamingos.
There were sloths, scarlet ibis, a screamer bird, macaws, not to mention deep tanks of fish you could see from on top and then from the side.
Lion fish are so dramatic but they have taken over and are at the top of the food chain elbowing (if fish have elbows) other creatures.
We tried to identify the dolphins as they swam round and round in their tank; the otters came out to play–they are always so delightful, watched part of a bird show, and finally watched a 4 D Planet Earth movie.
It was a full day—and there were docents everywhere—all ready to explain the creatures and answer questions.
It was well worth that $35 dollar ticket.
Sylvia Weir Art 