Newport Aquarium | A Few of Our Favorite Things

Dear Kid,

We really are lucky to have so many cool things to do in the Greater Cincinnati area. Yesterday we went to the Newport Aquarium (Thanks guys!).

It was a gorgeous day so we didn’t mind waiting outside for the penguins. Yes, some of the African penguins make an outdoor appearance first thing in the morning.

African penguins???

Yep, African penguins. They come from an area in Southern Africa and are extremely rare (which the attendant told us). They are also known as jackass penguins, which somehow got left out of the presentation.

The penguins come out in a stroller, which is fabulous until you realize they are going to stay in their stroller. In plastic cylinders in their stroller.

Educational, but better for little kids rather than college-age kids.

Me: What was your favorite part of the aquarium?
Kid 1 (around a mouthful of Tom + Chee grilled macaroni and cheese): The yellow-finned window cleaners.

It really was fun seeing the scuba divers cleaning the tank.

Me: What was your favorite part of the aquarium?
Kid 2 (after chewing and swallowing her goat cheese grilled cheese): I wanted Mike to move.

Mighty Mike is the 800 pound crocogator currently residing at the aquarium. He spends most of his time imitating a statue.

Kid 2: I also liked the otter.
Me: Me too.

More about the otter tomorrow.

Me: What was your favorite part of the aquarium?
Kid 3 (also after chewing and swallowing): Loggerhead turtle and the divers.

Loggerheads are so named because of their big heads. They eat all sorts of things including jellyfish but they don’t typically eat Portuguese Man-o-War (Men-o-War? How do you pluralize that?) which is probably the only thing that prevents them from being on the Best Turtles Ever list.

Me? I had a great time everywhere. (My blog, I don’t have to choose a fave.) I really liked watching you and Pi identify so many of the fish you’ve seen in the wild.

Contrary to some of the idle speculation, I did not have an adverse reaction to seeing the jellyfish (none of them were PMoW).

The octopus was very cute (as usual) but she is laying eggs which means she’s near the end of her life which is sad. And there is nothing un-cute one can say about the penguins, because they are penguins.

In case you’re wondering, yes, I walked across the new rope bridge (4 miles of rope used to make the bridge). It was kind of cool to see sharks from that angle.