Baltimore National Aquarium

Last week my mom, Noelle and I packed up the car and headed on our way to Baltimore. It was a girls trip that would allow us to spend some much needed quality time with my mom's sisters (and my aunts). 

We were mainly headed down that way for an appointment for my mom but had plans to take Noelle to the National Aquarium and of course there was some shopping involved too! Here are my thoughts on the exhibits, cost and time to go!!

First of all the cost can be quite shocking, at 34.95 for an adult this seems very steep (especially coming from Clarion, Pa where everything is fairly inexpensive); however once you get in there and see the exhibits you realize that it is well worth it. You have to remember all the up keep that goes into a place like that, the animals they have their are just amazing! 

Noelle was only 8 months when we took her and I had to carry her in my Baby Bjorn front facing carrier due to the NO stroller policy. Now if you have never been there you're probably thinking the same thing I did: How could they not allow strollers in the aquarium? Once you get there though you realize with the small area to navigate through, all the escalators, and moving walkways it would be nearly impossible and dangerous to have a stroller. This is why you have to carry any non-walking child. 

*They do have a place that allows you to check in your stroller if you need it to continue cruising the downtown harbor area!

(This is an awful picture but one of the only ones I could get)

Now on to some of our favorite exhibits: 

{one} Black tip shark reef 

Probably the coolest exhibit they have in there and one you get to see several times over and from all different angles! It's there newest exhibit, and was definitely one of my faves! You get to see it from all the levels as you increase up through the building and also from below as of you were underwater with the sharks.

{two} SHARKS

In honor of shark week (the actual week we were there) there display of sharks was by far one of the best we had ever seen! They had such a variety of different sharks, you got too see them at different points throughout the aquarium but got your best look at them when you headed down into a dark hallway that wrapped around the inside of their tank. The whole atmosphere really made you feel like you were right in the shark tank. Along with the tanks there were employees along the way that had teeth and jaws of different sharks for the kids to touch,learn and feel!

{third} Dolphins

Dolphins have always amazed me since I was a little girl, and this trip was no exception. There dolphin tank is an open exhibit that you can watch from above or below, while also having education shows at different hourly times. We snuck in right at the beginning of a new show, while it was very simple it was still wonderful watching the dolphins play and interact with the trainers. Noelle remind content through the whole show and I think was in awe of the giant creatures!

{four} Jellyfish

While this was the tail end of the day and Noelle was starting to get very tired, the jellyfish was a quick exhibit that was worth walking through and taking a glance at. The pictures speak for themselves!

Overall we had a great time and wonderful experience, I would highly recommend anyone to go and see it at least once especially if you're going to be in the area. If possible I would try to stay clear of weekends, holidays and special event while trying to go during the week while the kids are in school if you can. Below are just the rest of the photos of some other exhibits:

And one very tired little girl...