Just Keep Swimming

When we went to San Francisco, I really wanted to go to the aquarium there. It's been years since I've been to one, and I just think that they are so neat. Well, when we got to the aquarium in San Francisco, it was closing. :( Poor planning on our part. Anyway, when one of you readers mentioned the aquarium in your recommendations, it was on our "maybe" list--something to do if we had enough time.

Well, with our flight not leaving until 2:20 p.m., we decided to get up a little extra early this morning so that we could get to the aquarium, spend a few hours there, and then head back to the hotel, pick up our stuff, and travel to the airport.

We got down to the aquarium right after it opened.

Admission was $24.95, which is a little bit expensive in my opinion, but when you consider how much time you could spend there, it's worth it. Plus, I can't imagine how much money they have to spend to care for the animals, acquire the animals, hire qualified staff, etc., so I think the cost is probably justified.

Anyway, we went right into the exhibits to make the most of our time there.
Turtles! I love turtles.
These guys were eating breakfast. It looked like a really nice fruit salad, actually.
Big ass fish.
This guy's eyes were really creepy.
Speaking of creepy... we thought this guy was fake. He wasn't.
These fish have built-in bouffants. I like to call them Amy Winehouse fish.
Iguana
This frog was cracking me up. Check out how he was just hanging there!
This guy has a "Penelope" nose.
This turtle was in a giant tank that was in the middle of one of the big halls. It had all sorts of fish in it, as well as sting rays, and even a few small sharks. Look at him! He was chillin' with his head between the branches of a plant. At first, I questioned whether he was even real, as he wasn't moving at all.
Really cool display of jellyfish. I think they're awesome as long as they're not swimming with me.
Dolphins from above.
Dolphins from below.
Beluga whales.

I didn't get any good pictures of them because they move so damn fast, but the penguins were so much fun. LOVE the penguins.
Who can go to an aquarium without thinking about Nemo the whole time? Anyway, we found him.

A cute little side story... We were in an exhibit area where there were scuba divers in the tanks with the fish to feed them, clean the tanks, etc. This little girl standing next to me says to her father, "A diver, like in Nemo!" Her father responds, "Yes, but this is a nice diver." The little girl says, all serious, "Yeah, a nice diver. Nemo's diver was mean." :) Made me laugh.
We managed to make it through the whole aquarium in about two hours, and then we had to head out to get back to the hotel in time for checkout before getting on the train for the airport.
But of course, we had to take one last shot of the skyline (view from outside of Shedd Aquarium).

We had an absolutely wonderful time in Chicago. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a long weekend getaway... or even if you have longer to spend there. I'm sure you won't run out of things to do. I honestly think Chicago has surpassed NYC on my list of favorite cities. There's just something about Chicago that I like better, but I can't really put my finger on it. I'd go back in a heartbeat. Who knows... maybe next year!