Airports and Aquariums

Last week we took a drive to San Marcos to the Commemorative Air force Museum. I had come across this place and had planned on taking Lucas there while he was in town for Christmas but we never got around to it.

The day was windy and cool so we didn't hang around outside or in the hangar too long. Skye and I spotted the indoor museum and spent our time warming up in there while half-ass looking at all the history/war memorabilia.

I'm sure this place would have been interesting to someone like my son who works on airplanes or someone who is interested in the history of  the military or war, but I found it a bit boring.

I'm pretty sure we didn't spend more than 30 minutes there...hardly worth the drive but we took some unfamiliar back roads (new scenery) home to spice the trip up a bit.

This week we visited the new Austin Aquarium that just opened a couple of months ago. There has been a lot of controversy over owners of this particular aquarium and it doesn't have very good reviews but I'm always willing to see for myself. I know that my standards aren't as high as most folks when it comes to entertainment.

When we arrived at the aquarium I took note that it was in a strip mall nestled in between a Salvation Army Thrift Store and Half Price Books.

We paid our entrance fee of a whopping $46 for the three of us. The entrance area had an "unprofessional" feel to it.  In it's defense, I'm sure I was mentally comparing it to some of the larger more established aquariums I have been to in the past.

Because they are only recently opened and operating there was still some tanks being worked on and a few were empty.

As we walked from tank to tank I wasn't really all that impressed until we came upon the "touch pool".  The sting rays, sharks and fish were so interactive with the humans coming right up to our hands and letting us touch them.

They also had an aviary full of Lori's. Toby was the only one to brave the aviary....

They also had some other non-aquatic animals....

Would I recommend this place to someone? Maybe. Maybe not, depending on who the person was. I will say that the touch pool and the aviary is what made this place worthy of the entrance fee we paid. Most importantly I think Skye enjoyed it. These days, that says a lot.