Saturday, November 14, 2009

Adventure Aquarium


My husband buys a ton of soda to stock the store in the teacher's lounge at his school. With the Coke Rewards points he's accumulated we were able to get two free tickets to go to the Adventure Aquarium in NJ today.
Now, the last time I went to an aquarium it was the one in Baltimore and every time I go I'm miserable. The lines are long, the parking is expensive and it's harder than heck to get a glimpse of a fish. We had the opposite experience today. It was easy to get to and park and there weren't as many people so we didn't have to fight for viewing space. I highly recommend a visit if you're in the area. They also have a really nice children's garden that was adjacent and we would have gone for the $3.50 extra if the weather was nicer.
Here are some of my favorite photos from the day. BTW, it's really hard to take a decent photo of a fish. They don't like to hold still!
Click on each photo to view a larger image.



Small shark, can't remember the name. I would call him eclipse shark.


This guy liked his picture taken:)


Gorgeous jellyfish!


I really loved the sharks. Could watch them all day!


Mean fish.


Phoggy Philly across the river.


Gorgeous oak leaves outside.


One of my favorite photos taken on the sidewalk. I love ginkgo leaves!


I when we were walking through the food court area, near the entrance, I saw a little sparrow that was frantically beating herself against the window trying to escape. To the shock of many of the other visitors, I was able to catch her and release her outside. Poor little thing sat in my hand for a few seconds before flying off! Bye, bye birdy!

14 comments:

Theresa MacNaughton said...

Wow - what awesome photos. That jellyfish photo is AMAZING. I love going to aquariums...I actually find them peaceful and kind of relaxing.
And you are my new hero! Thanks for helping that sweet sparrow back to freedom. Poor little thing - she didn't know what to do. What a sweet photo - she looks so happy - if a bit stunned after all that beating up on herself. :)
Have a great rest of the weekend! Theresa

Suzie said...

What an amazing day you had! I'm happy that you finally had a good experience at an aquarium! The photos are beautiful!

I'm not surprised that you could catch that Sparrow. Animal loves have a special aura about them, that other animals can feel and trust. It showed, in the fact that you were the one who even tried to help that poor bird.

Another special moment, in a very special day!

Thank you so much for sharing your adventures with us!

Unknown said...

LOL at the "mean fish"!

Wickedly pretty pics, glad you had a great time :)

Lori

Alicia @ boylerpf said...

Wow...I am totally impressed with your pictures! You say that fish are hard to capture but you certainly did the trick! Those are incredible...fabulous color!
You are a good soul catching the sparrow...perhaps sitting in your hand for a moment was her thank you!

Kelly said...

...very cool fish photos, and I love your leaves--gorgeous photos! It must have felt great to have that little sparrow sitting in your hand before he flew off!

Jennifer Rose said...

I'm really glad you managed to catch the little sparrow :)

mean fish but it has such a nice glow to it

petoskystone said...

good job on the catch & release! i also find that people are scared of the little creatures. great photos! the little jellyfish is gorgeous--with the backlight, it looks translucent.

Jennifer MacNeill said...

Thank you for the comments! Yes the fish are hard to photograph. Most pictures I took without a flash except for the mean pirahna.
Catching that little bird made my day though!

Sarah Sullivan said...

OMG the pictures are to die for hon....every single one..I felt like I was there..the jelly..devine!!
So glad ya caught him..some how it does not surprise me that you could - or that it would let you!1 hugs, Sarah

Kathleen Coy said...

Wonderful photos Jen! I love aquariums, I could just stand there and watch the jelly fish, rays, sharks, sea dragons and sea turtles for hours. I've tried and tried, but I've never gotten a very good photo of a sea turtle.

Janine said...

Your photos are exeptional. Especially the first one with the little girl.
She looks like the princess ofthe sea- world.

Ketutar said...

YAY! I know many people don't think sparrows are worth saving, but I'm not one of them :-) You're my hero!

Rue said...

What a great place to take the kids!

Yay to you, for helping the Sparrow!

Love the leaf pics!

mare cromwell said...

what a beautiful blog you have. I, too, am a big horse fan and lover. And my first name is "Mare" -- so I have discovered that when people search "Mare blog" your blog comes up along with mine. But I don't paint as you do. Such beautiful work and photos. I am a writer (one book out and one more enroute).

kudos to you and your beautiful spirit. The poor bird recognized your spirit, for sure.

best, mare