My Sweet Hot Baby and I consider Valentine's Day to be a commercial farce annually forced upon us by conspiratorial chocolatiers, florists and greeting card makers. However, because of our heady passion for each other and recent reunion, we tend to celebrate more feverishly than most. Thus we observed the weekend with two bouquets of flowers,
a Bilal and The Foreign Exchange concert, Halo 3: ODST, a couple's dinner party at our place featuring Monopoly City and a surprise visit to the
Georgia Aquarium. We seem to really, really like each other.
I had no idea Georgia even had an aquarium, let alone the world's largest. Apparently, people come from all over the world to catch a glimpse of the universe hidden in the depths of this globe's oceans. After being blindfolded, I was driven to
Centennial Olympic Park and then carefully lead to the aquarium's entrance. Upon the reveal I couldn't help but exclaim with clapped hands and giggles. I hadn't been to any world class aquarium since I was about 16 years old. The place was teeming with throngs of visitors of all ages. Of course, it was mostly families and that warmed my heart. I'm sure that one day we'll probably be dragging our wide-eyed brood through those same corridors.
The campus is split into six main attractions;
Coldwater Quest, River Scout, Georgia Explorer, Ocean Voyager, Tropical Diver and
Deepo's Undersea 3D Wondershow. "Deepo" looks suspiciously a lot like "Nemo." I'm not sure which funny-looking fish came first. We visited Tropical Diver first which further increased my desire to snorkel near some Caribbean reef. The aquatic creatures are all so colorful and seem to radiate as they move through the water. There were these little creatures called garden eels peeking out of the bottom of one of the aquariums. They looked like multicolored reeds of grass blowing in a meadow. Then of course there were the jellyfish, (OMG, if this cat doesn't stop bothering me while I type this!)cuttlefish, seahorses, anemones and turkeyfish. Beautiful.
We then went to touch pool in the Georgia Explorer exhibit where they were feeding eels. The eels actually reminded me of our dog Genesis as they swam up to the attendants and took food from their hands. They flapped their wings with glee. It was kind of cute. Just imagine having a pet eel! When they weren't surrounding the attendants, they were flying through the water and passing the sharks like kites. Amazingly, the miniature sharks seemed to like being petted by visitors. Pet sharks. So cool.
After being photographed with one of the mascots, we went to the Ocean Voyager and that's when my mouth just dropped. This exhibit is HUGE. I guess it had to be in order to accommodate the three shark whales and all of the other ridiculously large creatures. By the way, we learned that two of the shark whales were transported from Taiwan by UPS. Can you imagine getting a delivery like that? During moments like these, I can't help but think what an awesome world we inhabit. There are these creatures all around us of all sizes with their own habits that enhance the environment in their own special way. It reminds us to take care of what we have so that our children can show their children. Anyhow, I'll let the video speak for itself.
We were about to go to the 3D show but we suddenly had an urge to eat sushi. However, we felt kind of guilty at the idea of eating the cousin of something that we had recently spent so much time admiring. We ended up having a turkey dog instead. Seeing the life living underwater was such a study in harmony. All of those different creatures, whether in schools, in lifelong pairs or alone, went about their business of living in sync with all of the other beings. They weren't declaring ownership of the tanks or reefs. They weren't building technology to take each other out. Sure, some are eaten by others but such is the food chain. Nevertheless, there is an abiding peace and tranquility beneath the sea. I made a mental note to behave more like the fish and go with the flow of things. All in all, it was the best Valentine's Day I've ever had.
My Sweet Hot Baby and I consider Valentine's Day to be a commercial farce annually forced upon us by conspiratorial chocolatiers, florists and greeting card makers. However, because of our heady passion for each other and recent reunion, we tend to celebrate more feverishly than most. Thus we observed the weekend with two bouquets of flowers, a Bilal and The Foreign Exchange concert, Halo 3: ODST, a couple's dinner party at our place featuring Monopoly City and a surprise visit to the Georgia Aquarium. We seem to really, really like each other.
I had no idea Georgia even had an aquarium, let alone the world's largest. Apparently, people come from all over the world to catch a glimpse of the universe hidden in the depths of this globe's oceans. After being blindfolded, I was driven to Centennial Olympic Park and then carefully lead to the aquarium's entrance. Upon the reveal I couldn't help but exclaim with clapped hands and giggles. I hadn't been to any world class aquarium since I was about 16 years old. The place was teeming with throngs of visitors of all ages. Of course, it was mostly families and that warmed my heart. I'm sure that one day we'll probably be dragging our wide-eyed brood through those same corridors. 
The campus is split into six main attractions; Coldwater Quest, River Scout, Georgia Explorer, Ocean Voyager, Tropical Diver and Deepo's Undersea 3D Wondershow. "Deepo" looks suspiciously a lot like "Nemo." I'm not sure which funny-looking fish came first. We visited Tropical Diver first which further increased my desire to snorkel near some Caribbean reef. The aquatic creatures are all so colorful and seem to radiate as they move through the water. There were these little creatures called garden eels peeking out of the bottom of one of the aquariums. They looked like multicolored reeds of grass blowing in a meadow. Then of course there were the jellyfish, (OMG, if this cat doesn't stop bothering me while I type this!)cuttlefish, seahorses, anemones and turkeyfish. Beautiful.
We then went to touch pool in the Georgia Explorer exhibit where they were feeding eels. The eels actually reminded me of our dog Genesis as they swam up to the attendants and took food from their hands. They flapped their wings with glee. It was kind of cute. Just imagine having a pet eel! When they weren't surrounding the attendants, they were flying through the water and passing the sharks like kites. Amazingly, the miniature sharks seemed to like being petted by visitors. Pet sharks. So cool.
After being photographed with one of the mascots, we went to the Ocean Voyager and that's when my mouth just dropped. This exhibit is HUGE. I guess it had to be in order to accommodate the three shark whales and all of the other ridiculously large creatures. By the way, we learned that two of the shark whales were transported from Taiwan by UPS. Can you imagine getting a delivery like that? During moments like these, I can't help but think what an awesome world we inhabit. There are these creatures all around us of all sizes with their own habits that enhance the environment in their own special way. It reminds us to take care of what we have so that our children can show their children. Anyhow, I'll let the video speak for itself. 
We were about to go to the 3D show but we suddenly had an urge to eat sushi. However, we felt kind of guilty at the idea of eating the cousin of something that we had recently spent so much time admiring. We ended up having a turkey dog instead. Seeing the life living underwater was such a study in harmony. All of those different creatures, whether in schools, in lifelong pairs or alone, went about their business of living in sync with all of the other beings. They weren't declaring ownership of the tanks or reefs. They weren't building technology to take each other out. Sure, some are eaten by others but such is the food chain. Nevertheless, there is an abiding peace and tranquility beneath the sea. I made a mental note to behave more like the fish and go with the flow of things. All in all, it was the best Valentine's Day I've ever had. 
I love to see you so happy!
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