Baltimore - National Aquarium

We stayed at Marriott Waterfront which is right in the Inner Harbor. Just a few pier away was the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse. It was not the usual tall tower lighthouse that we are familiar with so we definitely wanted to pay a visit.

But it was still very early in the morning and the lighthouse was not open yet. Besides, we wanted to visit the National Aquarium a few more piers away that morning.

Along the way, we saw USCGC Taney, the last fighting ship still afloat that survived attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Inner Harbor area is a very tourist place with many restaurants and stores.

Saw these very cute dolphin sculptures outside the aquarium.

Big giant tank just after the entrance to the aquarium.

Can you imagine a shark that big?

Throughout the aquarium, there were these tables where the aquarium staff interacted with kids.

What was most interesting was the rooftop rainforest where there were birds, a sloth, monkeys, etc roaming freely.

Sonya and Clara fighting over who got to drink water first.

Bought the Total Experience tickets and we got to watch Dora and Diego in 4D. Everyone got their 3D glasses to enjoy the show. Wondering what is the 4th D? Well, I got my answer when an iceberg splashed back into the ocean in the show. We got sprayed with real water from sprinklers hidden somewhere in the theatre. We also felt the breeze and enjoyed the sweet scent of flowers :)

The best part of the experience was the dolphin show. It was not fun waiting about half an hour for the show to start. It said the show was at 11am but that was just the time when they open the doors. Good thing is that you get better seats when you arrive early. We were right in the middle, just a row behind the splash zone (people sitting in the splash got splashed by the dolphins and aquarium staff).

Visitors who did not buy tickets to the dolphin show can also watch the dolphins. The dolphin pool is is the biggest fish tank ever!

I think it was really magical for Sonya because one of the dolphins came right in front of Sonya and stayed there with her for quite a while :)

The aquarium had a new jellyfish exhibit. It is much smaller than the one at the Boston Aquarium but Baltimore Aquarium beats Boston one in everything else.

The Kids' Area included coloring area, toys, dress-ups, etc.

The Australia exhibit featured lots of turtles and alligators. One of the animals got loose and made some visitors screamed. Don't worry, it was just a cockroach :)

The aquarium had a great view of the Inner Harbor and this was where we saw these "dragon boats" which are basically like the regular pedal boats but shaped like dragons. Sonya and Clara really wanted to try the boat but I was just not ready to get into a boat by myself with two kids and a camera.

There was also Live Act where the staff brought out a lizard native to Australia. It was nice that the kids could get really close to the animal but they were not allowed to touch it.

Docked just outside the aquarium were USS Torsk which is a submarine and the last ship to sink enemy vessel in WWII, and Chesapeake which is a lightship.

Further down was USS Constellation, which is the last Civil War era ship still afloat. These 4 ships in the Inner Harbor are actually what is the Maritime Museum.

Not very smart thing to do if the cannon was still functional :)