I was at Moody Gardens
We stumbled upon something really
interesting. We when arrived inside the ticket booth, we learned it was
Senior Day, so each attraction was only $5 for those of the appropriate age.
Score! We chose to go inside the Aquarium, and see a 3D IMAX movie.
I still had to pay full price, but this worked out to be quite a bargain.
I would’ve liked go back inside the white pyramid to see the second tier
of the rain forest, but that’s something I can always come back to.
As we walked over to where the
theatre was, I took a lot of artsy style shots with the tops of the pyramids
poking through the foliage, framed by trees, or how the straight edges
complimented some other rough exteriors. That’s something fun I do with a
digital camera that I wouldn’t do with a film camera, because I don’t have to
worry about how rolls I’m going through. And the digital camera shows you
how well the shot worked (or didn’t) as soon as it’s taken.
Considering what day it was, the
number of those who weren’t seniors in the theatre I was less than the number
of fingers I had on one had (myself included). The IMAX movie was called
“Wild Oceans,” and dealt with the aquatic life off of South Africa ’s Wild Coast
We trekked back over to the blue
pyramid, and started with the section where the seals and sea lions were.
They seemed to be swimming happily enough, but they seemed just to be
doing laps back and forth. A got the impression the tank was perhaps too
small for them, and they’d “tapped out” the area they could enjoy.
Walking through the corridors, none of my memories of this place surfaced,
and I’m sure I went here with Lee.
I liked how there were a lot of
separate small tanks for individual critters or types of critters. That
allowed a focus to remain on one type, without fear of them being injured or
eaten by something else. They might not have gotten the socialization
they needed, but it was probably the best for guys like the injured turtle (who
was missing a front and back flipper, but was swimming okay).
There’s a passageway which takes
you under the aquarium, which I’ll simply refer to as the “shark tunnel.”
This was very kewl to stand inside the tunnel, and watch a large variety
of marine life (sharks, manta rays, and many other types of fish) go swimming
by.
It was a challenge to be able to catch
a shot a shark going overhead. Dad made a good point when he said they
must feed the sharks well to keep them from eating everything else.
Sharks, like most wild animals, only eat when they’re hungry, but I’m
sure the aquarium doesn’t keep track of _every_ fish in the tank. It
wouldn’t surprise me if in some hidden back room there aren’t a bunch of milk
cartons with the pictures of missing fish on them.
I methodically paid attention to
where we went in order to make sure we hit every portion of the venue.
The aquarium was very good, and it was worth taking the time to see
everything. The last portion we found turned out to the best. Since
there was a lower level of the aquarium we were wandering around in, we could
see the penguins swimming around under water.
This was even neater when we came
up to the surface level to see the horde of penguins hanging out there.
(Okay, I’m not sure what the proper term for a group of penguins are,
perhaps “flock,” but I’ve used “horde” ever since reading that story about
carnivorous penguins….) This tank was about the same size as the seal
tank we started with, but since there was more space for these birds to spread
out, they frolicked and played as if they hadn’t a care in the world.
There was one penguin who was
hanging out in front by the water’s edge, and didn’t move the entire time we
were watching the horde. Others went around him to get in and out of the
water, but he just stood there with his head staring up. Perhaps he was
dazed by the lights, or waiting for the mothership to come back, but it was
funny to watch him pay not attention to the activity around him.
Once we left Moody
Gardens , we drove up the Seawall Blvd , so we
could get a look at the water of the Gulf of Mexico .
Mum commented that she’s now seen the Gulf from both sides. She
also commented at the number of businesses with the name “Moody,” so she
figured that was a prominent family at some point. I’d forgotten this
section when Lee and I were here, but I saw the Krogers where we’d gotten
groceries, and I think I recognized the Mexican restaurant we ate it.
On the Gulf-side of the Seawall was
mostly beach, but there were a couple docks which jutted out, one for fishing,
and the other with an amusement park on it (called Pleasure Pier). That
one reminded me of the one from the first Lost Boys movie. As it
appeared no different than any carnival attractions like we’d see at the county
fair, there wasn’t any reason to stop. We did have another destination in
mind (once we’d gotten a quick bite at the local Denny’s).
(Continued....)
For more information on the places visited or mentioned:
Pleasure
Pier: http://www.pleasurepier.com/
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