Inspired by the return of a classic favorite, Roger and I headed out to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Now, I am not a big aquarium fan to begin with, but compared to the excellent Monterey Bay Aquarium, the A of P just isn’t top-notch. Not that they don’t try mind you. The volunteers were doing there best to the scattered crowd. One thing that A of P does that Monterey does not is give out Fish Finders to the crowd so you can identify what the heck is in the tank. A of P still has room for more exhibits which will add to the overall experience, however their latest addition is just a joke.
The so-called “Shark Lagoon” is nothing more than a smallish pool that 6 or so sharks swim around with some Rays. There is an adjacent area where you can touch some non-lethal sharks (using the patented “two fingers” method). This part of the Aquarium was a big disappointment. Another beef with the A of P was that the placards next to the tanks which had interesting (or not-so-interesting facts) were difficult to read. This was due to the low-light conditions which aid in seeing the occupants of the tanks, but rendering it near-impossible to clearly see the signs. I suggest some sort of mini led light for each sign. The lorikeet forest was also nothing more than a smallish aviary where birds can swoop down and poop on you. Thankfully, most of the fish exhibits were quite good. I think they need to work on adding the two rooms on the first floor before adding any other outside makeshift exhibits.
Today was spent with Granny and Jerri up in Santa Barbara. One of my favorite stores there is the “As Seen On TV” store which features just about anything you ever wanted from those ads. Jerri claims that most of the stuff is also available on QVC and that it was like walking into a QVC store. State Street still has some SB-unique stores and t thankfully has not been completely overrun with Mall stores.