The Maritime Aquarium

Hello everyone!

Let me ask you all a question!

Are there any places that you really like going to? So much so that you will go to them more than once a year, even though nothing has really changed?

For a while, I did. It was The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk. I would go there many times a year with my family. 

But then, the pandemic happened, and we couldn’t go anywhere. Once the pandemic was over, we constantly talked about how we should go back to The Maritime Aquarium, but for a number of reasons, we never went. 

One of the first reasons is that it has taken me a very long time to stop worrying about Covid. In fact, I still worry about it whenever I go to a place that is indoors. 

Another reason has to do with it being crowded. What I mean is that for the past several years, my mom was an aide at the elementary school, so she was always working during the week, and we knew that the Aquarium would be crowded on weekends and during the summer, so we just never went back to it… until recently.

A few days ago, due to the fact that both of my parents are now retired, and since we knew it was a school day and probably wouldn’t be crowded as a result, we decided to go to The Maritime Aquarium for the first time in years.

Now, here’s the thing. I knew that there had been many changes made to the Aquarium since the last time we had been there, but I was still surprised by everything we saw.

The first surprise we saw was literally right when we walked through the door. What I mean is that the last time we were at the Aquarium, there was an IMAX Theater at the other end of the building, and when we got first entered the building a few days ago, we saw that there was now a 4D Theater near the entrance, and we also found out that the IMAX Theater was gone.

Then, we made our way to the Gift Shop, which is one of the first things you come across after entering, and while there weren’t that many changes there, I noticed very quickly that they were selling way fewer toys there than they used to, and much of what they were selling was plushies and Maritime Aquarium themed merchandise.

After that, because it was almost 1:30, we decided to have lunch at that time. In the past when we have gone to the Aquarium, we have had lunch at the nearby restaurant Donovan’s, but this time, we chose to have lunch at the cafeteria, and we all greatly underestimated how big the portions that we were going to have would be. It didn’t even feel like we were having lunch at a cafeteria at an aquarium, but rather like we were at a restaurant. I’m genuinely amazed that this amazing food was served in a cafeteria at The Maritime Aquarium. Seriously, my dad had a giant Burger with Fries, my mom had a giant Salad, and I had three enormous Fried Chicken Tenders with Fries.

After that, we made our way into the actual Aquarium, and the next big change was staring us right in the face in the form of Pinniped Cove. For those of you who are wondering, that is where the Seals live. The last time we went to the Aquarium, Pinniped Cove was no bigger than a pool that someone would have in their backyard, it was confined to essentially just the first floor, and it was also half inside and half outside. To say that it has received an upgrade would be a massive understatement. From what I understand, they got rid of the outside portion due to construction that was happening nearby, and they also made the Seal tank much higher. To the point that the top was on the second floor, and according to one of the staff members there, if I filled my bathtub with water thousands of times, I would have the exact same amount of water as what was in the tank. Also, we just so happened to be there on the first day of a Rescue Seal named Pearl. I mean, what are the odds of that happening? Obviously, we all know the answer is 50%, but that is still such an unbelievable coincidence. 

From there, we came across some of the usual favorites that have always been there: The Touch Tanks with the Stingrays, Sharks, and Jellyfish. 

Off to the side of this section was a room that used to hold Meerkats and I think Reptiles like Lizards. At this time, this room is currently holding an exhibit of Sea Birds, which features two species, and they are Common Murres, which are heavy-bodied Sea Birds that are similar in shape to a Loon, and Atlantic Puffins, which are similar to Penguins, except they can fly, and they have short necks and large, bright orange beaks. If you really want to see the Puffins, try to stop by the exhibit when it is lunch time, because even though they probably won’t be eating anything, that is absolutely when you will see them. I obviously know this from experience because I was literally there, and because after seeing them at first during feeding time, we went back to see them again some time later, and they were basically hidden.

After that, we made our way to the second floor, and while there weren’t as many changes here, there were still some notable changes. 

Much like the last time I was here, there was a play area right in the center of the floor as you first got to it, but unlike the last time, there was now exhibits to the left of it that contained Fennec Foxes and Meerkats, as well as what the website calls “Viewing Bubbles” for guests to see them up close.

We then made our way to an exhibit that was a new addition around the time we were last there. This means that it’s no longer a new addition, and has in fact been there for several years at this point. It’s called Just Add Water, and it contains animals like Tamarins, which are Primates, Alligators, Poison Dart Frogs, which literally look exactly like the toys we used to get, a Porcupine, and a Sloth.

From there, we continued on and found out just how much bigger Pinniped Cove was, as like I said earlier, the top of it was on the second floor. 

We then made our way over to the final part of The Aquarium, which started off with Life Among The Grasses, which explores the salt marshes of Long Island Sound, and features tanks with a few animals. 

We then made our way to the next few rooms, and there was only one real change that I saw here: A touch tank that was full of Atlantic Sturgeons. But aside from that, nothing much else had changed, but that was fun, as it was cool seeing the Lobsters again, I got to see one Otter, it’s always cool seeing the Sharks, I saw a truly enormous Octopus, and it is always incredible seeing the Giant Sea Turtles. 

So, yeah. That was my journey to The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk for the first time in seven years. It was just as good as I remember it being, and I look forward to going there again someday, preferably not seven years later again. 

I hope you all enjoyed reading this blog post! I don’t know if I will have another blog post out next week, as I might be going to a taping of The Masked Singer, but when I do get my next post out, I hope you are all ready to take a journey over to Hell’s Kitchen…!