Travel Thursday: Tennessee Aquarium

On the first day of our vacation this year, we drove to Chattanooga, Tennessee to go to the Tennessee Aquarium. It's one of the best aquariums in the nation and we knew the kids would love it so we decided to make an impromptu trip on our way to Charleston and left a day early so we could go.

The kids loved it! The aquarium is actually two buildings, one dedicated to rivers and the other to oceans. We had a blast in the butterfly garden, touched sting rays and sharks and enjoyed looking at all the otters, sharks, penguins and much much more. Even this girl, who has a fear of fish had a great time. I think probably my favorite part was watch the scuba divers swim in the exhibits. That's something I would never do!

There's a huge plaza outside with all sorts of things to climb on and a "riverbed" to swim in. We didn't realize it was there so they only waded, but they still had a blast. 

Afterward, we walked across the Walnut St. Bridge, the longest pedestrian bridge in the world, which spans the Tennessee River. 

There's a carousel in the park on the north side of the river and we promised Ewan he would get to ride on it. Both kids were in heaven! Ewan actually rode it several times. 

We really liked the Tennessee Aquarium and what we saw of Chattanooga. It's somewhere that we definitely want to visit again!