Day 9 - Nov 12 - Dallas and the Dallas World Aquarium
Today was a regular school day for Cassi and she had some practical exam, so she went off to school this morning. That left Matt and Lu and us at home. Weather-wise, it was a cold day for everyone about 3 degrees with a bitter wind. It was overcast pretty well the whole day. So a good day to be inside somewhere interesting.
Matt, Lu, Norm and I went off to Dallas, about 45 minutes away to visit a favourite spot for Lu, the Dallas World Aquarium. This aquarium not only has fish, but it has birds and animals and spiders and Vampire Bats (I gave the bats a pass - did not look at them). Plus today we all saw the Ocelot several times and close by. The last time the kids visited they had not seen the Ocelot. This is a very striking cat about three times the size of a big tomcat. It must have been close to feeding time as it was getting impatient and was pacing. The aquarium was jammed with school kids and families. There were also several types of penguins and who does not like penguins! There was also a South American otter which is the largest otter and it was putting on quite a active show without any prompting. It would swim around, push off and swim to the other side of the "pond" and then come out for a bit and screech and do the same thing over again.
One of my favourite animals, the Sloth was also clearly out and about in a small constructed tree house installation and it was also quite used the crowds. There were owls and hawks and many birds from other parts of the world.
There were all kinds of frogs and snakes also. The jelly fish were in a black tank and were particularly beautiful to watch.
Down on the bottom level there were large tanks full of different kinds of fish along with a Manatee and sharks. We went through a tunnel underwater and we could even see more fish. It was a great place to spend a couple of hours. In one tank we had a human fish vacuuming out the red algae. We watched him do a pretty good job underwater.
In a large round tank there were a whole bunch of stingrays going around and an aquarium employee told us that one of them jumped out - they can jump over six feet in height. The jumper was put back in and was fine and a net was installed as a cover to protect and contain the jumping stingrays.
After the aquarium we went to the Dallas Central Market, which was indoors. It was a very nice upscale market with all kinds of food stalls. Norm and I had Cajun-style food (pulled pork and blackened catfish). Matt had a Korean dish and Lu had a Mexican. Each of us enjoyed our meal. There were some vendors of fish and meat and cheese and in the summer time there are local farmers outside.
By 2 pm or so it was time to get going before the rush hour started and we headed back home. Cassi was home shortly after. We had a lovely supper with everyone. Matt left to get back to his work this evening and tomorrow Cassi and Lu are in school. What will Norm and I do????
Matt, Lu, Norm and I went off to Dallas, about 45 minutes away to visit a favourite spot for Lu, the Dallas World Aquarium. This aquarium not only has fish, but it has birds and animals and spiders and Vampire Bats (I gave the bats a pass - did not look at them). Plus today we all saw the Ocelot several times and close by. The last time the kids visited they had not seen the Ocelot. This is a very striking cat about three times the size of a big tomcat. It must have been close to feeding time as it was getting impatient and was pacing. The aquarium was jammed with school kids and families. There were also several types of penguins and who does not like penguins! There was also a South American otter which is the largest otter and it was putting on quite a active show without any prompting. It would swim around, push off and swim to the other side of the "pond" and then come out for a bit and screech and do the same thing over again.
One of my favourite animals, the Sloth was also clearly out and about in a small constructed tree house installation and it was also quite used the crowds. There were owls and hawks and many birds from other parts of the world.
There were all kinds of frogs and snakes also. The jelly fish were in a black tank and were particularly beautiful to watch.
Down on the bottom level there were large tanks full of different kinds of fish along with a Manatee and sharks. We went through a tunnel underwater and we could even see more fish. It was a great place to spend a couple of hours. In one tank we had a human fish vacuuming out the red algae. We watched him do a pretty good job underwater.
In a large round tank there were a whole bunch of stingrays going around and an aquarium employee told us that one of them jumped out - they can jump over six feet in height. The jumper was put back in and was fine and a net was installed as a cover to protect and contain the jumping stingrays.
After the aquarium we went to the Dallas Central Market, which was indoors. It was a very nice upscale market with all kinds of food stalls. Norm and I had Cajun-style food (pulled pork and blackened catfish). Matt had a Korean dish and Lu had a Mexican. Each of us enjoyed our meal. There were some vendors of fish and meat and cheese and in the summer time there are local farmers outside.
By 2 pm or so it was time to get going before the rush hour started and we headed back home. Cassi was home shortly after. We had a lovely supper with everyone. Matt left to get back to his work this evening and tomorrow Cassi and Lu are in school. What will Norm and I do????
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