I know this is a stretch (for a scuba forum) but, wondering wonder if you have any advice...
Thinking of taking family to Atlanta over Thanksgiving, mainly to see the aquarium. Have heard that the drought is taking it's told even there. Does this mean certain areas are closed?
What about tickets do I really have to get them ahead of time and for a specific time of day?
Also anyone visited the aquarium in TN? Worth the stop?
Thanks.
Why would the drought affect the aquarium? They might be keeping people from watering their lawns, but they aren't going to drain the aquarium for it.
As Scubaguy said, you'll want to get your tickets in advance. Reserve a time slot that is early as possible or on Sunday morning. (it doesn't get as crowded as saturday and not as bad until after church I'm told ).
Going Thanksgiving weekend is going to be a ZOO no matter how you do it. In Atlanta they have the news helicopters giving video reports of the parking at the ATL airport and all the malls because the after Thanksgiving crowd is so crazy. If I had a day that holiday weekend to suggest, it'd be the Wednesay before Thanksgiving or early Sunday morning.
The aquarium in Chattanooga Tn is ok. IMO the freshwater side is much better than the salt water....more stuff. I wasn't all that impressed by the salt water side in Tn.
I agree 100% with that statement, but I think they've expanded the Chattanooga aquarium in the past year or so and greatly improved the saltwater size. Before the saltwater tank was a joke. But the freshwater tanks were really good. They also have a lot of smaller tanks that are regional based around the world, but they aren't the big ticket items.
One last thing they do is a rotating special exhibit that stays 6 months to one year. Last time I was there it was several seahorse aquariums. I was really impressed by the large collection of different types of seahorses that I really didn't know existed. I think the special exhibit they have now is penquins.... so I'm wanting to go back.
Yes!
I personally prefer the one in Gatlinburg, but Chatanooga's worth a stop too.
Rick
I though the one in Gatlinburg was lacking and meant more for the quick tourist run (1 hour tour) instead of being a really high end aquarium. It's right in the middle of the tourist strip there and can get pretty crowded. They don't have a way to deal with the crowds well it seems in it's layout. You couldn't see in half the small tanks without waiting for a "spot on the glass to clear".
But it's definately a different format than the one in Chattanooga.
they did have a fairly nice shark tank though with one of those glass tunnels that went under the water. The tank wasnt that big, but they made it seem huge with the fact that the tunnel made a u-shape circle along the edge and through the middle of the tank. It has a nice "moving sidewalk" to keep everyone at a nice pace.
I'd like to go back sometime when it's not as crowded and see it again.
anyway... hope all that helps. -mike
