To conclude our series of why us Manhattanites should visit the amazing Coastal Fairfield County in Connecticut, we saved the best for last when it comes to overall fun, excitement and smiles all around. Where can you experience an amazing day filled with the most interesting and beautiful animals, happiness, colors, and more? This is the beautiful Maritime Aquarium, which is located smack dab in the middle of the breathtaking town of Norwalk. We spent an amazing day there and toured the entire premises, and were only left with great memories and several reasons why you should visit.
The Maritime Aquarium really is the end all and be all of places to go to if you really want to give yourself, kids, or people you are with a fun time that is filled with beautiful species as well as a great amount of education as well. The location is huge in size, with several different components that go into it that has an end result of epic fantasticness (don’t care if that isn’t a real word, it makes sense). The day that I went, they were doing a fun activity for the kids that were there for Easter where they were encouraged to find six eggs hidden across the premises, and when they found each, the eggs had some educational facts about a particular animal or species. The fact that they are able to make learning fun, especially in today’s digital heavy world where everybody is on their iPhones, I found to be really incredible.
They have some super fun exhibits that each and every person should try. The Meerkats exhibit was incredibly cute and really drew the attention of the parents, kids and everyone alike. It is adorable to watch them jump all around, on top of being adorable. I also really enjoyed the Jiggle A Jelly touch-a-jelly exhibit, which encourages everyone to gently touch a jellyfish that is floating on by and interact with it in a really great way. They also have a wonderful exhibit related to Black Dragons, where you can see one of only 31 baby black dragons located at their aquarium. All three are really fun to experience overall.
My favorite part of the entire trip had to be the Live Seal Shows that they had, which takes place at different parts of the day. The interaction between the seals and trainers, as well as the seals and children, was very special and its proof that these types of people really do an amazing job with our wildlife seeing as how receptive the seals are to them. They also had a great exhibit that showcased a variety of Sharks, with an expert being inside the tank with them. Whereas that would be something that would make me panic more than me at Chipotle when they have no sour cream for my burrito, the expert really did an amazing job at explaining that sharks aren’t as vicious as we think they are, and having an overall really fun experience with them.
Something that is really huge at Maritime Aquarium, outside of all the animals that they have, is the IMAX experience located inside. As someone who grew up when IMAX was still a very popular concept, I really loved how spacious and big the theater was while playing an amazing documentary on the history of butterflies called “Flight of the Butterflies”. They also have Hollywood movies you can see such as the latest “Star Wars” movie, so it is a good idea to bring your kids, get some popcorn and soda, and enjoy what IMAX really does give you, all in one great location.
The Maritime Aquarium has so much to offer here, whether it is a cruise, boat tour, programs, summer camps and more. It is a truly enriching experience that anyone of any age should try out. For more information on them, check out their official site.