aquarium showdown

I LOVE aquariums, and I love dragging my husband to them wherever we go.  We visited the New England Aquarium yesterday, and it sparked a competition for who has the best aquarium.  Being from Chicago, he argued that the Shedd is the best.  Of course, I said that the National Aquarium in Baltimore is the best.  The truth is, I have 3 favorites.

The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago wins hands down on design.  They hide creatures all over the place!

 The Shedd also has Beluga whales, which is pretty awesome.

Baltimore has a fun dolphin show and lots of sharks.  They have a unique tropical bird exhibit that lets you walk through with birds flying overhead (Okay, maybe not the greatest design... I did get some tropical droppings on my shoulder once).

The last time I visited the Baltimore Aquarium they had a poison dart frog exhibit...  my life hasn't been the same since!  I now own several poison dart frogs who have multiplied many times.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is another favorite.  They have lots of BIG fish like mahi mahi, tuna and sharks. They probably have the prettiest Jellyfish display of any of the aquariums I have visited.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium also had a really cool seahorse exhibit when we visited (I keep telling Justin that a seahorse is going to be my next pet!)

The New England Aquarium isn't quite on the level of those 3, but gets props for its penguins.  They had lots of them and they were very active!

The South Carolina Aquarium gets last place.  Though they did have an albino alligator and a bald eagle, the rest of it was just sad.

Of course, there's always scientific comparison...

via findthebest.com

This doesn't take into account how awesome the animals are, just how many the aquarium has.  Either way, it seems I have some more aquariums to visit!!