Inside the aquarium
Posted by Michelle on Oct 17, 2008 in Hayley, Jeff, Michelle, pups & other pets
See more photos from this set:
Regular view (easiest to find one in particular or print)
Slideshow view (easiest to see them all)
Wednesday was a low key day. I had to get some work done so we hung out at the house (which is like a pleasure in itself! I worked outside on the deck and listened to the ocean. Hayley colored and played video games. We went out that afternoon to eat and shop.
Thursday was a great day!
First we had a special morning at the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island in Manteo (about 15 mins away). We got to come in before everyone else for ‘breakfast with the manta rays’ where just Hayley and I that day got to help feed the manta rays and eat breakfast there. For the price it was a steal b/c it included getting into the Aquarium and breakfast – well little did we know it meant a private guided tour, behind the scenes access and so much interesting info from their amazing educator Ann Marie.
One of the coolest things was seeing what the animals ate in the prep kitchens that the staff uses. We laughed so hard that the alligators love to eat marshmallows as snacks! The fridge had a lot of snacks we would eat (peas & strawberries) and stuff we wouldn’t (crickets, dead rats and dead chicks for the snacks – gross!).
After the tour around, we went to the manta ray tank. We got to touch them and help feed them cut up fish. A few times with gross dead fish pieces was enough for me but Hayley had a ball. I finally got her to touch one – she’s resisted at every aquarium we go to. The rays’ mouths are on the underside so they’d just hover over the food and eat it up.
We saw a few more things and then went to breakfast in a classroom where we got to see all sorts of cool rays and shark stuff. We got to feel shark skin, see rays’ jawbone and more while we ate. It was just an unbelievable couple of hours.
With just a bit of work and a reasonable amount of money, we’ve had some experiences of a lifetime this trip.
Thursday evening Jeff arrived with the pups in tow. So we now have three wiggly dogs and Daddy to help keep a lid on the madness here!
