Boston's Blue Oasis Gets a Makeover

Beantown from the Boston Harbor

Boston--with its bagels, fresh seafood, and epic pub crawls--is my favorite town. I've gone every year since I was but a wee nipper. It's my home away from home. It's there that I was first terrified by a dinosaur and dazzled by lightning, ate massive amounts of "lobstah" and Dairy Joy, and saw my first whale. I've even mastered its subway system, which can be a little daunting. I know every stop leading to my favorite spot--the New England Aquarium.

The Giant Ocean Tank courtesy of the New England Aquarium. Photo credit: W. Chappell

The Aquarium will always have a place in my heart, and on my last trip just a few short months ago, I learned that the main tank had recently undergone a massive renovation. The Giant Ocean Tank has been the stunning centerpiece of the New England Aquarium for as long as I can remember--a column of blue reaching from the ground floor to the very top. Of course, I had to go see.

It's best to buy tickets online. Since the renovation, the Aquarium has been drawing in quite a number of visitors, so it's better to plan ahead.

Walking into the blue gloom of the Aquarium, it was obvious a lot had been done to the Giant Ocean Tank. I said a quick hello to the penguins on the ground floor and continued up to the main tank. All of the windows had been replaced, eliminating the glare I remembered from the old windows, and the coral reef had been replaced. The tank looked better than ever.

That's not me. Wouldn't that be cool?

The Aquarium is designed so that visitors may wander its three levels via a series of ramps. Visitors may see the many exhibits along the way and check out which fish are hanging out near the surface of the Giant Ocean Tank. Sea turtles glide among the almost 130 species of fish, including sting rays and puffer fish. There's always somewhere to look, something to see.

That is me. I do cool stuff. You should, too.

Head downstairs for the jellyfish exhibit and the touch tanks. Not that you'll be touching jellyfish. Little rays, yes. Jellyfish, no. Why would you want to do that? It's an aquarium, not "Fear Factor". The jelly exhibit is well worth a look, though. You'll lose track of time watching moon jellyfish floating in a lazy, hypnotic loop. Keep your eyes peeled downstairs and in each of the exhibits upstairs. From electric eels to baby seahorses, you won't want to miss a thing. I even discovered something new, and I can't count the number of times I've been there. On my last trip, I just realized you can watch the staff train sea lions out back. I couldn't believe I had been missing that all these years.

Babies!

Pictures don't do it justice, neither does video. It's an experience, and that means there's nothing else that can replace actually being there. My parents took me when I was little to educate me and it instilled a sense of wonder. I think that's why I keep going back. It's my blue mecca. People talk about a "childlike sense of wonder," and the phrase never really makes sense to me unless I'm there. I watch sea turtles fly, and I'm quiet. There's no world, no screaming children in strollers, no bills, nothing else except the Giant Ocean and me.

I think we need more of that quiet in our lives.

California sea lion pups Zoe and Sierra. Photo courtesy of the New England Aquarium. Photo credit: K. Ellenbogen.