Well, instead of Christmas shopping, the kids and I decided to take our annual trip to the Newport Acquarium this weekend. For those of you who have children and have never been there, it is a very nice time with lots of beautiful photo ops.

The City looked nice, even though it was cold....

They have a large whale sculpture in the lobby.

Lots of fish....

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But other things as well. Like turtles, alligators, snakes and frogs

I liked the sea anemones....

The jellyfish...

The seahorses...

And whatever these weird things are called... LOL!!!

After looking at all of that, it was on to the Lorikeets. You can feed them nectar out of little cups. We had a lot of fun there ...

At least until one of the birds stole David's cup and ran up a tree with it.

And one of them bit me on the neck. LOL!!!

But then it was on to the feature attraction.... The shark tank!!!

We always spend a lot of time watching the sharks, shark rays, sea turtles, stingrays and other animals in that exhibit. They loved it.

Then they got to pet some sharks.

After that they got their gifts from the gift shop. Then we headed home. It was a very fun day. If you get the opportunity, I would recommend spending an afternoon there. Although it may look dangerous....

...it really is a lot of fun and they pack a lot of really nice elements into a relatively small space. It's nothing like KI, but for a wintertime, off season trip, it's really pleasant. And the kids actually learn something as well.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

P.S. We went to the Bengals game today. I had planned to include that in this TR, but after watching the game, I figured.... What's the point!!?!! LOL!!!

Excellent photo trip report! Glad to see you and your kids had fun. I actually went to the Newport Aquarium this summer with some relatives who were in town from Pheonix, AZ, and we had a fun time there.

As an aside, the Newport Aquarium is now owned by Herschend Famil Entertainment Co.

Bettle, great photo TR! It's been awhile since I've been to the aquarium but it always seems like people have a good time there. I was downtown all day Saturday and the levee seemed packed all day. Question: Did you pay for parking once and brave the cold, walking across the river to the Bengals game?

Thanks for sharing that great TR! I'm glad y'all had fun!

My ex took me there for my 25th birthday last year. The city is definitely beautiful.

I loved walking through the shark tank, with sharks swimming all around you, you could even see them under your feet. That was wild.. although the petting tank was indeed cold.

I love birds, so the lorikeets and the penguins were pretty cool.

Glad to see you and the kids had a great time. Newport Aquarium is definitely fun for all ages, I loved it and plan on going back sometime.

BavarinBeatle – Great PTR I enjoyed the read and pictures. I also enjoy seeing you spending so much quality time out with your boys. I did notice in your first picture, a banner announcing Scuba Santa was there during your visit. We really enjoyed that as it was something different and unique, did by chance did you guys get to take that in?

Excelent PTR, the acquarium is a great place. We backpacked Zoe through it last Summer and she really enjoyed the fist. Cant wait to take her back.

Thanks for sharing the Acquarium and not the game....

Thank you all. We actually went to the Acquariunm on Saturday and the game on Sunday. We got the tickets for the game free. (Got what we paid for there...) But we didn't go to the scuba Santa show. My kids feel that they are "too old" for Santa. They figured out the "truth" last year and now anything Santa-related is for younger children, in their view.

Thank you all. We actually went to the Acquariunm on Saturday and the game on Sunday. We got the tickets for the game free. (Got what we paid for there...) But we didn't go to the scuba Santa show. My kids feel that they are "too old" for Santa. They figured out the "truth" last year and now anything Santa-related is for younger children, in their view.

Truth? What is this "truth" that you speak of?

Truth? I can't handle the truth!

Truth... uh, THIS truth?:

A yellow Dory?

Thank you all. We actually went to the Acquariunm on Saturday and the game on Sunday. We got the tickets for the game free. (Got what we paid for there... ) But we didn't go to the scuba Santa show. My kids feel that they are "too old" for Santa. They figured out the "truth" last year and now anything Santa-related is for younger children, in their view.

Bah! Should have taken them just cause he was scuba diving! I'm a scuba nut, so I'd have gone just to see how a guy manages a santa suit and scuba gear at the same time... I wish Newport (and many other aquariums) was like Disney's Living Seas aquarium and had a diving program, because diving in an aquarium was quite possibly the coolest experience I have had in my life so far.

I love marine animals. I have been to so many aquariums that Newport doesn't really compare, but its the closest thing i have. Lol. I will be there this weekend for my 18th birthday!!