The Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi: It's a Great Place for Family Fun and Adventure

Being a native of Michigan, my family had never even heard of the Texas State Aquarium until we moved to Texas three years ago. It wasn't until March of this year that we finally made the trip to see what all the fuss was about. We were totally amazed!

We planned on making an entire family day of the trip so we packed the cooler with lunch, drinks and snacks and headed out bright and early.

We had expected to pay a hefty fee for admission but were surprise when we got to the door. The adult fee is only $15.50 and for children aged three to 12 it's only 13.95. The baby got in free because she is under two. They also offer a discount if you are a senior citizen or in the military. They are able to stay open with these low rates due to the fact that they are a non-profit organization. They rely alot on donations from the public.

The first thing we saw was a walk-through exhibit that featured everything from hermit crabs to stingrays to sharks. There was an Amazon Rainforest exhibit with snakes, a jellyfish exhibit with several species of jellyfish, and even some alligators.

When we went outside we saw the dolphin bay. They have dolphin shows every two hours where the dolphins do tricks and jump in and out of the water. They are beautiful and intelligent creatures.

After the dolphins we visited Otter Creek. These little guys are so adorable, just like a kitten that you want to hold and pet. They are very adventurous and playful and are constantly on the move. They are very fast swimmers and love to dive in and out of the water.

My daughter was amazed by the size of the turtles. She had never seen turtles so big before. We couldn't touch them though, they have very strong jaws and could take off a finger.

Stingray Flats is a large rock pool filled with stingrays that you can touch. They also do a daily chat to help inform the public of what they can do to help in protecting the stingrays in the wild.

Eagle Pass is a new exhibit that includes Grace, a bald eagle. She was rehabilitated in Alaska but it has been decided she is unreleasable so she will have a permanent home at Eagle Pass. She is not alone though, there are also hawks and owls.

If you are looking for a fun learning experience for your entire family, I would strongly suggest the Aquarium. For more information you can visit their website http://www.texasstateaquarium.org/

http://www.texasstateaquarium.org/