Writing the Why Can’t Dolly be Dolly? post reminded me about Dollywood and the Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. I skipped Dollywood, but did go to the aquarium. I was pleasantly surprise by the aquarium. I have been to a lot of aquariums and have to been to some of Ripley’s tourist traps so I has low expectations. The aquarium while small, seemed well maintained with good displays. It has the now standard features, such as a ray touch pool and a tunnel under the main tank. It was very enjoyable. I was there at low season late in the evening, so there were very few patrons.
By comparison, I found the Georgia Aquarium a bit of a disappointment. Maybe my expectations for it were too high. Yes it has a huge tank with whale sharks (which are amazing) and a multitude of other fish, but the rest of the displays seemed to be fairly basic. Don’t get me wrong I think it is worth going to especially if you have not been to many aquariums, I was just expecting more from “The World’s Largest and Most Engaging Aquarium”.
It is new and they are working on an expansion, so I am optimistic for its future. The World of Coke is next door so you can alway go there if you are into that sort of thing. I like Coke, but I thought $15 a person was a bit much for what amounts to an extensive Coke commercial and all the free coke products you can drink. The functioning bottling line was the best display. The very best part is being able to sample about 40 different coke products from around the world. I just wish you could by the foreign drinks.
As for the Georgia Aquarium, I can’t wait for the the whale sharks to grow bigger.
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