Cleveland Aquarium Visit

So we took our family to the brand-spanking new Cleveland Aquarium:

It's located in the old Powerhouse in the flats.  We actually had our wedding reception at Windows so I have a bit of an affection for this place:

And lived at the Bingham in the background.  Funtimes.

The powerhouse is a really interesting building and I was excited to see it used in this way.  It's been a million and a half things since they redid it as an entertainment complex but I think this is by far the coolest:


The exhibits were really well done.  My kid especially liked the "Kitty Fish" (any fish with whiskers) in the Ohio Lakes and Rivers exhibit.  And we watched the stingrays for a long, long, long, long time.


One of the neatest things about the aquarium is how they use the building.

Tanks are tucked in underneath brick arches:



Exhibits are arranged around long, vaulted passageways:



And they give you peeks at the iconic smokestacks:

Lobsters?  In the smokestack?  I don't quite get it but it looks cool so I'll run with it.

The interactive tank was impressive but also super crowded.  I'm going to guess that will get better with time:

My kid:  I touched alot of things.  A spiny thing.  And a bug thing.  And... I didn't pet a shark.

But all of it was leading up to the grand finale.  The shark tank:

It was HUGE.   The sharks were HUGE.  And had TEETH:

The shark tank (and all of the tanks, actually) was really, really cloudy.  I'm told that it will get clearer with time but I'm glad we got to experience it while it was still murkey.  Made the whole thing seem unreal and extra spooky:

My kid before bed that night:  "I liked the sharks but I was a little afraid that they were going to eat my brother."

The last thing before exiting through the giftshop is the underwater tunnel:

It goes on for-ev-er.  In a good way.  And while everything was still murky so we couldn't see much we did have a school of stingrays swim directly over us:

How. Cool. Is. This?!

My biggest complaint* is that it wasn't what I was expecting based on my knowledge of the building.  I wanted to see fishtanks set against sweeping views of the river and the flats.  Like the logo depicts:

 But that never happened.  I also expected some ridiculous spaces in terms of vertical volume but that never happened either.  Everything was pretty much one story, in the basement.  They made the decision to use the old Rock Bottom Brewery as the snack shop and didn't claim any of those spaces for exhibits.  I was picturing tanks where the old brew kettles were.

Why are there not giant tanks everywhere in here?  It would have been so cool!

But I'll give them a pass considering that I know nothing at all about the requirements for aquariums.  When I had an algae bloom in our sad little home setup the first thing they asked me was "is it near a window?"  So I'm guessing that on this big of a scale natural light and heat need to be really carefully controlled.  Probably not possible in a space with sweeping views of downtown.

Bummer.

Overall though it was a really cool place.  We ended up buying a membership (it pays for itself in 2 trip) and I plan on taking the kids again soon.  

I liked the fish.

*Not the stroller controversy.  Seriously, people.  Not everywhere can accommodate strollers.  There are narrow hallways and big crowds.  It is not an affront to families or anti-children.  It is simple math.  Although it would have been nice if they had a coat check.  Or even the ability to run out to the car if necessary (they have a no-reentry policy).  As it stands most of the parents there looked like pack-mules (kids in carriers!  Diaper bags! Coats for everyone!  We have to carry all of the things!).