A Trip Down Memory Lane – Day 6

We were both awake just before 6. This was my non-park day and we had plenty of time. We relaxed for a bit. We had plans to visit the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach that day and I did some research. There was some contradictory information on their website. On the front page it stated that reservations are only required for weekends, but on the ticket page, it stated that reservations are required at all times. Reservations were available online and I booked a combo ticket for both of us that included the admission to the aquarium as well as a whale watching tour. With this out of the way, we got up. We took turns having a shower and got ready. Then we headed downstairs.

Long Beach is not actually that far from Anaheim, but getting there by public transport is a bit of an adventure that requires multiple buses. We decided to get an Uber for the trip there to maximise our time at the aquarium. We headed out just AFTER 7:30 and I ordered the Uber once we entered the building that has the reception. We do not have long to wait. One thing that I like about Uber in California is that it gives you the option of Uber Green, which is the same cost of the standard Uber. I was curious and chose this option. We ended up with a Tesla. We had a nice clear run into Long Beach and arrived at the Aquarium about 40 minutes before they opened.

There is a shopping centre opposite and Graham suggested that we should check if there is a Starbucks. As soon as we crossed the road, there was a store guide. Not only was there a Starbucks, but there was also a Chilli’s Bar and Grill. This made us both happy. We agreed that we would have a late lunch/ early dinner there. For the time being, we were ready for some breakfast though. The Starbucks was looking a little rough round the edges, but there was some seating outside that was pleasant enough. Graham had a spiced plum and cream cheese Danish and an Americano, and I had a blueberry scone and an iced chestnut praline latte. We both enjoyed our breakfast.

By the time we had our breakfast and walked back to the aquarium, this was open. We went to the entrance and had our ticket barcodes scanned. Then we were free to explore. The layout of the aquarium is a little unusual to say the least. You enter into this huge open plan space where the only indication that you are actually in an aquarium is a huge hanging blue whale sculpture. On the left side of this space is a gift shop and a photo counter and on the right is the café. A photographer took some photos of us underneath the blue whale sculpture. At the far end of this space is a grey wall and behind this are the first aquariums. There are two rooms in that area, one focusing on tropical pacific fish and the other focusing on northern pacific fish.

After we looked at the fish for a while, we headed down a rather unassuming corridor, which led to the underwater viewing area for the seals and sea lions. There was a volunteer in the area, and I asked if the sea lions were rescued, but she had no idea. This surprised me. I find that volunteers at facilities like this are normally very well informed. She did however give us some helpful advice. She told us that they were expecting a number of school groups and suggested that we explore the outside areas before they arrived. This proved to be very sound advice. Our first stop was the lorikeet aviary. The kiosk selling nectar to feed the lorikeets was just about to open. We waited for a couple of minutes. Once I had my cup of nectar, we headed inside. We had the aviary to ourselves for a while apart from a very knowledgeable member of staff. Within seconds, I was swamped by hungry rainbow lorikeets. To my utter delight, they were the same birds that we saw in a tree near our hotel in Sydney in February. The nectar did not last very long, but we spent quite a while watching these gorgeous birds. Once it got a little busier, we moved on.

The next area was an educational area. There was a huge model of Southern California, and it was simulated how rain affects the different parts of this area. This was very well done. There was also a California Steelhead exhibit in this area. After having a good look around and playing with some of the interactive features, we moved on.

Next, we came to the underwater viewing area for the shark lagoon. There were all kinds of small sharks in there as well as some rays. I was delighted that there were some black tip reef sharks. When we first visited the Mexican Riviera, I saw a black tip reef shark while snorkelling. This is an amazing memory and I have been fascinated by black tip reef sharks ever since. We then headed upstairs to see the top of the exhibit. A volunteer was talking about us for a while pointing out the various residents of the shark lagoon and telling us a bit about it. Nearby where some touch pools. I decided to be brave and finally touch a ray. This was easier said than done. They just kept out of reach. I was just about to give up when a ray swam close enough to touch my hand. By then, the school groups had arrived, and we decided to move on.

In the next area there was the top of the sea lion and seal exhibit. There were some seats in the area, and we sat down for a while watching the sea lions. We then went to see the Magellanic penguins. There were some divers cleaning the exhibit, which was fascinating to watch.

Time was moving on and we decided to go back inside. Most of the tanks were on this floor. The first tank we got to was representing the Sea of Cortez. Most of the fish in that tank, I have seen in the wild while snorkelling in Cabo San Lucas on a previous cruise. They even had some King Angel Fish. Unfortunately, they were a bit camera shy, but eventually I managed to get a couple of photos. We also saw some puffins and a bunch more tropical fish. I really enjoyed our visit.

Time had come to move on. We checked out the photos that we had taken earlier, but they were not all that good and quite expensive. We passed. We had a look around the gift shop, but there was nothing that caught my eye. Then we headed across the road to the boat dock. We checked in at the ticket booth and were asked for a printed ticket. Apparently, they were supposed to print this off for us at the aquarium. We would have had time to go back to the aquarium to sort this out, but fortunately they were able to print the tickets for us.

The catamaran that we were going on was already at the dock when we got there, and some people were already waiting. I expected that they would let us on board maybe 10 to 15 minutes before the starting time of the tour. However, most of the crew only arrived at the published starting time. We were allowed on board shortly afterwards. The catamaran was spacious with outside areas at the back and on the top and an inside area with a bar downstairs. We decided to sit inside. It did not take long after we were allowed to board until we were on our way. Initially we went past some beautiful buildings and the Queen Mary cruise ship that has found a permanent home in Long Beach, but soon we were out in the open ocean. The speed picked up and it was actually quite bumpy. They gave out plenty of seasickness bags. Fortunately, neither of us needed one.

At some stage, Graham headed out onto the top deck. I did not trust my balance with this much movement, and I stayed put. For two hours, all we saw was sea birds. I had basically given up on seeing anything else when we took a sharp turn. I realised that there must be something out of interest out there. The catamaran slowed down. I was brave and walked the short distance to the back deck. We were surrounded by common dolphins. Graham came to find me. It was so much fun watching the dolphins play and jump so close to the ship. Eventually the dolphins got bored with us and moved on. By then, it was time for us to head back to Long Beach. The trip back was a lot smoother.

We had one further bit of excitement. Graham came to get me. Right off the bow of the catamaran was a Southern Sunfish. They are the largest bonefish species. They are also very ugly. I most certainly do not fancy meeting one of those while swimming or snorkelling. They are meant to be harmless and have a diet of jellyfish, plankton, sea stars and squid. Still, I rather would not find out for myself. Once we had some time to look at the Southern Sunfish, we moved on and headed back to Long Beach. It did not take long until we were back at the dock.

Once we were back on land, we headed over to Chilli’s Bar and Grill. We were both ready for some food. Graham had a draft beer, and I had a wild berry margarita, which was the drink of the month and was only $7. We both had some water, too. We shared a Triple Dipper appetizer with Southwestern Eggrolls with avocado-ranch dip, fried Mozzarella with Marinara sauce, and crispy Chicken Crispers with ranch dip. I have always loved their Southwestern Eggrolls, but the rest was delicious, too. For his main course, Graham had classic ribeye with garlic butter. This was supposed to come with loaded mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. For the second time this trip, he was advised that they were out of broccoli, and he had some green beans instead. I had the Ultimate Smokehouse Combo, which consisted of a choice of three meats. This was served with roasted street corn, fries, and garlic toast. For my meats, I chose Honey-Chipotle Crispers, brisket Quesadillas and jalapeno Cheddar smoked sausage. Everything was delicious, but there was just too much of it. I took the rest of my food to go as we had a fridge and a microwave in our room.

During our meal, we had a chat. We had both expected that this would be our last trip to Southern California. However, this trip had rekindled our love for this part of the world and we both had come up with ideas of what we would like to explore or explore in more depth. As much as I was looking forward to our cruise, I know I was not ready to leave two days later. We were batting ideas about regarding doing a shorter cruise out of Los Angeles and spending more time in Southern California. I have come to the conclusion that three days in the parks is the perfect amount for me and the days where I will spend every day of my holiday in a park are long since over. We were talking about coming back in 2025. We are currently not so patiently waiting for those cruise itineraries to be released.

Our original plan had been to take the bus back to the hotel. However, the closest bus stop was over a mile away and neither of us fancied this. It is surprising how much walking we had done at the aquarium. Graham decided he would treat us to an Uber. This was quite a bit more expensive than it had been in the morning. However, there was a cheaper option if we were willing to wait up to 10 minutes. We did not mind this. In the end it was about twice that until a driver was assigned, but we were in no desperate rush to get anywhere. The trip back was interesting to say the very least. The first part of the trip was taken up by the driver speaking with a friend via speaker about some relationship issues that he had. We tried our best to blend this out. However, once he was off the phone, he asked Graham for relationship advice. I think this was a first. We were both relieved once we were back at the hotel.

When we got back to our room, I put the laundry we had accumulated into my backpack. They are having large capacity machines in the laundry room and all fit in comfortably. To my surprise, the washing cycle only took 30 minutes. Had I known this, I would have brought something to read and made myself comfortable in the lobby. As I had nothing to keep me entertained, I headed back to the room and read for a bit. Graham was already asleep. I headed back to the laundry room just before the 30 minutes were up and by the time I got to the laundry room, the cycle had just finished. I put everything into a dryer and the cycle for this took 60 minutes. I headed back to the room to read some more. I was surprised that when I came back to the laundry room and checked the stuff in the dryer, everything was dry. I made good use of the large table in the laundry room to sort and fold everything so that I could just take the stuff out of the backpack and put it into our respective suitcases. I headed back upstairs once I was done with this. I had one of my orange sodas while reading a couple of chapters in my book. Then I got ready for bed and soon, I was asleep.