Life of Wry

Saturday turned into a Long Beach day.

(I do love the architecture in downtown Long Beach.)

Chris and I took mom for a spin around the Long Beach Aquarium. What a fun and larky thing to do that was!

It took a little bit of coaxing (okay, like a ton of coaxing) to get her to agree to enjoy the aquarium from the comfort of a wheelchair, but once she acquiesced, there was no looking back. It didn’t take long before she was channeling Miss Daisy; she’d get downright snippy if we lingered too long at one tank or not long enough at another–mostly the latter.

The truth is, she enjoyed it immensely and soaked in as much marine science as a person could reasonably soak in in a very crowded aquarium, surrounded by thousands of rambunctious kids. She was insistent about reading the information signs posted all over the place. She is truly a curious person. I really love that about her.

The LB Aquarium is very nice… far smaller than Monterey, so it feels doable, but great oceanic representation nonetheless. I hadn’t been there since we went with Peter and his big cousin John over ten years ago.

Here are a few shots:

The clown fish were super cute…

The jellies trippy and mesmerizing…

These guys just like a pair of your favorite uncles…

Chris talked about what it’s like to crunch upon dried kelp roots when you encounter them on the beach.. also, note that eel… and that lobster’s tail…

And, of course, the colors were like something out of a candy store….

If this willingness to tool around in a wheelchair continues, we might be opening some pretty major doors. We can suddenly visit a whole bunch of real sights and attractions! LA museums next..

We then decided to visit the Boathouse again–one of Eric’s many ventures–and were not disappointed. What a fantastic dinner we had: cocktails, oysters on the half shell, wedge salads, sea bass, swordfish, halibut, wine, coffee and a pretty great little cheesecake. All of it exceptional. Rolled and groaned our way right out of there.

We had a table with a sparkling view of the bay and Uncle Bud and Aunt Ellie’s house. Better planning next time around.. maybe they can boat over to join us on our next visit.