Sunday, August 4, 2013

Fun Family Outing: Texas Sea Center


On the weekends or days off from work, Claude likes to take us on adventures.  Especially if I'm out, he has to get the kids out and about doing something fun or out-of-the-ordinary.  For a while he's been trying to get us to the Texas Sea Center and yesterday we finally made it.

If you live in the Houston area and haven't checked out this FREE attraction, it's really worth your time. The drive down to Lake Jackson took us an hour, but overall it was a nice drive.  And the center was a lot of fun - just the right size for littles.
We walked around some wetlands and spotted a few birds and a couple of damselflies.  We also saw some tadpoles in a small pool and looked at some animal tracks in the mud.

Inside we were able to learn about and touch hermit crabs, anemones, blue crabs, and some other small fish in the touch tank.


We also watched two hermit crabs fight over and eat a muscle.

Our camera ran out of battery (oops!) so we didn't get photos of the aquariums.  There were several small ones with various fish, all found in Texas and the Gulf.  And one large aquarium which housed a nurse shark, a moray eel, and even a baby hammerhead shark.

One thing I love about aquariums and small centers like the Texas Sea Center is that you can usually get up close and personal.  And they tend to be small enough that you can see everything well before the kids run out of steam and start to meltdown.  

I don't know about you, but outings that require preparing the night before, departing early-ish in the morning, keeping us out all day, and leaving us tired and grumpy for two days afterward are not all that appealing.  Today we were able to take our time getting out the door, pack a simple picnic lunch for when we arrived, spend as long as we wanted at the center, and still get home in time for our normal evening routine.  That's the kind of adventure we're usually looking for!

Lake Jackson also has a mall and some restaurants that would make for a nice stopover if you wanted to treat the family to lunch, ice cream, or something of the sort.  So, if you're in the Houston area and looking for an adventure, check out the Texas Sea Center - family-friendly, affordable (FREE!), and fun!

1 comment:

  1. Wow! Thanks for this, we've never even heard of it, and I grew up in Texas. I love the idea of being a tourist where you live, we just don't do it often enough.

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