I few days off from school and an airline voucher that's about to expire. I love the aquarium so I was thinking about picking a place that has a great one. I would go in mid October, be there for 2 nights/ 3 days, stay in a hostel, and use public transit to get around. Since I would be going alone I want a place that's relatively safe. I have a few places in mind but some some pros and cons for all of them. Anyone have any insight or ideas?

So far thinking...
Boston- seems safe enough, good public transit, good hostels, great city. Cold, probably the least awesome of the aquariums i was thinking of going to

Atlanta- super aquarium I've been wanting to see for a while, but that's about it. Not sure how safe it is, what the transit system is like, and very few hostels

Montery Bay, Cali- supposedly the best of the aquariums and i love California. Probably my first choice but I would loose a ton of my already limited time in transit.

Chicago- The only one of the cities I've already been too. I like it there, like the aquarium, good hostels, I feel feel safe, and I know my way around so i could do a lot.

Baltimore- great aquarium, cool city, decent public transit(?) but not sure how safe it is. Also, it is so close that I would just drive. I don't know how much parking would cost or where I would put it. Plus, it sort of defeats the purpose of me using the plane ticket.

[Edited on September 21, 2009 at 9:26 AM. Reason : shorten]

9/21/2009 9:17:53 AM

I went to the Atlanta one last month

Pretty cool

They almost made us leave for putting a nacho chip in the manta ray tank hahaha

9/21/2009 10:18:00 AM

Quote :

"Montery Bay, Cali- supposedly the best of the aquariums and i love California. Probably my first choice but I would loose a ton of my already limited time in transit. "

you'll have a hard time finding good mass transit there and a hostel. But it is nice.

9/21/2009 10:19:52 AM

I was pretty sure I was going to end up dead the last time I was wandering around Atlanta, but I still want to check out their aquarium.

Is the voucher good on international flights? Japan has some of the best aquariums I've ever seen

[Edited on September 21, 2009 at 10:23 AM. Reason : .]

9/21/2009 10:22:35 AM

^^what he said, and besides the aquarium and beaches, without a car there isn't much to do there and it will be about 50 degrees at that time, haha.

9/21/2009 10:27:48 AM

There are a lot of cool places in Atlanta to check out. I was down there for a conference last summer.

9/21/2009 10:44:08 AM

I went to Gladys and Ron's Chicken and Waffles... good shit right there. (I went before it was on MvF.)

9/21/2009 10:46:19 AM

Yeah the Montary Bay trip would work a lil diffrently.

For that i was planning on staying an extra night, renting a car to get to the aquarium, and only using using mass transit while in the city. Basically I would fly into San Fran late night, stay in a hostel there, play in the city for a day, take BART to Fremont, rent a car in Freemont and drive to montary bay, stay the next night in a hostel there (yes there are some hostels there), go to the aquarium, come back to san fran for the night, and leave the next morning.


As for japan, ive already been. And they were bad ass

[Edited on September 21, 2009 at 10:54 AM. Reason : as]

9/21/2009 10:53:05 AM

Honestly, I really wasn't that impressed with Atlanta for the price.... Granted the penguin area was closed, and they were working on getting a new dolphin exhibit, but yea, not that great for the $30 to get in

9/21/2009 11:04:01 AM

If you're worried about safety

Downtown ATL is not a good choice

9/21/2009 11:25:59 AM

neither is the Chi

9/21/2009 11:26:58 AM

^^ Yeah, walking down the street and finding pools of blood on the sidewalk was an interesting experience in downtown Atlanta

9/21/2009 11:37:01 AM

was just at atl aquarium yesterday..... waaaaaaay too many kids/strollers to enjoy, go on a week day. Safe as in attached parking deck. IDK, it was a huge aquarium but seemed like it was missing alot.

9/21/2009 11:59:09 AM

i loved the Atlanta aquarium but the penguin area is the best so if that's closed it might not be worth it.

I wasn't that impressed with the Boston aquarium. The seal area was pretty nice though and it opens up to the harbor which was nice.

Couldn't tell you about safety, since I visited both of those during the daytime.

9/21/2009 2:01:59 PM

Don't waste an airline voucher on Atlanta! Jesus people, it's less than 6 hours away driving. Use that flight for something beyond what you can drive to.

Based on your criteria I'd say go to Chicago, but you have already been to that city so maybe somewhere else would be better.

How about the aquarium in Camden, NJ?

9/21/2009 2:27:02 PM

I hope no one posts the National Aquarium in DC. I was there in November and I was unimpressed.

9/21/2009 2:30:06 PM

yea, the Atlanta aquarium is definitely not worth the money.

9/21/2009 2:30:58 PM

I liked the aquarium in Charleston, SC. Went last summer.

9/21/2009 2:37:56 PM

The Shedd aquarium in Chicago is nice, but I don't think I'd go if wanting to see a great aquarium. I would probably try to go to the one in Atlanta.

Chicago is safe though, at least I never felt threatened while I was there. Obviously you'd like to go during the day, but the Shedd is on the Lake Shore and not in Southside Chicago, so you really shouldn't have any problems. If you can splurge, I'd recommend staying at The W on Lake Shore.

9/21/2009 2:44:42 PM

I heard the boston one was cool

9/21/2009 2:58:07 PM

Chatanooga has a better aquarium than atlanta but you won't find any hostels although its two hours from both nashvegas and atlanta. Theres also a pretty neat natural indoor water park.

9/21/2009 5:36:04 PM

I wasn't very impressed with the Atlanta aquarium to be honest. I mean it's huge, but I saw more variety at Ripleys in Myrtle.

9/21/2009 5:41:34 PM

re: baltimore - there are parking decks within a few hundred yards of the aquarium. Now, directly on the other side of those parking decks are a ton of strip and porn joints. So it's a little seedy later at night. But I've always been very comfortable walking around there in the middle of the day when I've been there.

parking is like $10-15 iirc. I was last there about a yr ago.


Camden, I know someone mentioned it as a joke because it's one of the most dangerous cities in the country.... but: It's a nice, smaller aquarium. And you could actually stay in philly and get over there via ferry (if they're still running, i dont' think they run back and forth all year round). And there's plenty to do in philly. You can usually get passes that include the camden aquarium, philadelphia zoo, and other attractions.

[Edited on September 21, 2009 at 6:29 PM. Reason : .]

9/21/2009 6:28:33 PM

The Shedd in Chicago is overrated, imo.

9/21/2009 6:38:22 PM

^^ From what I remember the Ben Franklin Science Museum in Philly is pretty cool too

9/21/2009 6:42:17 PM

atlantais

9/21/2009 6:43:27 PM

atlanta

9/21/2009 8:30:45 PM

How about Charleston? if you stay downtown you can walk to plenty of shops and restaurants

9/22/2009 6:19:53 AM

a friend of mine also suggested charleston

9/22/2009 6:52:51 AM

i went to chattanooga twice this summer and i really liked it. the aquarium sounded pretty good, but i didn't get a chance to go.

9/22/2009 7:51:42 AM

of those choices, Monterey Bay seems like the best place to go

9/22/2009 8:04:31 AM

Quote :

"Use that flight for something beyond what you can drive to"

9/22/2009 8:27:10 AM

Been to Atlanta's aquarium and loved it. I went in not knowing they had Whale Sharks, so that was an awesome surprise. Got to love the Beluga Whales too. Plus, you can head over to the CNN Center/World of Coke/Olympic Park when you're done -- it's all right there. It might be out of your budget, but there's a Days Inn right next to the Olympic Park that's incredible cheap (and safe). I usually stay there.

[Edited on September 22, 2009 at 9:55 AM. Reason : Just re-read the original post. These people are right ... don't waste an airline ticket to Atlanta.]

9/22/2009 9:52:32 AM

I totally think you should go to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. I went 2 yrs ago and it was AMAZING! Loved it! The sharks are always my favorite. Also saw a Dolphin show.

9/22/2009 10:36:37 AM

I've never been to those other aquariums but I can tell you that the New England aquarium in Boston is the best one I've ever been to.

Boston is a fun and safe city.

9/22/2009 10:51:32 AM

Baltimore is also a great one and there is alot of other stuff to do around it.

9/22/2009 10:53:14 AM

I vote for Monterey since there's a free airline voucher.

9/22/2009 11:00:07 AM

Baltimore has the best aquarium around- close enough to DC that you could stay there and just take a train over for the day. Charleston's not really worth the flight either- its barely four hours away but its an alright spot (I'd put it just above the FF aquarium) and a beautiful city.

9/22/2009 11:53:33 AM

Yeah I its not a totally free flight voucher. Basically I have $125 off the cost of the flight, so it isn't a huge loss it I don't use it. Given the time frame I have I don't think Cali is a good option. I really only have from early Wednesday evening to Saturday night (need to be back for an engagement party) which leaves me about 72 hours. If i go to cali I will end up spending ~ 23 of it in transit. AND the cost of that flight doubled sense yesterday... FUCK

Scrach cali. Its lookin like chicago. Its the cheapest flight by half

9/22/2009 12:56:18 PM

Quote :

"Camden, I know someone mentioned it as a joke because it's one of the most dangerous cities in the country.... but: It's a nice, smaller aquarium. And you could actually stay in philly and get over there via ferry (if they're still running, i dont' think they run back and forth all year round). And there's plenty to do in philly. You can usually get passes that include the camden aquarium, philadelphia zoo, and other attractions."

Yeah I mentioned it as a joke But I actually have been there; it was brand new when I lived up there and I went shortly after it opened. It was nice for what it was.

9/22/2009 12:58:03 PM

^^Chicago is good, the Shedd aquarium is pretty nice and you can also go to the Field Museum which is right next door.

I would recommend staying here, as mentioned previously - http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=2005

9/22/2009 1:32:47 PM

just had a thought -

You could fly to philly. your fare could be completely covered depending on when you go and who you fly with (What airline is the voucher for?). You can book a round trip to PHL from RDU for $117 total (wed eve - sat afternoon, mid oct) through SouthWest right now.

You can take the train (acela does like 150mph) from phl to baltimore for $60 round trip (1hr each way). And you can go to the camden aquarium too if you want. That's 2 aquariums, 2 cities. And there are hostels in Philly. Although, I've never stayed at one there to say how nice they are.

Anyhow, just a thought, it would allow you to get even more aquarium out of your trip if you really wanted.

9/22/2009 3:11:55 PM

just wanted to add that the Long Beach (California) Aquarium of the Pacific is pretty good. there is pretty decent public transit, but i'm not sure about hostels.

9/22/2009 4:52:17 PM

so its decided, going to chicago. However, the price of airfaire is dropping the last few days... i dont know if i should go ahead and purchase it or wait and see if it goes any lower (and risk it spiking again)

what should i do??

9/24/2009 11:50:02 AM

i thought you had a flight voucher? tickets flux some with low prices rising until very last minute when you can sometimes get screwed (really high) or sometimes get a great deal (really low)

if you're talking about less than $10, don't sweat it

9/24/2009 12:21:39 PM

Janitor son has good advice.

9/24/2009 12:23:59 PM

^^^buy now...you MIGHT save a few bucks waiting it out a couple days...but its more likely the price will jump up 40 or 50 bucks

what is everyone opinions of the NC aquariums? i went to the fort fisher one when i was young...but remember nothing about it. which of the aquariums is the best and is it worth the trip (i'd probably make a weekend of it)?

[Edited on September 24, 2009 at 12:59 PM. Reason : ]

9/24/2009 12:58:27 PM

the one in Pine Knoll Shores was renovated recently (like in the last 5 or so years). It's nice

9/24/2009 1:12:20 PM

As for the voucher...

Quote :

"Yeah I its not a totally free flight voucher. Basically I have $125 off the cost of the flight"

9/24/2009 1:58:37 PM

125 each way or just 125 total?

9/24/2009 2:37:45 PM