Sometime around 11, we returned to life, and after a quick shower and change of clothes, decided that it was about time to see about gettng something to eat. Our plan was for today to be a light day, to settle into being on vacation, and not to do too much when we were operating on relatively little sleep. We drove until something appealed to us, which in this case happened to be a chinese buffet. You’d be shocked at how often a chinese buffet appeals to us.
After lunch, we headed across the bay to the Texas State Aquarium, which I had been greatly looking forward to. The girls had gotten to visit the aquarium in Galveston, but I’d never been to one on the coast, and was hoping to see a lot of things that usually weren’t featured inland. I am happy to report that I was not disappointed.
As we approached, the sky was quite threatening, dark and gusty. I took some shots of the fountains on the way in (water sliding off the back of a whale’s tail, for example), although I forgot to take pictures of the brickwork in the walkway, which featured different sea creatures. Sadly, Angela’s back was bothering her terribly, and she didn’t have the stamina to get very far, so Brandy was kind enough to wheel her around while I went running all over like a deranged reject from National Geographic, photographing anything that happened to catch my eye. Let’s just say that later, we probably rejected 75% of what I shot, as I was still getting the hang of adjusting for the lighting. Between this and the Dallas World Aquarium, I have learned that the lighting in these environments is never good for casual photography. What looks bright to you is actually quite dim to the camera, and unless you can get the crowd to cooperate in getting out of your way to set up a tripod, you will either get dark shots, blurry shots (from having to take long exposures), or grainy shots (from having to raise the ISO – sensitivity, for those not versed in camera vocabulary), or tick off the staff and have reflections from using your flash. I opted for the grainy approah, as I have photo software that thankfully can account for a great deal of that, usually without degrading the image too much.
Sorry, didn’t mean to start technobabbling at you, but let’s just say that I really have gotten heavily into photogrphy as a hobby in the one year since receiving my current camera (it was a birthday present from 2008). I saw fish swimming in a circular tank, a whole pond full of hermit crabs, seahorses, a large tank simulating life below an oil rig, with dozens of large fish and a shark! I saw a barracuda just around the corner from that, and then jellyfish, where the room was so dark, I had people looking over my shoulder and seeing the pictures I got, then asking me how I pulled them off without using the flash. *beams proudly* I managed to show one or two who had a camera capable of it, and then caught up to the girls just in time for the dolphin show! I hadn’t seen a show like that since the summer that Seaworld opened in San Antonio, so I was very happy to see it live again, and lucked into some really neat acrobatic pictures.
Next, we wandered below, where we could see the dolphins playing in their tank from underwater, and then on to the rest of the lower level, where we got to pet some rays, see various birds of prey, walk some funky spongy stuff that apparently is what playground ground is made out of nowadays, watch river otters cavorting, and even some big sea turtles swimming, before we heard that the aquarium was preparing to close — we had completely lost track of time!
Heading back to the motel, the original plan had been to grab some supplies at HEB for breakfasts, but by this time, we weren’t really in the mood. Fortunately, we’d made dinner easy, by bringing some frozen leftovers from home….we just needed to heat them through and voila! Easy dinner. Course, before dinner, Angela opted for a nap while Brandy and I headed out to the Station Street pier….her for some fishing, and me to catch some sunset pictures. Just after dark, we made our way back, had dinner (mmm….chicken, broccoli, rice & cheese….), then Angela and I strolled to the convenience store for the few things we needed for breakfast and some ice cream. Brandy went to sleep first , while Angela and I stayed up a bit to play cards, before exhaustion finally overtook us. I think that was the earliest we have ever gone to bed while on vacation…..
