Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN

Traveling is so important to me. When I go somewhere, and I finally return home, I find I appreciate being at home for a few days. That being said, summer vacation for school is coming to a close, and even though we didn't get to do a whole lot this year, we got to do just enough to say that our summer was pretty awesome.

I am in east Tennessee, and where I live I am pretty close to a lot of cool places. Knoxville is only a 30-minute drive from me, and they have some pretty cool places to go. For the locals, Safety City is a great free event to take your kids to on a day when the weather is nice, and kids are bored and full of energy. And the Knoxville Zoo is one of the leaders in conservation, and endangered species preservation, and is located near the Fair Grounds where lots of events happen, such as car shows, rodeos, livestock auctions, gun shows, the world fair, and even RC Car racing (which is really cute). They also have a splash pad, and several kid play areas.

But heading to the other direction, were about an hour's drive from the beautiful mountain city of Gatlinburg, which is connected to Sevierville. This is where things such as Dollywood (there will be an article on that, as soon as we get to go!), helicopter rides, dinner and theme shows... Obviously, many people have heard of Gatlinburg, Dolly Parton's hometown. It's touristy, but beautiful. And even as a local, I enjoy going there and enjoying the bustle and festive atmosphere (though I admit, going in the winter there is less traffic and better deals since it's not really 'tourist' season until the summer).

Gatlinburg is also home to many Ripley, Believe it Or Not! themed buildings. One of the Ripley buildings, which is not so much based off the famous show we all loved as a kid, is the Aquarium. As mentioned in my zoo article, I don't generally approve of zoos ... or aquariums. Aquariums especially leave a sour taste in my mouth. Yes, they are a great experience for kids, and entertainment, and seeing trained dolphins do a dance routine at Sea World is awesome... but what we don't know is what happens to these animals or how they are kept up behind the scenes is what worries me.

Large animals are not meant to be in cages. And that goes for sea creatures as well. None of us should be naive enough to think that all aquariums and zoo's have the animal's best interest in mind - not when there's a lot of money to be made and humans are naturally dark and greedy. Which is why... I love the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg. Much like my beloved Knoxville Zoo, Ripley's Aquarium is part of the AZA, which is the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

They are the ones that take pride in conservation and preservation, as well as rehabilitation. And as someone who has now enjoyed this particular aquarium 3 or 4 times now, I can honestly say I have never had an experience there that has made me question the animal's welfare here. And they don't just boast about being part of conservation and preservation efforts, they actually back it up. Not only is this aquarium run on locally sourced renewable energy and resources, but they also participate in local and non-local cleanup efforts, their staff being uniformed so that it helps raise awareness and makes a statement.

I have always said that preserving our planet starts with awareness and education. It's crazy how many people are oblivious to things that are obvious to those of us who work or volunteer in nature rescue, conservation, and restoration. How there is trash everywhere. How it affects our wildlife. People really don't know or realize just how many species in the world are declining rapidly because of human contamination and carelessness and most of all: ignorance. But how are people supposed to know if they aren't taught, right?

I guess that Ripley's Aquarium thinks the same thing, so they focus a LOT on education. They have programs for schools so that children can take field trips to the aquarium at discounted rates, and what's cool about this is that even home-school programs exist! There are a LOT of education opportunities here, and they encourage people to make ecologically better decisions at home and in nature, and I really love that.

Every single enclosure and tank is pristine. It smells a little like fish when you walk in, but that's because you're walking into a giant saltwater zoo full of life. Everywhere you turn, there are beautiful displays of strange and magical-looking creatures. In the center of the zoo, there is a 2 story play center for kids to run around in, and be interactive with some of the tanks with schools of colorful reef fish. They even have an elusive octopus.

There is a bottomless boat ride in a giant pool of sharks, made to look like a shipwreck, and it floats over a giant tunnel where people can walk through, to get an immersive experience with the sharks. They have hammerheads, tigers, sawfish, manta rays, and schools of ocean fish. There is a belt in there for you to stand on, and it moves you effortlessly through the giant tunnel, so all you have to do is stand there and look left, right, and up to be able to enjoy the fish, and wave to people on the boat.

They have a room that they change up every few months or a year that is interactive. When we went at the end of July, the theme was volcanoes, and there is education on Polynesian water voyagers. Turns out Disney's Moana had it right, they really did measure the stars for directions! Manta Bay is a cute place where a large amount of manta rays can be seen swimming, and during certain times there's a sensory area where you can actually pet mantas, sea cucumbers, starfish, and other small harmless and more sturdy aquatic life that can handle little hands touching them. But that doesn't mean that these animals are just left to the grubby paws of tourists, they only have them out for a select time, so the animals don't get stressed.

They have breeding programs for some endangered animals, and even some of the weirdest creatures too. Some of the animals they breed are cuttlefish, cownose rays, Seahorses, Clownish, Cardinal Tetras, Horseshoe crabs, jellyfish, and whitespotted bamboo sharks, and even breed coral! They also work with other aquariums that do captive breeding programs so they can exchange animals as needed. I think it's kind of cool that instead of money, they will trade fish they breed for other fish another place breeds. This helps with the 'greed' image that aquariums and zoos give off, and says they care more about animals than the money. What's even cooler is they even cultivate and breed some of their own food for the smaller animals, such as algae, brine shrimp and other stuff.

My personal favorite part is the Penguin Playground. You can see emperor penguins in a safe habitat, where the kids can duck under and climb through, poking their heads up to see actually inside the habitat. In the gift shop, you can buy Penguin Art (which is actually real penguin footprints in paint on a canvas), and it goes directly into conservation efforts. You can even pay to play with the penguins or do the painting with them.

They also have penguin walks, where they take 3 or 4 of the penguins, and take them for a walk around the whole aquarium. We're not allowed to reach out and touch them, but it's so cool to see them waddling right next to you, with no glass between you. I was thrilled I got to be so close to a penguin, and it was surprising how big these emperor penguins really are. There are also mermaids here. Like real ones. At least that's what my little girls thought when they got to watch two mermaids dancing in one of the tanks of fish (there are no sharks in this one, thankfully or that would have stressed me out). It's a free show that happens a few times a day. My younger daughter Marlee has been obsessively watching Little Mermaid ever since.

Other add-on activities that you can pay to do here is Pancakes and Penguins (breakfast with penguins), Breakfast with a Mermaid, where you get to have a big breakfast with a mermaid swimming around, and then you get to take selfies with the mermaid after before looking around the Aquarium, and there's even an adult activity called "Pint's and Penguins" where only people 21 and older can attend- for obvious reasons.

I have not been able to do any of the additional activities with the kids, like play with the penguins or breakfast with a mermaid, but they are most certainly on the bucket list of things to do. Reason being? It's expensive. If you are planning on taking a family trip to the Aquarium, you had better be prepared to spend a pretty penny, especially if you are adding on extra activities. It's really one of the only downfalls I can say of this aquarium, is it IS expensive. Events such as play with penguins and such are not included in your admission price. And unlike the Knoxville Zoo, they do not EBT (snap/food stamps) discounts on tickets. They do, however, have combo tickets for the Aquarium and the other Ripley's attractions in Gatlinburg.

However, with all the upkeep of hundreds of fish and about 30 penguins (who can eat about 30% of their body weight a day, by the way - that is a lot!) and conservation efforts that they do, I can't say that it's unreasonable. Not to mention, the aquarium is in the mountains - so it probably is a lot of money to keep everything perfect. As we all know, fish are pretty delicate creatures, and any mistakes in water Ph levels or temperatures could spell disaster for these endangered animals.

All of that being said, if you aren't a local and you're just visiting our beautiful little corner of Tennessee, I will tell you the Aquarium is one of the better things to do as a tourist. It was worth seeing the wonders of Ripley's Aquarium, and getting up close and personal with the amazing creatures of our world's ocean.

I hope you all liked this article!

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