Coaching for Pizza: A Sunday Trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific

Sunday, October 1, 2023

As it turns out, grandson Jacob has a keen interest in all things of a marine nature.

Thus, in planning our trip to the East Coast to New York City and the Boston College at Army football game to be played at Michie Stadium in West Point, he asked if we could go to the famous New York Aquarium located on the historic Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn borough of New York City.

After checking out all of the logistics, we simply did not have the time to give this aquarium the sufficient amount of time needed for a thorough visit.

Jacob was not happy about this unfortunate truth so I decided to try something logical to remedy the situation today.

The two of us were off to Long Beach

Neither one of us had ever visited what turned out to be an amazing aquarium right here in our Left Coast back yard.

While Jacob was excited to see

the aquarium, these two little guys

were in awe of this GIANT kid with

a bag full of snacks

Wait, those can't be real fish

This first "fish tank" was really an interactive exhibit where visitors can color all sorts of fish any way they desire.

Jacob opted for a Washington Huskies

motif on a Great White shark

I, for one, LOVED IT!

There it is lurking in the background

with its 5-0, Top Ten ranking

hunting for more wins

Sea plants of all types are exotic to me

No, Jacob did not color them purple and gold.

To my wonder, fish evolved into all

sorts of fascinating shapes and sizes

Like this one

What the heck is it?

So that's what it is

The Texas Longhorns are also 5-0 and Top Ten ranked by the way.

Jacob was intensely spellbound all

day long, a GREAT sign if you ask me

None . . .

. . . of these . . .

. . . are man eaters

I felt better about that while I contemplated our next beach sometime in the near future.

Of course there would be a

HUGE whale over this crowd

We both viewed the large hall with

various permutations of jelly fish

of wondrous eyes

A chance to touch some

oceanic life forms

Only a gentle two fingered touch was allowed.

Surprisingly, Jacob patted

several of these colorful species

along this artificial mini-tide pool

He truly loved all of these exhibits and thanked me dozens of times for taking him.

Later we visited another shallow pool with several species of rays or devil fish. He touched one and marveled at the velvety, soft texture of its skin.

How could I refuse his urging that I give it a signature two finger touch as well?

The three of us bonded.

One BIG crab!

A replica of a Great White shark's jaw

You know, danger can lurk in the oceans of this world at times.

What a day we're having!

Who doesn't love a cute,

photogenic Sea Lion?

We had now been at the aquarium for about three hours and were getting hungry.

When Jacob found out that we could get a re-entry stamp on our hand to return after lunch, we headed to MacDonalds.

Or so we thought.

The closest McDonalds was too far away to walk to it so we opted for Option B just next to the aquarium.

The Pike Outlets and its myriad

of restaurants got the call

Near the site of the Aquarium of the Pacific, was this outlet mall and several quality restaurants. The Pike area has a much different meaning to me.

When I was a youngster, the city of Long Beach housed a lot of U.S. Navy personnel.

The Long Beach Pike was the go-to spot for all sorts of people seeking thrill rides, exotic exhibits, tattoos and a few other things that may have been slightly on the tawdry side.

This was the site of The Pike where

the Aquarium of the Pacific now sits

Before Disneyland opened its doors in 1955, our family often made Sunday afternoon tips to the Pike which led to many of my fondest youthful memories.

The Pike was rated as Southern California's #1 amusement park as late as 1954.

Unable to compete with the entire Disneyland phenomenon, The Pike's attendance figures gradually declined.

In 1979, the last of my beloved, somewhat seedy Long Beach Pike was finally shut down.

The magical memory of The Pike's

entrance still brings a smile to my face

Anyway, we opted for a somewhat nautical themed dining spot in keeping with Sunday travel vibe.

Our Plan B was lunch option was . . .

Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company!

Jacob loved his mixed taste slushie drink, getting to keep the plastic glass was an extra added bonus.

After lunch, we headed back to the aquarium for a second visit.

Even though we had visited every single nook and cranny of the aquarium before lunch, Jacob wanted to go back for more.

What to do?

GAME ON!

We re-entered the aquarium for another 90 minutes of fun.

There was that

Texas Longhorn fish again

Undersea plant life is

both colorful and mesmerizing

Jacob loved watching

this octopus

This octopus continued to walk

along the glass of this exhibit

I must admit that watching this strange animal slither about caught my attention too.

I think that it is safe to say that

we both enjoyed a FABULOUS day!

I had such a good day.

It only got better when these two Los Angeles Rams fans got back into our car to find out that . . .

. . . our team won in OVERTIME

over the Indianapolis Colts!

The young, inexperienced Rams are now 2-2 which is much better than where I thought we would be at this juncture when I reviewed the schedule back in August.

This rookie WR from BYU is a big

reason for the Rams solid 2023 start

The 5-0 Washington Huskies are

still ranked #7 in this week's AP poll

The Dawgs have a bye this week before hosting the #8 ranked, also 5-0 Oregon Ducks on October 14th.

The Ducks also have a bye this week.

That is going to be such an important game with Pacific Northwest rivalry bragging rights, not to mention conference championship and national playoff implications, all on the line.

I'm sure that the Conference powers that be, in their infinite wisdom, will have the contest shown only on the lame PAC-12 network with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff to boot.

I do hope cooler heads prevail.

What About Mary?

In case you were wondering about our granddaughter Mary, when asked about joining us today at the aquarium she gave us a resounding "NO!" as she felt that such an excursion was, and I quote, "A boy's thing."

Instead, Mary joined Laurie for a girl's thing that included . . .