11 Month	23 Day	2005 Year	Grand Opening of the Georgia Aquarium
9 Hour	0 Minute	AM	Atlanta welcomes the largest aquarium in the world. Ava, Heather and I were there for the big event. Bernie Marcus, who personally funded the facility, was there. Everybody cheered. The facility is amazing. I didn't see one fish tank. All of the environments are pieces of art. Incredible. Ava did wonderfully. Not a peep for four hours. That kid rocks! As we exited I did a short q&a with one of the news radio stations in town. Who knows if it'll air. Maybe I shouldn't have said the PETA protesters had no valid claims and that the Atlanta aquarium kicks the Chattanooga aquarium's ass. Oh well. A great, historical day. Ava will be able to bring her children there and tell them that she was there for the grand opening... which will most certainly general eyes rolling into the back of their heads. Plan on making the trip as soon as you can... you'll love it! Update: Heather says they're looping a story on 90.1 WABE that includes me speaking. Nice. Apparently they edited out all of the negative stuff about PETA... and the reger.com and joereger.com plugs... leaving a positive statement about the aquarium bringing culture and education to the city. Trying to get a quick recording of it to post. Update: Ok, I gave up. Got hungry and made dinner. Maybe I'll catch it on one of their podcasts later in the week.
Timezone: US/Eastern
4 Years Ago
Author: Joe Reger, Jr.
Keyword Tags
Location: All Entries From This Location			Georgia Aquarium GPS Latitude: 33.7607303680635 GPS Longitude: -84.3945693969727
IMG_5357.JPG 0 bytes			People lining up in the 32 degree weather for the grand opening! We got there about 45 minutes before the opening and this was the line. It grew quickly behind us. We waited in line for about 20 minutes and put Ava's winter snowsuit on. Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5359.JPG 0 bytes			Who's that? Oh yeah... my wife and daughter. Keyword Tags: aquarium ava
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IMG_5362.JPG 0 bytes			The Georgia Aquarium Keyword Tags: aquarium
IMG_5363.JPG 0 bytes			Ava bundled in her winter snowsuit. "What the #~{&! dad?" Keyword Tags: aquarium ava
IMG_5367.JPG 0 bytes			Big Bernie Marcus being interviewed. Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5378.JPG 0 bytes			A tunnel under the largest water container in the place. Saw sharks and the whale shark above. Amazing. Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5390.JPG 0 bytes			Whale shark! Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5396.JPG 0 bytes			Ava actually spent a good bit of time looking at the fish. Keyword Tags: aquarium ava
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IMG_5414.JPG 0 bytes			OMFG. Check out this viewing deck. Most amazing part of the day. The two whale sharks and a number of actual sharks (the whale shark is the world's largest fish) behind a massive plexiglass wall. This thing is huge. I sat down in the back and fed Ava. We spent about 35 minutes here. Keyword Tags: aquarium
IMG_5415.JPG 0 bytes			The amazed and pleased crowd! Keyword Tags: aquarium
IMG_5416.JPG 0 bytes			Look at how big that fish is! Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5423.JPG 0 bytes			Whale sharks! The big draw! Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5426.JPG 0 bytes			Feeding Ava. Keyword Tags: aquarium ava
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IMG_5430.JPG 0 bytes			Hammerhead shark. Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5437.JPG 0 bytes			Whale shark! Keyword Tags: aquarium
IMG_5444.JPG 0 bytes			Whale shark! Keyword Tags: aquarium
IMG_5447.JPG 0 bytes			Whale shark! Keyword Tags: aquarium
IMG_5449.JPG 0 bytes			Whale shark! Keyword Tags: aquarium
IMG_5459.JPG 0 bytes			Whale shark! Keyword Tags: aquarium shark
IMG_5460.JPG 0 bytes			Whale shark! Keyword Tags: aquarium
IMG_5462.JPG 0 bytes			Whale shark! Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5469.JPG 0 bytes			The central area of the aquarium. Unlike most museums/aquariums, this thing is designed intuitively. There's a central area and five large exhibit areas fanning out from it. Easy. Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5473.JPG 0 bytes			I went back for a second spin in the water tunnel. This time with the fisheye lens. Get it?!?! The fisheye! Oh, man, I crack myself up! Keyword Tags: aquarium
IMG_5476.JPG 0 bytes			If you're ever swimming and you see this... kiss your ass goodbye. Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5490.JPG 0 bytes			Whale shark! Keyword Tags: aquarium
IMG_5491.JPG 0 bytes			Whale shark! Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5496.JPG 0 bytes			Whale shark! Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5509.JPG 0 bytes			Ava digging the lights in the central area. Keyword Tags: aquarium ava
IMG_5510.JPG 0 bytes			Opening day, November 23rd, 2005. Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5514.JPG 0 bytes			I do not want to see one of these on a tri swim. Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5537.JPG 0 bytes			Enjoying the under-reef view. Keyword Tags: aquarium ava
IMG_5538.JPG 0 bytes			Hanging with the Avester. Keyword Tags: aquarium ava
IMG_5540.JPG 0 bytes			Uh, yeah. Thanks for telling me my hair was askew Heather. Reply: "I didn't even notice." Even better. Keyword Tags: aquarium
IMG_5541.JPG 0 bytes			Don't worry little one... they can't eat you. Keyword Tags: aquarium ava
IMG_5544.JPG 0 bytes			Heather taking camera phone pics of... everything. WTF? I've got six megapixels and a big lens over here. Keyword Tags: aquarium
IMG_5547.JPG 0 bytes			Good to know. Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5554.JPG 0 bytes			The beluga dolphins. They're known for their personalities. We didn't spend enough time with them, but they did appear, at the very least, aware. This viewing window isn't as large as the main whale shark viewing window... but it's still pretty darn big. Keyword Tags: aquarium
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IMG_5585.JPG 0 bytes			The arowana! I used to have one of these! My favorite fish of all time. They had some big ones. These things jump up out of the water for flies. Which is how mine died. Rest in peace you jumping fool... rest in peace. Keyword Tags: aquarium
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Related Entries			Georgia Aquarium Opening Next Week Greg Brown's Subway Grand Opening Ava Goes to the Aquarium with Beep and Ball Tuesday, December 4, 2007 Atlanta to Belize
Time Period This entry took place during these time periods.			Tue, Jun 1, 1993 12:00:00 US/Eastern Mon, Jan 5, 2009 23:14:21 US/Eastern Ava Tallulah (view) Married to Heather (view) Tucker Home (view) Living in Atlanta, GA (view)
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