That's Not a Lake!

This year is the 10th Anniversary of the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward, and to celebrate on the 10th of every month they offer free admission to Alaskans. This seemed like a good excuse to go check out the place, so Matt & Bentley went down 2 weeks ago. Here's the report back from Matt:

Bentley and I went to the Seward Sea Life Center on a get-in-free day a few weeks ago.  It's the first time Bentley's done a true car-trip in Alaska, and the first time he's seen anything south of Anchorage.  Our adventure began in Anchorage with a trip for breakfast and driving goodies at the grocery store.  To my dismay, Bentley passed up all the sugary goodness I offered him – donuts, cookies, fruity bagels, chocolate milk, and juice drinks.  Luckily, Bentley found himself a snack as we passed through the produce aisles – nothing like a good red pepper to eat on a long drive. 

Heading south to Seward, we saw lots of rain and very little wildlife.  We enjoyed songs like "Wheels on the Bus", the 7 song, and "No, No, I never go to work" from They Might Be Giants.  (That last one got stuck in my head and became a favorite to listen to on my way to work for  the following week.)  I started pointing out lakes along the drive, and Bentley caught on that they were getting bigger each time.  He passed out for twenty minutes (missing out on two trains and the boat harbor), and awoke as I parked at the SeaLife Center.  He looked out the window toward Resurrection Bay, and with wide eyes, asked me, "Daddy, is THAT a LAKE??", to which I had to explain that we were near the ocean.

The Sea Life Center was an extraordinary place.  Having never been there myself, we had the chance to explore the center together – 3 times through!  Bentley wasn't so sure the glass would hold in all the critters of the deep, and he was not a big fan of the larger crabs.  Nor was he highly interested in the "petting zoo" for creatures of the deep.  But the spawning salmon exhibit, the eel, and the large aquariums were a hit.  The three main attractions were really interesting to him – the birds were fun to watch, especially since they kept swimming up to us for food, then taking-off and dive bombing for food in their aquarium.  The seals at the zoo have been gone all summer, so Bentley enjoyed seeing his friends playing in Seward, but the "Seal Ion" (how Bentley says Sea Lion) kept us entertained for more than a half hour.  We watched him from upstairs outside.  We watched him from inside upstairs.  And we watched him swim in circles, waving to the kids downstairs.  I think there's something fascinating to kids who see an animal that weighs a couple of tons swimming through the water. 

We topped off our adventure with a walk through the small boat harbor and a stop for lunch of fries, dino-nuggets, and chowder.  All that learning made us really hungry!  It was a great adventure and I'm looking forward to doing something similar with all the kids next year!

P.S.  At about 5 hours of sitting in his car seat, Bentley decided he'd had ENOUGH DRIVING.   I'm not sure he's ready for a cross-country road trip.