Julie’s Birthday Visit to Shedd Aquarium
On Sunday, Julie and Bob visited us in Chicago to celebrate Julie’s birthday. We met up at the Shedd Aquarium, as it was a surprise gift from Liz (the last time Julie was here, she opted to not see the jellyfish exhibit due to cost).
As of now, the jellyfish exhibit is no longer a special, separate event… but part of the overall aquarium’s collection.
On walking in, we saw this display – and it stopped everyone in their tracks.
Lion’s mane jellies.
Japanese sea nettles.
Spotted lagoon jelly.
Overall, the exhibit was surprisingly small. But at nearly ever display, there were tons of folks crowded around (cameras and cellphones in hand), absolutely mesmerized. Calling these guys hypnotic is an understatement, and I found myself often transfixed in place – unwilling to move.
At a large placard celebrating volunteers at the Shedd, I noticed that at the top of the list was one name: Eileen Semeniuk, rocking it out with 15,000 hours of service.
Bob did some quick math, and factoring in 8 hour work days, 5 days a week, with a week or so of holidays… that added up to around five years of nonstop work. Funny side note: when we showed Liz this sign, she did her own calculations as well, and came up with the same number (though she didn’t factor in vacation days).
Liz and Julie, peeking in at the 360 Carribean Reef exhibit, on our way out.
We followed up with a nice dinner at Ruth’s Chris, where we ended up spending over 3 hours just eating, chatting, and hanging out.
You may notice some of Julie’s gifts above, but I’d also like to point out that both Bob and Julie were locked into their cellphones early on in the meal. Liz and I were both making quiet jokes about “putting the cellphones away,” but I don’t think either of them heard us.
Kids and their cellphones these days. I tell ya.
Related:
Julie’s Birthday Day in Chicago
Fantastic photos, Felix. And thanks for the animated ones, too. I can watch those tidbits over and over. There’s nothing quite like the motion of those creatures.
I thought my photos were cool, but they can’t hold a candle to yours.
http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2010/10/apple-486-jellyfish.html
juliet (October 23, 2013 at 2:12 am)