Ryan’s Movie Corner

By Ryan Vickers

 

Or should I start with “Ryan’s Rainy-Day Dreaming Chapter One.”

 

Hello everyone!

 

After a year of movies and television, I am resting Ryan’s Movie Corner to focus on a different aspect of exploring the underwater world.

 

So, picture this: you’re at work or home. Trying to focus on preparing a report, getting dinner ready, or maybe making sure the kids are doing their homework. While attempting to stay on task, you might drift off and start dreaming about something you heard about or maybe even a place you want to travel to.

 

With that being said, I would like to suggest a couple of places you can rainy-day dream about visiting. This time it will be “in real life,” but in the future, it may be from the comfort of your own home.

 

DESTINATION ONE: The Aquarium of Niagara

Location: Niagara Falls, New York, USA

 

I feel that I need to start with this rainy-day destination as it is near and dear to my heart. At one point many years ago, my friends and I were volunteers with this establishment! We had the thrill of jumping into the display pool (once the creatures were in an adjacent aquatic “resting spot”) to clean up after the lovely creatures and were able to wave to patrons of the aquarium. I especially enjoyed this opportunity as I realized I would have been the small child on the other side of the pool’s glass every time!

 

I can heartily recommend the aquarium and its lovely facility, which has improved greatly since my days of frequenting the locale. While there have always been sea lions and other exotic fish, there has now been the addition of penguins that quite often are found in the outside areas (beyond the reach of customers, mind you!)

 

The Aquarium of Niagara is located within steps of the Rainbow Bridge that connects Canada and the United States, thus making it accessible for many people in the area. The aquarium is open most days (save for major holidays) from 9 am-5 pm.

 

DESTINATION TWO: Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

Situated just a couple of hours drive down the Queen Elizabeth Way from our first destination and located in the heart of Canada’s biggest city downtown is Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada.

 

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in just a few short months, the aquarium offers a variety of marine mammals in its numerous galleries featuring Canadian waters and those worldwide. You can even pop into a glass bubble to be much closer to the aquatic creatures but also organize a group to have a sleepover while sharks travel above you in a glass tunnel (while staying dry, of course!)

 

Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada is located near Union Station, which is Toronto’s downtown transit hub. Like many big cities, parking in Toronto is expensive and hard to find. Union has subway, bus and train services that allow connections from both the city and longer treks.

 

See you next time with more rainy-day dreaming!