Branson’s Aquarium on the Boardwalk

/

The temperature was in the teens when we made our drive down to Branson to see the Aquarium on the Boardwalk. We were early enough in the day that there were not a lot of people already there. The entrance was a little daunting…too much plastic…but the displays of fish made up for that first impression. So many shapes and colors of fish! The signage could have been better; often there were fish on display without any signs to help identify them. One of my favorite tanks was the one with seahorses – some of which looked pregnant!

They had eels that looked menacing! There were also white margin unicorn fish which I had never seen before…and which I had to look up once I got home since there were no signs that I saw for it.

My favorite place in the aquarium was the display of jelly fish in cylinders and surrounded by mirrors on the walls…creating an infinity room with jellyfish everywhere! I made a short movie.

We spent about an hour at the aquarium and saw everything. It would take longer with a child…spaces to crawl into/see the fish from a different perspective, a touch tank, and a ‘kelp’ tower of platforms/netting to climb which we didn’t do. We did enjoy the Submarine Adventure (3-D glasses, cartoon, special seats) and it would be even more fun with children in the audience.

The building was purpose built for the aquarium – with a huge stainless steel clad octopus over one end of the building. I found myself wondering if they ever do behind the scenes tours. It must take a lot of work to keep the fish healthy over time and it would be interesting to understand more about how they do it.

This initial visit was an enjoyable ‘field trip’ on a cold morning.

Branson’s Butterfly Palace

/

Last week, my husband and I visited the Butterfly Palace in Branson MO – less than an hour from where we live. My daughter had visited several days before and recommended it.

There were butterfly sculptures and stakes along the short walk to the building.

We walked around the Living Rainforest Science Center first…then the Emerald Forest Mirror Maze. The maze was a bit more challenging than we anticipated…more fun too. But the big draw is, of course, the Butterfly Aviary.

Visitors are given a vial with a ‘flower’ on top that attracts butterflies. They sip the liquid (diluted orange Gatorade) while people walk around the aviary.

The paper kites seem to settle in on the ‘flowers’ and stay for the duration! It was very easy to take close pictures of them with my phone (one handed since the vial was in the other one!). My husband had more butterflies on his flower than I did on mine.

The butterflies in the exhibit were the same species as I’d seen previously at Brookside Gardens’ Wings of Fancy in Maryland. There were some butterflies with iridescent blue wings (blue morphos?) but I wasn’t able to photograph them. I like the malachite butterflies a lot but, in this exhibit, the paper kites were the stars on the day we visited. There were fruit trays and sponges in sugar water for the butterflies….very few blooming plants. The paths were too narrow to allow for photography with other than phones…but many of the butterflies were stationery enough to get close with the phone!

There were some small rainforest birds that stayed in the trees around where their food was placed. They were as iridescent as some of the butterflies.

Outside the aviary the butterfly theme continued everywhere – chairs, artwork, on the walls. The butterfly chairs are surprisingly comfortable; I sat in one until the 3D movie about Monarch Butterflies opened for the next showing.

The store is large and had a good selection. I was surprised to find a new, sturdier stand for my large glass birdbath (I didn’t use it last summer because I was too worried that the stand was not stable enough)!