San Antonio- Sea World

This weekend Nolan and I headed down to San Antonio to go to Sea World. I have never been before and I will say it is nothing like what I thought it would be. I was expecting a place where we would see lots of animals, like an aquarium but at an amusement park. To my surprise the only time you could see the animals was during the shows besides the sea lions, sharks, alligators, and dolphins. All the other animals you could only see during the shows.

So our Friday morning started off looking out the window to huge dark clouds. The rain will pass I kept telling myself. Oh how my optimism did not pay off this Friday! We were at the park by 9:45 right before it opened at 10:00. Right as the gates opened at 10:00 a huge down pour of rain started our adventure, oh what’s a little rain I kept telling myself. After about 10 minutes of down pour the clouds parted their way and we headed to see the sea lions. Nolan loved this area of the park; he got to see- The otters, sea lions, and seals. His favorite part was the seal in the window that would wave and give kisses. We then headed to see Cylde and Seamore in the Mystery show The Cannery Row Caper

Ready to go to Sea World

Waving and giving the sea kisses, yes he kissed and waved back

After the show the dark clouds rolled right back in, black this time! Uh Oh- okay we should go to an area that is covered- dolphins and shark reef. As we headed out from the show the rain was pouring down so hard you could barely see anything. We were soaked, we stopped in the gift show and bought an umbrella, best choice so far. Nolan sat tight in his stroller with full cover and mommy used her umbrella. When we got to the Dolphin Cove it was practically empty because everyone was taking cover from the rain. We got to see the dolphins up close and practically all to ourselves, Nolan got to reach out his hand and pet a few. I think he was more interested in the big pool they were swimming in than the dolphins themselves but he was smiling from ear to ear.

Next up shark reef! This area of the park was what I was expecting the whole park to be like, it was more of an aquarium feel. Lots of fish and the huge tanks were you could sit back and see everything. Did I mention this was the only covered area in the park, yes we were inside and dry! But we got stuck inside for about an hour and Nolan was cold with lunch time approaching.

Playing in the rain while stuck at the Shark Reef

We made a run for it in the pouring down rain, to head to a restaurant with the rest of the park and eat some lunch. In order to get here I had to walk through and area of the park where the water was up to my ankles! But we made it and ate a good lunch while the rain poured down.

Now comes 1:30, yes 2 and a half hours of being rained on at the park and it finally stopped to give us a break for a few hours. We got go to the penguin encounter, alligator alley, and the children’s area where Nolan got to ride Grover’s Round up a carousel for the first time. He was nervous at first but once he realized they were horses going up and down he was excited and patiently waited in line.

Then for the highlight of the day! 3:00 showing of One Ocean  otherwise known as Shamu! This was by far the best part of the day and worth waiting out the rain. It is incredible how large the killer whales are and how well trained they are.