Free in LA – Aquarium of the Pacific and Long Beach
The next edition of Free in LA was on October 2, 2009. The Aquarium of the Pacific is a massive (12,500 animals, 650 species, covering 5 acres) aquarium situated in Long Beach. It is a non-profit aquarium but unfortunately the tickets are anything but free . . . . except on Friday nights. On (almost) every Friday night they open up the shark exhibit for free in their “Shark Lagoon Nights.” These events consist of live music, a playground for the kids, and shark & manta ray petting! The shark caretakers are also on hand to answer any questions. Petting sharks was awesome and gave a good sneak preview of what the aquarium has to offer. As always, pics are below:
Here is a water display at the entrance of the aquarium.
Well, I got a little creative with this pic 
You can see how the waves in the water alter the pic.
Joy is really not sure if it is safe to touch a shark . . .
. . . . so I was instructed to touch one first.
This one would follow you around trying to get petted . . .
. . . . and slap water at you if you didn’t pet him . . .
. . . so I petted him to stay dry . . . .
. . . as did Joy (safer than petting a shark).
After leaving the aquarium, Joy and I walked around Long Beach for a while. The view from the pier is beautiful and there are many shops and places to look at and eat along just a short walk from the aquarium.
This is a long exposure shot taken from the pier looking back towards Long Beach.
The aquarium and Long Beach are a great place for a cheap and fun Friday night date and easily accessed from anywhere in LA via the Metro Blue Line light rail.
When we arrived home, the cats where extremely hungry and had kidnapped a pink shoe and had worked on their puppy dog eyes