With Carl and I both having full time jobs and new to this home ownership business, sure we spend a lot of time together but we don’t have much time to really enjoy each others’ company without chores.
We decided to set off on a date night.
Ever since visiting the Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World in Thailand (the largest in South East Asia), Carl and I both wanted to visit Riley’s Aquarium in Toronto when it opened in 2013 but never found the time. We figured this would be the perfect opportunity!
Ripley’s Aquarium’s admission structure is quite interesting – it depends on the time of day you go:
- Express (any time) tickets – Adult $29.98, Senior/Youth $19.98, Child $9.98
- Timed (reservation required) – Adult $26.98, Senior/Youth $16.98, Child $6.98
- Saturdays between 8am – 10am – Adult $24.98, Senior/Youth $14.98, Child $4.98
- After 7pm – Adult $24.98, Senior/Youth $14.98, Child $4.98
Being a Friday night date night, this worked perfectly.
Walking through the aquarium, the Dangerous Lagoon stood out to us. Of course, it is the largest tank in the aquarium at 2.9 million litres of water. This underwater tunnel displayed news perspectives of the sea world – you see the bellies of sting rays to the jaws of the sharks. What I loved about it was the slow moving side walk that allowed everyone to see everything without pushing and shoving. We got the chance to see everything and desperately tried to find a still shark to do a #sharkselfie with.
By now, we reached the middle of the galleries at the Discovery Centre and I thought we were done. At this point, I was already more than satisfied but was ecstatic to see there was still more!
We were just in time to catch the Colin the Diver in the tank with the sting rays – did you know they’re all females so they wouldn’t overpopulate the tank?
The highlight of our night was Planet Jelly. When I first saw the wall of Pacific Sea Nettles, I thought it was a stack of monitors. The water was so clean and clear and the jellies were just beautiful, but what did we learn? These jellies carry a paralyzing toxin.
We absolutely loved the Ripley’s Aquarium, though a little pricey, there was lots to learn and lots to do for both children and adults.
Might I also suggest, there’s a great underground Green P in the area that we frequent at 40 York Street with the most reasonable rate in the area ($6.00 after 5pm).
Up next we headed over to America Restaurant at the Trump Hotel for Summerlicious. America offered an interesting pairing of food. I got the fried chicken with matcha waffle drizzled with a vanilla syrup and pickled watermelon. While I loved the taste of the chicken, everything was over powered by the sweetness of the syrup. As the main course, I got the Wellington Strip Loin with BBQ brisket. Both the meats were cooked perfectly but the sides were so salty that it was almost unbearable. Lastly, we finished off with the key lime pie for dessert. The taste of the lime was so sour that I only ate two bites of it. Would I go back? Maybe not for the food but it had a nice atmosphere, though not much of a view even on the 31st floor.
You can read more Summerlicious reviews here.
Life Outside the Inbox 