by Sarah Young

With spring on our heels, we start to tuck the coats away, set the clocks forward, and spend more time outdoors. When they days get longer and the air gets warmer, children seem to wake from the spell of winter with renewed energy and prepared for fun. The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta provides just that for the whole family.

A short trip from Columbus provides an underwater adventure with animals from all over the world. For example, the African penguin, found in South Africa, and the Asian small-clawed otter, found in South America, both call the Georgia Aquarium home. In five different galleries, children can see more than 100,000 animals of 500 species. “The World’s Largest and Most Engaging Aquarium” fully lives up to its name, providing touch tanks and grand views, including an acrylic tunnel with a view of the massive aquarium on each side.

There are five galleries: Georgia Explorer, River Scout, Coldwater Quest, Ocean Voyager and Tropical Diver, which represent a variety of habitats. One, the Ocean Voyager, is almost as large as a football field and holds 6.2 million gallons of salt water for the three whale sharks and their 100,000 “roommates.” The Coldwater Quest is all rocky coast and chilly water for the penguins to play. And in Georgia Explorer and Coldwater Quest, touch tanks are a huge hit with the kids. Children squeeze into every nook and cranny around the tanks, taking turns to touch stingrays, shrimp, sea anemones, starfish and even horseshoe crabs. Aquarium employees stand by the tanks and patiently answer floods of questions that the enthusiastic children ask, hardly taking a moment to breathe.

The aquarium is kid-friendly, offering lots of little extras made with children in mind. The windowsills to the large windows in Ocean Voyager are deep, so that kids can sit on the edge and watch the fish swim by. In Georgia Explorer, kids take turns climbing in and out of a giant model of a whale. In Cold Water Quest, a tunnel leads right up to the penguins where kids can be nose-to-beak, separated only by the acrylic window. River Scout is full of cave-like crawl spaces, offering little ones different views of the fish swimming around them. And before you enter each gallery, there are even areas for “stroller parking,” so that moms and dads can navigate the sometimes cramped exhibits freely.

Much of the aquarium was created with kids in mind, but the whole family is sure to enjoy the trip. After all, how many adults can say they’ve watched a beluga whale playfully blow bubbles, or stood in front of one of the largest windows in the world, watching hammerhead sharks and giant grouper swim by? And your children will never forget the day they saw sea lions swim or touched the tentacles of a sea anemone.

Cost: Children (3-12 years) $18 Adults $24 Seniors (55+) $20 Parking $10 in parking deck Hours: Sunday-Thursday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Location: 225 Baker St. Atlanta, Ga.	Directions: From Columbus, take I-185 N. Take the exit onto I-85 N, toward Atlanta. Take the Spring Street exit- 249D, and keep following signs. Turn right at Spring Street NW. Slight left at Centennial Olympic Park Drive NW. Turn right at Baker Street NW. More info: www.georgiaaquarium.org (404) 581-4444