Walking Under the Sea at Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto!

August 11, 2015 / morganonthemap / Leave a comment

Jellyfish have got to be my new favourite thing. They are so cute and small, or big and alien looking! After a trip through Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto, Canada, you’ll probably love jellyfish too. Jellyfish, and sharks, and eels, and clown fish, and turtles, and rays and, and, and… this place is massive! There are so many different types of sea creatures living within this aquarium that I couldn’t possibly ever figure out what they all are called let alone name them! If you’re heading to Toronto any time soon, or ever really, then this is a place you have to go. Have to. I think it’s my new favourite place.

Here’s what the door looks like, so you know where to go, you know, when you go. (Go, now!)

Ok, so once you are through the door, head to the payment counter and get the painful part of any attraction over with. This baby is situated right beside the CN Tower, so it’s not going to be the cheapest part of your day. Wait now! Before you close the article at that and run for the hills, let me say this, considering the awesome packed into this building, it’s not an outrageous price. As of writing this article, the prices are $29.98 for an adult or kid over 14, $19.98 for those between 6 and 13 years old, $9.98 if you happen to be between the ages of 3 and 5, and finally $19.98 if you are 65 or older and, and this is key, are willing to admit it! If you are the type of person who has a schedule and can stick to it, rather unlike me, then you can even save $3 (that’s THREE WHOLE DOLLARS) off your ticket by buying a time specific ticket in advance. Which adds up if you are bringing your hoard of children with you. Which you should, they will love this place!

After you rip off that bandage and pay, you get to explore! Wander through the halls filled with tank after tank of amazing sea creatures. It wouldn’t be fitting if they didn’t start you off checking out the creatures found in Canada’s very own waters. That’s right, that means it’s time for a gigantic blue lobster!

What? You thought I was kidding? I wasn’t kidding! Look at this thing!! Not going to lie though, I did use some photo editing here… to tone down the blue. Yes, that’s right, to make it less ridiculously blue looking. So you could actually look at it without thinking that the Blue Man Group has taken to doing under water shows.

Moving right along past Mr. Blue, there are many more things to see. Granted, picture taking can be a little tough. Thanks to the extra thick glass designed to keep all that water where it is supposed to be, all the finger and face prints on said glass, the wonderfully reflective properties of, once again, the glass which kindly allows all the emergency exit signs to be clearly visible in your photos and finally the fact that those darned fish just won’t STAY STILL… it’s not the best picture taking adventure. However, even with all that, pictures are still worth taking. Just many times they don’t turn out well for use on say… a blog?

Here’s one of my favourites, in all its unedited glory! You can still see how pretty it is there right? It may not do much for you, but it brings back the memories for me.

Seriously though, one of the best parts of the whole thing is the tunnel. You can choose to walk through it while paying attention to things like where you are walking (don’t) or stand on the little moving side walk and stare with mouth gaping open at the beauty all around you without having to think of trivial things like which foot to move next (do that instead.)

I can see you over there, other tunnel people! Ok, not really, but I can see the tunnel.

The giant glass tunnel is basically a giant u-turn. You start on one side of the massive aquarium, go through to the far side and back around to a different spot on the first side again. This brings me to an important point. While you travel through the whole place in a very linear, point A to point B fashion, you can cheat the system a bit here and go back. After you exit the tunnel you can slide back through a small hallway and enter the tunnel at the beginning again. We weren’t the only people doing this, so I’m pretty sure it’s totally allowed. Either way the ride through the aquarium underwater is worth a revisit.

You’ll want to go through at least twice to have as much shark time as you’ll suddenly feel you need to have!

As much as I loved going through that tunnel. It wasn’t my absolute favourite moment. For me, that came later, as I wandered through the jellyfish exhibits. I spent an awful lot of time watching and trying to take pictures of the little jellyfish. They were just so adorable.

If they weren’t highly delicate sea creatures that can’t survive outside of water I’d have wanted to just snuggle one.

As amazing as the little ones were, the cherry on top, the crème de la crème, the icing on the cake, was when I turned a corner and found myself facing a giant wall of larger jellyfish. Standing in the darkness, surrounded by mirrors and looking into a tank of jellyfish moving up and down with the current was mesmerizing. They had it set up with lights, shining from within the tank that made the jellyfish themselves appear to be constantly changing colour. I quite literally could have stood there gaping all day. In fact I would have, had my family not come looking for me wondering what was taking me so darned long to get to the next exhibit.

Had it not been for the people walking around me also trying to see the jellyfish, I would have sat right down on the floor to forever watch these creatures move around and change colours.

If you are in Toronto, regardless of whether you are travelling with kids or not, get your butt to the Ripley’s Aquarium. See the deep sea creatures you otherwise never likely would see, and stand mesmerized in my jellyfish heaven so that you too can experience the feelings being so surrounded by such a strange beauty can invoke.

Afterwards, be a good little tourist and exit through the gift shop! Buy your kid, or yourself, a stuffed fish or get the typical souvenir spoon or shot glass (that last one should probably not be for your kid…) I hope you have fun at the Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto! I sure believe that you will!

Visiting the Toronto Zoo

July 2, 2015 / morganonthemap / Leave a comment

My family and I recently took a trip to Toronto, which was great since we haven’t taken a family trip in ages! Or it was great, until we had to spend 14 hours together in a small pick-up truck to drive home… then things got a bit dicey. But that’s not the point of this post! The point of this post is to tell you about one of the biggest attractions in Toronto, the Toronto Zoo!

When I was a kid there used to be a TV show on all the time that was just about the Toronto Zoo. It showcased the zoo keepers and let you get to know the animals they handled. By the time I first went to the zoo I knew the names of half the animals in the place. Probably could have told you the family tree of all the apes too. However, my first trip to the Toronto Zoo as a child was a bit disappointing. It was enjoyable, but nothing like the show made it out to be. This time, returning as an adult I had high hopes. I wanted to see some animals that you just don’t find in your back yard every day.

My intentions were good, but the weather was bad. It poured buckets down on us. It rained like you wouldn’t believe! That didn’t stop us though. We hung out under cover or in the indoor exhibits during the worst rain, and during the breaks in the down poor we got to head outside to see the larger animals.

The indoor exhibits were nothing to scoff at! They were like indoor rainforests, with animals in their habitats and birds flying free.

Each building had it’s own charms and themes, but my favourites were the ones that were like stepping into a tropical forest. The reptile house was especially interesting as all those scaly things were firmly placed behind glass where I could look at them without having to actually touch them! I’m not actually that bad with snakes, and lizards certainly don’t bother me. I’m sure that somewhere in that zoo there is a building dedicated to bugs and spiders though, I’m just glad I didn’t accidentally stumble upon that one. That would have been it for me.

I really liked these guys! Green is one of my favourite colors, and they were such a nice shade!

As nice as the smaller creatures were, I wanted to see some of the bigger animals. The ones that are in all the children’s cartoons, and all the stories from my child hood and… let’s be honest here I just really wanted to see Simba… I mean a lion.

This big guy was relaxing after a big lunch. We just missed his feeding but we caught him before he laid down for his nap!

The lions were a personal favourite for me. Seeing them this close and knowing the power they have is something else. While we somehow managed to tour the zoo about a half hour behind the zoo keepers doing their feeding schedule, we still got to see most of the animals just before they nodded off for a post meal nap.

The Rhinos at the zoo were dozing off too! No one wanted to show off for us, but we were glad to see them just the same!

There were some pretty cute animals to see as well, they weren’t all of the tough or scaly variety. I mean come on, red freaking panda. It’s not even a good photo angle and it’s still adorable!

Look at this little guy! He’s so cute I could just cuddle him! (If he wasn’t a wild animal, be careful kids, don’t try this at home.)

Overall my family and I had a great day at the zoo. Rain or no rain. It still didn’t live up to my childhood visions of grandeur, but as far as zoo’s go, it’s worth a visit. Part of our problem was visiting just before high season, so a lot of the shops and food stalls weren’t open yet. That and the rain. I’d recommend going on a beautiful sunny day, just before animal feeding time. That way all the animals will be out and about, you’ll get to hear from the zoo keepers as they do their feeding’s, and the animals won’t all be napping!

…I mean really, even the frogs were asleep.

Visiting Fredericton: Sugar Bush at Kings Landing

May 24, 2014 / morganonthemap / Leave a comment

Maple syrup: it’s a Canadian staple and the best way to enjoy it is melted into fresh white snow (Again, that’s white snow, NOT yellow!) and then wrapped around a stick and popped directly into your mouth like a lollipop. That or on pancakes, or both if you can manage, and you can. Often called Maple Taffy, I recently enjoyed this gooey treat at Kings Landing Historical settlement outside of Fredericton NB, Canada.

Kings Landing goes all out for their Sugar Bush event weekend, which happens every year in March. They do everything historically and by the books – no new technology here. Once the sap starts running in the maple trees, the workers take their buckets out to the trees and start collecting the not so tasty maple sap. They then put it into giant black cauldrons over toasty fires to boil it into maple syrup. Then they open the park for the first time in the season, and let the customers in.

Boiling the maple sap into syrup!

Because Sugar Bush takes place in March it’s a good idea to bundle up before you go. If you do find yourself getting cold though, you can huddle around the fires and listen to one of the kind gentlemen working the syrup as he explains to you how the process works. Plus, the table where they make the candied snow is right beside the fires, so you can set yourself up with a steady stream of sugar as you heat up, for only two dollars a pop.

Making Maple Taffy

Once you’ve had your fill of the Maple Taffy, be sure to explore the rest of the historical settlement. You can hop onto a free sleigh ride, pulled by giant horses, that will take you past old homes, brought to the settlement for historical preservation, and give you magnificent views of the, currently frozen, St. John River. You can hop off and visit the farm, where there are pigs, horses, cows and sheep. Kids love going inside the barns, but this is no petting zoo – these animals are huge. The man who takes care of them assures me they are safe, and is clearly attached to his oversized “pets.”

The caretaker of the animals

Beside the barns you’ll find the first of the old houses. Inside it’s like a small museum with antique furniture showing how people used to live and do their chores. However, it smells nothing like you’d expect in a museum, no musty old odour. Instead it smells like fresh pancakes. Head into the kitchen and watch the ladies cook on old-fashioned cook tops, then sample the tasty pancakes they serve up. See, I told you you could manage Maple Taffy AND pancakes! Before you leave this house, be sure also to ask to try to spin some wool on the wheel.

Finally hop back on the sleigh ride and make your way to the other side of the settlement. Here you’ll see the famous mill up the river and the main building called the Kings Head Inn. At the inn you can, and should, enjoy a hot chocolate or a hot apple cider. Then buy a voucher to try venison being cooked over yet another camp-fire up the path.

The Kings Head Inn

If you’ve never had venison before you should definitely try it. If you don’t know what it is, it’s deer meat. This year was my first experience eating it, and while I’m glad that I tried it I can’t say I liked it very much. My friends that I was with loved it though. It’s a bit chewier then meat that I’m used to eating, and it has that “gamey” taste that had previously been described to me. It’s also covered in maple syrup BBQ sauce, so that part was amazing.

Overall Sugar Bush at Kings Landing is a must do activity if you are in the Fredericton Area in March. Stepping into Kings Landing is like stepping into a time machine. Don’t rush a visit, there is so much to see, do and learn. Wander around, take some pictures, have some candy, and immerse yourself in the history presented all around you.

Morgan On The Map

The Stories of my World Travels

Canada

Walking Under the Sea at Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto!

Visiting the Toronto Zoo

Visiting Fredericton: Sugar Bush at Kings Landing