CAB Goes to Baltimore
by Maggie Yoder ‘11
Staff Writer ··································
On March 1, CAB sponsored a day-trip to Baltimore. One long bus ride later, and we were in the inner harbor with instructions to meet up at the aquarium at 2. The first thing I did (dragging my friends along with me) was head to Phillips, a fantastic seafood restaurant on the inner harbor. Phillips’ crab cakes have the honor of being the only seafood I will eat. They are ten dollars a pop, but flakey buttery and very, very, fresh. The trick of course is to eat seafood before going to the aquarium.
Baltimore’s inner harbor is filled with restaurants, shops, and museums. Their “mall” area stretches from one side of the harbor to the other. Each building has glass plated windows, giving the effect that even when inside you are privileged to an ocean view. After spotting Filene’s Basement (an outlet store) there was just enough time to browse the racks before going to the aquarium.
After meeting up in the aquariums central lobby and receiving free tickets (from CAB), we walked into an ocean world. The aquarium has three central exhibits. One exhibit is an open tank with at least twenty sting rays and a beautiful spotted shark. It is always a site to witness a small child reaching their hands out to giant sea creatures only a little ways away. I believe that sting rays have developed a bad reputation as of late, because in person they are graceful curves that ebb and flow with the current. The second main exhibit features at least twenty sharks. To reach the exit, the visitor has to descend into a giant tank. In this exhibit everyone bumps into each other, because they can’t take their eyes off the sharks circling around them. The third exhibit is a transition from the ocean world into a tropical environment on the buildings roof, with views overlooking the entre harbor. The tropical jungle exhibit features everything from parrots to piranha’s and one large sunbathing iguana.
After a day of seafood eating, harbor shopping, and ocean watching, we headed back to Ashland. I was happy to have spent a day away, in the presence of graceful stingrays.
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