Girl About the World

Kids gather around a touchpool at Georgia Aquarium.

I’ve written quite a bit about Atlanta before — like my search for the adorable newsman Anderson Cooper and my obsession with a fish that looks exactly like a grandpa — and this time, I’ve tackled the family-friendly attractions in the city for The Family Groove.

There’s tons to do in Atlanta with kids of all ages. You might want to start downtown, where the Georgia Aquarium (the world’s largest) and the World of Coca-Cola sit as two behemoth attractions within sight of each other. But that’s just the beginning of this friendly Southern city’s sights for small fries. For more suggestions on where to eat, play, and sleep in the area, check out the story here.

(for a full-size version, click any photo)

Atlanta is home to Georgia Aquarium, the world’s largest, and when I see a stat that includes anything like “world’s largest,” I’m there. Unfortunately, so was everyone else. It’s crowded, to be sure, but that’s because it really is a great aquarium.

Highlights for me included the Asian sea otter sisters all curled up together sleeping, elephant nose fish, a fish that seriously looked exactly like a grandpa (see picture at right), and the monstrous whale sharks.

Animals aside, what I liked most was the layout – it was easy to navigate and make sure you hit every section (my biggest concern whenever I pay an admission fee more than $10). Each time you went through an exhibit, you’d pop right back out to the center, where you could move on to the next one. This also made it easy to revisit any section you particularly enjoyed without having to walk through everything again (I stood in the ocean tunnel twice, and saw lots of different creatures than the first time around).

Although it’s the world’s largest, it wasn’t as big as I expected – if you’re moving at a brisk pace, you can cover the place in about an hour. And I only had to elbow 10 or so kids out of the way to see everything I wanted to. :)