Sea World - Day 4

This day was our most favorite one of the whole trip. When we were planning our trip and looking for specific places to visit in each city, I discovered that there was a Sea World in San Antonio. I was so excited, because Sea World has been on my bucket list since I was seven when my Mom told me about the time that she got to go with her family when she was a kid. However, after looking at ticket prices we realized that it was going to cost the entire amount that we had budgeted for the trip (of our own money and not what the magazine was going to cover). I was really torn, because I wanted to go SO badly but didn't know how we could do it. Brian emailed the people at Sea World telling them that we were going to be in town testing cell phones and tweeting about the areas we visited and asking them if they could tell us about any ticket discounts. Well, three days later, Brian got an email back from them saying that they wanted to give us two complimentary tickets to the park and free VIP passes for the preview of their new water park, Aquatica, that was happening the night we were going to be there. We couldn't believe it! We never expected free tickets! They also let us know about their Sea World app for smartphones and Brian was able to review the app while at the park. So be watching for an article on PCMag about that.

We left Houston early in the morning and drove the 3 1/2 hours to San Antonio. We went straight to Sea World because we wanted to spend most of the day there. It was bright and hot and wonderful!

 The first thing that we did when we got there was to check out the times for the shows. The Shamu show had just started, but was clear across the park, so we hurried over and caught the last half of the show. It was the coolest thing ever! I loved it, even though we were standing at the very top of the stadium.

The whales splashed the people in front with their tales. Boy can they throw a lot of water. The spray went halfway up the bleachers, and the people in the front were completely soaked.

We got to feed the ducks and flamingos.

We were nearby the part of the park with the rides and we were so hot so we went on one of the water rides. We ended up standing in line forever. It was a Friday and there were tons of high school band groups at the park. We were surrounded by highschoolers as we stood in line and they all seemed so young. Funny how when you're in high school you feel so old, but you're really not.

Brian and I got put on a raft with four of the high school kids. It was a fun ride, and we got sprayed as we went through which felt so nice in the hot weather. On the ride there was a waterfall near the end and the raft turned just before we went under it so that Brian and I were the main targets. We got soaked! It was so fun.

After the ride, we went and had lunch at one of the stands. There was another huge line, so I stood in line and ordered our food while Brian wandered around doing some more testing of the app. Finally we sat down together to eat on a picnic table in the sun to enjoy our food. We were still dripping wet from the ride as we ate. 

Brian had been eyeing one of the roller coasters called the Great White the whole time we had been there, so when we passed by and the wait time was only five minutes he went for it. I'm not a roller coaster rider at all, so sadly he went alone. He ended up on the front of the ride and loved it. There was a loop-d-loop and a spirally twist and everything. He loved it, but later confessed that he might be getting too old for crazy roller coasters because it kind of made him sick. hahaha 

We went through the penguin and puffin exhibit. It was dark where the penguins were and the sign said that the temperature behind the glass was 37 degrees. Brrrr....too cold for me. The puffins were super cute though. We got to see one of them doing some snorkeling.

We headed back to the area of the park where most of the animals were located. We got to see the alligators.

I loved seeing the turtles sitting on top of this alligator to get some sun! The koi fish swimming by them were huge. They were at least a couple feet long.

We stopped to watch these guys working on this sand sculpture. It was pretty impressive.

When we reached the portion of the park for the dolphins and sharks, there were signs saying that that part of the park was closed. I was disappointed because I really wanted to see them. So we headed back the way we came and found out that there was a dolphin show starting in 15 minutes. We got excellent seats, and were there early enough that I had time to walk down to the very bottom and get pictures of them as they swam by the glass. The dolphins were Pacific White-sided Dolphins.

The show was really just training time for the dolphins that we were let in to see. They talked a bit about how they train them and we learned that experienced dolphins will actually help teach the younger, inexperienced dolphins. They are such smart animals.

Waving their tails.

After the dolphin show was over, we stuck around for a little while. A whole bunch of kids ran up to the front and were looking at the dolphins through the glass. The dolphins swam up to the glass and were looking at and interacting with the kids. It was very cute.

We then headed back to the Shamu arena for the last show of the day. We decided to be brave and sit in the splash zone, but not that brave because we were still halfway up. There was just a mama whale and her baby in the tank this time, when before it had been three adults. We got to watch them swim around for awhile.

The baby whale kept swimming up to the glass and spitting water at the crowd. We realized that she was actually aiming at the trainer lady walking around by the glass. She would come up and splash the trainer with water and then swim away. The next time she swam up she splashed the trainer with her tail. The trainer kept laughing and trying to walk away fast so as not to get wet, but the whale would follow her and splash her anyways. It was so cute to see it being playful.

Finally the show started and the trainers came out. They called the whales over and threw big armfuls of fish and ice into the whales' mouths. But the whales were being uncooperative and just wanted to swim around and not participate, so the show was cancelled. I was glad that we had caught the one earlier.

At this point it was 6:00pm and the park was closing, so we had to leave the park. We walked out to the car and dropped off some of the stuff that we had been carrying around that day. Then we headed back in to the VIP event. We checked in at the front and walked in. It was a huge water park! There were at least three towers of water slides, with three or four slides per tower. There were tons of pools and whatnot. It was awesome! Brian got us some pineaple/orange juice drinks that were colored blue and we headed over to the food tables. There was lots of fruit, and small pieces of chicken and ribs. It was delicious.

After eating, we got to pet a wallaby.

Then we discovered the stingray pool. We got to pet them! It was the coolest thing. They were small, brown stingrays and they felt so weird. Slick and soft, almost slimy but not really. It was awesome. Then we realized that they were handing out little dishes of sardines so that we could feed them!

We were a little nervous at first because we didn't know what we were doing or how we were supposed to feed them. Brian went first and would jerk his hand out of the water just as they started to swim by because he got nervous, either that or drop the fish. Finally he figured it out and just held the fish, and the ray swam over the top of his hand and sucked the fish into its mouth.

So I went next and did the same thing that Brian had done at first. I would pull my hand out at the last second because I was nervous! hahaha The rays' mouths are on the underside of their body, quite a ways in from the end of their heads so it was a little unnerving to have to let them swim so far over you. But soon I got the hang of it. It was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced.

After playing with the rays, we decided it was time to go see the rest of the park. I was lame-o and didn't go on any of the water slides. I know, I know. I waded in the wave pool, but then just chilled on one of the reclining chairs under an umbrella on the "beach" portion of the park. The sand was so soft and there was a perfect cool breeze. It was so relaxing and nice to stretch out and enjoy the rest of the night. Besides, someone needed to stay with my purse and our stuff, and I knew Brian would enjoy the slides a lot more than I would.

Brian was so cute! He was like a little kid running back and forth to go on all the water slides. He would go on one and then come find me and excitedly tell me all about it. Then he would run off to go on another one. I'm so glad he had fun, because he has been working extra hard lately and he deserved a day of fun and relaxation.

We snagged a couple bite-sized raspberry short-cakes on our way out of the park once the event ended. It had gotten dark and the sting ray pool was all lit up.

They had these HUGE parrots there and Brian wanted his picture taken with them.

The gates were all lit up as we walked out of the park and back to the car. They gave us a sand bucket and shovel with a towel as we were leaving. We are definitely going to have to go to the beach now in New York to use our handy-dandy new gear.

We drove to our hotel, all sun tanned and happy. What a wonderful day! Another thing we can check off my bucket list! Hooray!