The Georgia Aquarium was the last major stop on the first day of our little mini vacation to Atlanta, Georgia. It’s usually considered the most popular tourist attraction in the state, arguably competing with the zoo. It had been ten years since my last visit, and I remember being a little unimpressed back then, but that has definitely changed.

We happened to visit later in the evening rather than the afternoon, and we were informed that it was Glow Night. Parts of the main floor looked like we were about to play laser tag, but they also had a lot of cool performers who would appear in the central area from time to time as we explored the different exhibits and aquatic animals.

My son Alexander absolutely loved the sharks and, honestly, just about everything else in the aquarium. Sharks were one of the first things we got to see, and he kept squealing with excitement every time a big one swam by. He’s more of a dinosaur kid than anything else, but he definitely has a giant soft spot for sharks.

The Georgia Aquarium claims to be the number one aquarium in the United States, which is funny because I’ve seen similar claims at Ripley’s Aquarium as well. Regardless, if you’re visiting Atlanta and enjoy aquariums, it’s hard to imagine skipping this place. That’s especially true if you have kids, because they really do make the experience even better compared to my visit ten years ago when I was a childless guy.

Even though I forgot to take any pictures of it, we did get to see the dolphin show, which was pretty darn cool. We stayed until fairly close to closing time, and I think we missed the sea lion presentation, but we still had a fantastic visit. Out of me, the kids, my wife, and my mother, we all voted the aquarium as our favorite attraction of the entire trip.