It was nice knowing that I’d still be able to explore aquariums when my corporation moved myself and others from Tampa, FL to Chicago, Illinois without my consent last year.
- All of my family is in FL & living down there is all I’ve ever known since I rarely traveled & never lived anywhere outside of Tampa for longer than a few nights at a time.
One thing that I recognizably liked about being so close to the ocean was the marine life. The Gulf Coast of FL was full of aquariums, beaches, piers, & all sorts of drop off points where you could interact with marine life in a single capacity or another. It felt like I was losing something dear to my heart moving away from this area, however I didn’t realize how similar Lake MI is to an ocean. While this freshwater Great Lake is devoid of saltwater & the sort of marine life that comes with it, it still interacts with wind currents in much the same way, producing surprisingly immense waves that can drown people who aren’t careful enough along the coast lines. On top of the waves, there are dangerous rip currents in Lake MI just from the geographical shape of the body of water & how the wind interacts with the natural water flow. But if you simply want to visit a lovely aquarium to see some of the marine life from back at home, there’s the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago that I enjoy a lot. I can go inside with a cannabis oil pen in my pocket to use discreetly in the washrooms while in quick breaks from tied up tours. It’s located along the shoreline of Lake MI within the Museum Campus with the Field Museum & the Adler Planetarium.