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taz_39 HEADS UP, I made a post yesterday/Tuesday!! You can read it HERE if you missed it.
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**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.
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I was up early so I could have breakfast and get to the New England Aquarium right when it opened.
The plan was to spend 2-3 hours at the aquarium, then walk to James Hook & Co. for a lobster roll as I've been told that's a "quintessential Boston experience." It would have been a good plan except the aquarium is much smaller than I'd anticipated, and only took maybe an hour to completely walk through! That said, they had so many animals and reptiles and fish and whatnot on display that it was worth sticking around for an additional hour and working to get good pictures. Here are some, enjoy.
These penguins look like they're forming a band.
An aquarium worker kidnapping some penguins during a feeding and training demonstration.
Nozzlefish. No that's not what it's actually called.
Some anemones.
I forget what fish this was but he was posing.
Harbor seal.
Right whale skeleton.
This pacific giant octopus was difficult to photograph, even after spending two hours here and coming back to his tank multiple times. People were always jostling and crowding around his tank, and he additionally did not move an inch for the whole time I was there. Ah well, can't blame him. I finally just snapped this picture from the side of a group of pushing children, and gave up on getting a good shot :p
On the other hand, I was able to get REALLY good pics of the aquariums 95-year-old(!) sea turtle, Myrtle. She is huge and beautiful and lives in the big central tank along with stingrays and tuna and blowfish and such.
Here is the top of the central tank, which is four floors deep. You can see Myrtle there by the stairs.
Circling the tank for quite a while, I finally was able to catch Myrtle as she passed close to me.
The second part of this video has a short bioluminescent jelly clip.
Poison dart frog. The kids loved this tank so it was VERY dirty with fingerprints and smudges, plus bad glare on the glass, so it took me several tries and coming back several times to get this picture. Beautiful blue frog :)
Kid looking at fish looking at kid.
By 10:30 or so it was SO PACKED in there, like major airport levels of packed. You couldn't even walk, everyone had to sort of shuffle forward. I was very very glad I'd A) worn a mask and B) come early and been able to see the animals up close before the crowds got there. Like I said, it's a small aquarium but there's a lot to see and it's definitely worth a visit, but if you want good views I'd say come close to opening or closing hours and cover as much ground as you can.
Getting back outside was a relief from the press of people, and it was sunny and nice :) I walked along the pier to James Hook & Co., which is sort of a legendary spot for fresh lobster. The Hook family is from Maine and sometime around 1925, James Hook and his sons began trucking their fresh-caught lobster down to Boston to sell on the waterfront. Soon they were selling to top Boston restaurants, and eventually the family became a distributor and opened a waterfront shack serving lobster rolls and other seafood delights. TL;DR it's a Boston institution and one of those must-eat, historic, specialty places.
The service was lousy but the lobster roll was pretty great. Big chunks of claw meat, sweet and tender, coated in mayo and served on a toasted potato bun. Simple, but that's what highlights the fresh flavor of the meat.
If you want other decorations like lemon juice or pepper they're at a condiments counter nearby. This was the cold roll but there's also a hot one that comes with melted butter instead of mayo. They also sell freshly cooked lobster, live lobsters to take home and cook yourself, misc shellfish, crab cakes, and lots more. But the lobster rolls are the main thing. I enjoyed it very much. Expensive, but what a treat and a taste of Boston history.
Had a lovely walk back in the sun and spent much of the afternoon creating this blog post. No plans for the rest of the day...I'd honestly thought the aquarium + lunch would take longer than it did. No worries, I got to binge some anime, read, eat snacks, and finally finish Indianapolis Foodie Finds.
The evening show was good and we had a really awesome crowd :) Though I gotta say, the pit was too cold even for me (I'm the last to complain about pit temps because I don't use my fingers to play.) It was 61°F (16.1°C). That may be a lovely temperature when you're outdoors and the sun is shining. But do you set your thermostat to 61 degrees in your house before you go to bed at night? No? Whyever not? Because when it comes to air-conditioned rooms, 61 degrees is COLD, that's why. And so we played wearing sweaters and coats tonight (black, of course) and we may source out some hand warmers tomorrow. I really hope tomorrow will be, like, seven or eight degrees warmer, but won't get my hopes up.
But seriously that aside, great show and I'm looking forward to a good week while Jameson is here!!
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Wednesday: Nothing planned, probably a chill day with a walk or something. Prepping the room for Jameson's arrival. One evening show.
Thursday: A rare two-show weekday, so nothing planned. Jameson arrives!
--- --- --- --- --- ---
**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.
This post covers Tuesday only.
--- --- --- --- --- ---
I was up early so I could have breakfast and get to the New England Aquarium right when it opened.
The plan was to spend 2-3 hours at the aquarium, then walk to James Hook & Co. for a lobster roll as I've been told that's a "quintessential Boston experience." It would have been a good plan except the aquarium is much smaller than I'd anticipated, and only took maybe an hour to completely walk through! That said, they had so many animals and reptiles and fish and whatnot on display that it was worth sticking around for an additional hour and working to get good pictures. Here are some, enjoy.
These penguins look like they're forming a band.
An aquarium worker kidnapping some penguins during a feeding and training demonstration.
Nozzlefish. No that's not what it's actually called.
Some anemones.
I forget what fish this was but he was posing.
Harbor seal.
Right whale skeleton.
This pacific giant octopus was difficult to photograph, even after spending two hours here and coming back to his tank multiple times. People were always jostling and crowding around his tank, and he additionally did not move an inch for the whole time I was there. Ah well, can't blame him. I finally just snapped this picture from the side of a group of pushing children, and gave up on getting a good shot :p
On the other hand, I was able to get REALLY good pics of the aquariums 95-year-old(!) sea turtle, Myrtle. She is huge and beautiful and lives in the big central tank along with stingrays and tuna and blowfish and such.
Here is the top of the central tank, which is four floors deep. You can see Myrtle there by the stairs.
Circling the tank for quite a while, I finally was able to catch Myrtle as she passed close to me.
The second part of this video has a short bioluminescent jelly clip.
Poison dart frog. The kids loved this tank so it was VERY dirty with fingerprints and smudges, plus bad glare on the glass, so it took me several tries and coming back several times to get this picture. Beautiful blue frog :)
Kid looking at fish looking at kid.
By 10:30 or so it was SO PACKED in there, like major airport levels of packed. You couldn't even walk, everyone had to sort of shuffle forward. I was very very glad I'd A) worn a mask and B) come early and been able to see the animals up close before the crowds got there. Like I said, it's a small aquarium but there's a lot to see and it's definitely worth a visit, but if you want good views I'd say come close to opening or closing hours and cover as much ground as you can.
Getting back outside was a relief from the press of people, and it was sunny and nice :) I walked along the pier to James Hook & Co., which is sort of a legendary spot for fresh lobster. The Hook family is from Maine and sometime around 1925, James Hook and his sons began trucking their fresh-caught lobster down to Boston to sell on the waterfront. Soon they were selling to top Boston restaurants, and eventually the family became a distributor and opened a waterfront shack serving lobster rolls and other seafood delights. TL;DR it's a Boston institution and one of those must-eat, historic, specialty places.
The service was lousy but the lobster roll was pretty great. Big chunks of claw meat, sweet and tender, coated in mayo and served on a toasted potato bun. Simple, but that's what highlights the fresh flavor of the meat.
If you want other decorations like lemon juice or pepper they're at a condiments counter nearby. This was the cold roll but there's also a hot one that comes with melted butter instead of mayo. They also sell freshly cooked lobster, live lobsters to take home and cook yourself, misc shellfish, crab cakes, and lots more. But the lobster rolls are the main thing. I enjoyed it very much. Expensive, but what a treat and a taste of Boston history.
Had a lovely walk back in the sun and spent much of the afternoon creating this blog post. No plans for the rest of the day...I'd honestly thought the aquarium + lunch would take longer than it did. No worries, I got to binge some anime, read, eat snacks, and finally finish Indianapolis Foodie Finds.
The evening show was good and we had a really awesome crowd :) Though I gotta say, the pit was too cold even for me (I'm the last to complain about pit temps because I don't use my fingers to play.) It was 61°F (16.1°C). That may be a lovely temperature when you're outdoors and the sun is shining. But do you set your thermostat to 61 degrees in your house before you go to bed at night? No? Whyever not? Because when it comes to air-conditioned rooms, 61 degrees is COLD, that's why. And so we played wearing sweaters and coats tonight (black, of course) and we may source out some hand warmers tomorrow. I really hope tomorrow will be, like, seven or eight degrees warmer, but won't get my hopes up.
But seriously that aside, great show and I'm looking forward to a good week while Jameson is here!!
----------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday: Nothing planned, probably a chill day with a walk or something. Prepping the room for Jameson's arrival. One evening show.
Thursday: A rare two-show weekday, so nothing planned. Jameson arrives!
no subject
Date: 2026-04-22 01:20 pm (UTC)Love all the fishy shots. The nozzlefish cracked me up. Nature is weird and I love it.
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Date: 2026-04-22 01:39 pm (UTC)I think the nozzlefish is actually this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campylomormyrus_rhynchophorus
Interestingly, it generates a small electric charge.
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Date: 2026-04-24 01:11 pm (UTC)I always joke with our head of maintenance that if he sees me NOT wearing a sweater then he needs to adjust the thermostat because it's going to be too warm for the show. I'm in a hoodie at work even sweltering mid-summer.
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Date: 2026-04-24 07:36 pm (UTC)Totally get that! I have Reynauds so my hands and lips turn purple and get stiff when I’m cold, so I always have a jacket or sweater. If I’m comfortable I know it’s too hot. All we’re asking for is between 68-75, I think that’s very reasonable in 2026.
no subject
Date: 2026-04-26 02:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-22 02:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-22 04:25 pm (UTC)Thank you, glad you enjoyed the journey!
no subject
Date: 2026-04-27 09:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-28 01:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-26 11:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-26 11:51 pm (UTC)