RSS FeedDC’s National Aquarium – Don’t Go For the Fish
After our visit to DC’s National Aquarium we were set to tell our readers not to waste their money. But a little online research has us changing our tune, just a bit. We still wouldn’t recommend it as a major family outing, but it might be a worthwhile visit… just not for the obvious reasons.
A couple of weeks ago a friend came downtown for an afternoon with his own one-year old daughter and we decided to meet up at the Museum of Natural History. PQ Mom had taken our daughter there earlier and she loved the mammals exhibit with all the large animals. On this occasion, however, we hit the museum at the wrong time and there was a huge line just to get in the door. Lacking patience, we decided to go somewhere else and walked over to the National Aquarium on 14th Street, since neither of us had been there before.
If you don’t know already, the DC’s National Aquarium (not to be confused with the identically-named aquarium in Baltimore) is in the basement of the Department of Commerce building at 14th and Constitution Ave, NW. Admission is $9 for adults, $6 for kids ages 3-11, and free for kids under 3. There are military and group discounts available as well.
As we approach the entrance with kids in tow we notice a banner promoting shark week (we assume this coincides Discovery Channel’s Shark Week) and after we get in, we watched a video of sharks on screens designed to look like ship portholes. That’s it, there are no other sharks to be seen in the aquarium, and no live sharks at all. It was not impressive to say the least. The aquarium itself is equally disappointing; essentially it is just a really dark room with several fish tanks installed into the walls. For us, the overwhelming feeling was more of pity for the fish stuck in the dingy tanks than anything else. It’s so small that, even at a one-year old’s non-walking pace, you can easily get around the entire aquarium in about 10 minutes. When you combine the small public viewing area with the lack of light (it was so dark that our daughters could hardly see the fish unless they were right up against the glass), well, we left thinking that we won’t be able to get those 15 minutes back.
It was in researching the background of the National Aquarium for this post, however, that we came across some facts that were pretty interesting. According to the National Aquarium FAQ:
- The DC National Aquarium is the nation’s oldest aquarium;
- The National Aquarium was first established in 1873 in Woods Hole, MA as part of the Federal Fish Commission. In 1878, The National Aquarium moved to the site of the Washington Monument, and consisted of holding ponds, known as “Babcock Lakes;” and
- The Fish Commission became part of the Department of Commerce in 1903, and moved into the building of the Department of Commerce Building in 1932.
It’s funny how a little thing like “Nations Oldest Aquarium” can change your attitude. While our recommendation stands at “don’t go there to see the fish,” it might be worth $9 to you for the historical side of things. You get to check out the nation’s oldest aquarium and see a little bit of history of the Commerce Department. For us, that part of the aquarium is more interesting than the wildlife held in the tanks.
[Editors Note: Image courtesy of the DC National Aquarium website]
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That’s funny – I was there about a month ago and they had some (small) sharks in one of the tanks – I think it was the outer banks one. My two-and-a-half-year-old daughter loves that place. It is nice and cool on hot days, you can get right up next to the pufferfish and sea horses, and best of all there is no one there, so noisy toddlers are not the nuisance that they are at Air & Space or Natural History.
My boys are now in their 20’s but they loved this acquarium, in some ways more than the one in Baltimore. When they were young, before entering the room with the fish tanks, they would play with the turtles, salamanders, hermit crabs and other animals that lived if not in the water, then close to the water. This was an open exhibit where they were allowed to pick up and examine these creatures close at hand. I think this feature was a main attraction for them. But they also found the fish tanks fascinating, especially since they could see the fish up close – I remember them being mesmerized by the tanks of pirannahs and sharks, especially at feeding time. That they were able to go right up to the tanks and see the fish made it better for them than Baltimore. And, of course, no one telling them to move on. They also had a great selection of books for toddlers and slightly older children. Along with the Museum of Natural History, I found it to be a wonderful resource and great weekend entertainment for my boys, one of who eventually worked in the reptile house at the zoo.
TRUE,I VISITED THE AQUARIUM IN THE 80S AND EXPECTED MORE OUT OF IT NOW. BUT TO MY SURPRISE THERE IS NO REAL DIFFERENCE IN THE FISH DISPLAYED THERE. NOT WORTH THE MONEY UNLESS YOU HAVE REAL SMALL KIDS YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY FOR.HOPEFULLY DC WILL INVEST IN MAKING IT BETTER OR A NEW ONE.
Speaking of things to do around PQ. The Butterfly Habitat Garden is so prety this time of year. Just walked through it this morning and so many flowers are blooming right now. It’s usually a short visit for me, but definitely worth the time.
I actually heard recently that they are planning to expand the aquarium by several thousand square feet (I think something like 16,000 sf) as well as create a new, tourist friendly entrance on Constitution Ave. I believe the NCPC is reviewing the plans this year and construction should commence in 2011. INMO, the B’more aquarium is too crowded and too expensive… DC’s is much better for small kids.
General Services Administration (GSA) to move the entrance of the National Aquarium from 14th Street to Constitution Avenue, NW to coincide with the Aquarium’s relocation within the Department of Commerce building. GSA proposes moving the Aquarium from its current 18,000 square foot location with the basement on the building’s north side to an approximately 30,000 square foot basement-level site on the building’s south side (Constitution Avenue). Plans for the new entrance pavilion include two 42-inch high and 216-feet long granite clad walls spaced ten feet apart. A staircase and an accessible ramp located between the walls would lead down to the Aquarium’s entrance. New signs will be located at both ends of the pavilion and engraved on the rear pavilion wall.
FWIW, the National Aquariums in DC and Baltimore have had a shared membership policy since June.
http://nationalaquarium.org/membership.html
And here’s a history of the DC location:
http://nationalaquarium.org/faq-beginning.html
We love the aquarium, but we wish it were free! We are so spoiled in DC with all of the free places, so it’s hard to pay 9 bucks. The aquarium is actually much better now than it had been a few years ago!
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How true! I wish the Aquarium would play up a little bit more of the history of the place and a little less pretending to be an actual, you know, Aquarium.