OdySea Aquarium

 OdySea Aquarium is the anchor for the Arizona Boardwalk, a two story entertainment complex with eight additional attractions plus restaurants and shops located around a central courtyard. 

The exhibits begin by highlighting the importance of freshwater rivers around the world with aquariums featuring fish, turtles, crocodiles, and otters. Exotic tropical fish, sharks, stingrays, sea turtles, jellyfish, and a multitude of sea creatures fill the many tanks on both levels of the aquarium. There are four touch pools and a theater that rotates (similar to Disney's Carousel of Progress) past four 46-foot wide aquariums as an recording describes the sea life in each aquarium. Extra price attractions include up close tours with sloths and penguins, and a underwater water walk which requires donning a wetsuit to interact with fish, sting rays, and even a shark.

   

My favorites were the tanks filled with colorful clown fish and living coral. All the aquariums are scrupulously clean and it shows in the health of the fish, coral, and other sea life. 

 

The aquariums and the theater are accessible. The escalator, surrounded by an aquarium, is not accessible but there's also a tunnel aquarium - not quite as cool but still nice. The touch tanks are all too high. I don't think the extra attractions are accessible. 

 

The parking lot at Arizona Boardwalk where the conservatory is located is large enough for any vehicle. Aquarium  33.55472, -111.87765

Palmetto State Park Campground

Back in time! Somehow I missed posting about this park and campground that we visited over a month ago when we were in Texas. We really enjoyed the park so I don't want to skip it. 

The park has two small campground loops, one with water and electric and one with water only. Both campgrounds have the basic amenities such as paved parking pads, picnic tables, fire rings. and restrooms. The water and electric loop has showers and a dump station. The steep Low Water Crossing Trail provides a footpath connection between the two campgrounds. Driving from one loop to the other necessitates leaving the park and driving a short distance on FM 2091. 

 

There are eight short trails in the park. Three are designated as moderate and the rest are easy. I think the length is the only determination for the moderate designation because all are are well maintained and fairly level. We walked rolled along the Ox Bow Lake Trail, the only one located in water only loop. The trail circles a small lake and is accessible except for a short, steep climb at a road crossing. 

We also walked/rolled along the Ottine Trail and a portion of the Palmetto Interpretive Trail. Both are accessible but a boardwalk on the Ottine Trail does not fit flush with the ground. 

  

        

 

 We camped in Site 38 in the water only section. The parking pad is narrow so I recommend either Site 25 or Site 32 which have double wide parking pads. The campground does not have designated accessible sites but most are usable. Park  29.58986, -97.58569

 

 

Butterfly Wonderland

 

The main attraction of  Butterfly Wonderland is a large conservatory featuring hundreds of free flying butterflies but there's also a small gallery with butterflies emerging from chrysalises plus a 3-D movie and small tropical fish, insect, and reptile galleries.

 

A sign in the conservatory states that 1000 butterflies are released every week. Since butterflies live about three weeks there are thousands of butterflies in the conservatory at any given time. However they are not all flying around. Some are hidden in the foliage so the number of butterflies visitors see is actually a much smaller number.  

  

 

We happened to luck out and visit on a day when visitors can watch a butterfly release. The butterflies are newly emerged from their chrysalises so they're groggy and the staff will gently place them on visitor's shoulders on request. 

 

The butterflies get a little tattered as they near the end of their lives.

 

The conservatory is accessible with ramps to a slightly elevated area. The theater has spaces for wheelchairs.  

The parking lot at Arizona Boardwalk where the conservatory is located is large enough for any vehicle.  Wonderland  33.55451, -111.87619