Ow, sunburn, ow
While most of the really cool people whom I know/stalk were in Toronto, Lilith and I were out working on our sunburns tans at Sea World of San Antonio. I still have no idea what genius figured that the middle of a drought-stricken prairie was a good location for an ocean-themed park, but it’s been there for twenty years now, and Lilith was curious, so off we went to see the critters and watch some shows.
We saw a show that starred a whole lot of rescue animals who traipsed around an old-west stage doing tricks and generally being adorable. I was impressed at how they had cats and dogs sharing stage time without freaking out, but when they brought on ducks, pigeons, a pig and a kangaroo, I was really impressed. They have some very capable animal trainers on staff, clearly.
They also have a great team of water-skiers:
(This gave me flashbacks to a certain Go-Go’s video from the early days of MTV:)
Note the American flags. Just in case, you know, you had sun stroke and forgot what country you were in.
So long, and thanks for all the fish:
Oooh, I shouldn’t have eaten all that fish:
And a little shot I like to call “Fuck you, I’m an alligator“:
Lots of critters, lots of shows, and lots of incredibly over-priced beverages. And towards the end of our day, we of course had to visit the star of the whole park, Shamu.
As expensive as the park is (about $50 for one adult), those last two photos really made me want to go back, just for the photography. I took my Nikon D200 with a 55-200mm kit lens and for most of the park, that worked great. But the lighting and the distance in the Shamu Pavilion made it very hard for me to get decent photos. Most of them had bad blurring either from camera shake or motion blurring. I think later in the season when it gets cooler, I might spend the money to go back and try to really nail some pictures of that show. Seeing four Orcas swimming around with their pet humans was a very interesting experience, one that I’d like to document properly.
After a long day in the searing Texas sun, we went home and I made us a huge bowl of fettuccine carbonara. And I finally finished the socks I’ve been working on since forever - more pics to come.
June 19th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Hey! Now I don’t feel so bad never having gone when we lived in SA–your pictures did the trick!
June 19th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Did the dolphins leave you any engraved fish bowls as a present?
June 19th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Did you ever wonder how many “Shamus” there are? I mean, at least 3 to have one per park location, but then that opens the door to think hey, maybe they have multiples at each park and whichever one is feeling up to it puts on the show that day? Just my weird random thoughts!
June 20th, 2008 at 9:23 am
I was thinking the same thing as Kath - I was wondering if it was The Shamu - the one I saw in California as a teen? and pitying the whale moving cross country like that.
The alligator pic is awesome!
Isn’t it remarkable how much drinks cost at theme parks? Try to buy water - that’ll make you flinch.
June 20th, 2008 at 9:46 am
“F*@& you, I’m an alligator.”
I think I scared the cats laughing at this.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:06 pm
My random thoughts:
~bonnie
*I was thinking Shamu must be like Santa Claus or something. They are everywhere!
* I think the same exact thing you wrote every time I see the dolphins LOL
* I love/hate you for introducing me to the “put a text on image” time suck.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:31 pm
If you spend another $7 dollars for the ticket you get a year pass! The ticket shock got to me when my sister and family came during Spring Break but I decided to spend the extra $ and get the season pass. I love the Shamu show too. It is worth the price of admission. Hope the sunburns weren’t too bad. I always want to see just how much liquid I can smuggle into the part under the minimal amount of clothing one wears during the summer to go to SW!