Tennessee Aquarium and Chattanooga Zoo- Family Travel Blog

Tennessee Aquarium, the Chattanooga Zoo and a rockin’ tour of the Songbirds Guitar museum! Day 3 of our Spring Break Safari in Chattanooga Tennessee….

Any chance to get up close and personal with animals is exciting for my little guy, so he could hardly wait to start the day when he heard our itinerary. Our first stop for the day, the Tennessee Aquarium, the number one most visited attraction in all of Tennessee. Located right on the waterfront, this top-rated tourist spot is home to over 10,000 animals featured in two large buildings.

Tennessee Aquarium

Table of Contents

The Ocean Journey building gives you an underwater view of all the diverse marine life in saltwater and tropical environments. Sharks, sting rays and fish of all kinds swim by and fill your view.

Catch a peek at the playful North American River Otters at River Otter Falls. We loved watching them swim back and forth!

Continue on through the Cove Forest, the world’s largest gathering of freshwater species, where you’ll see trout and turtles of all kinds. And keep an eye out for the Alligator Bayou exhibit where you’ll see dozen toothy gators along with other wetland creatures.

Lemur Forest, the Tennessee Aquarium’s newest addition, features a few Madagascar natives. The Red-ruffed and Ring-tailed Lemurs are an entertaining sight to see as they perform acrobatic feats for the crowds. Get a hands-on look (and feel!) at Stingray Bay where you can reach in and tough the ray and shark species.

Wander through the Butterfly Garden and make your way over to the sub-Antarctic to see the Gentoo and Macaroni penguins in action. There’s so much to do and see at the Tennessee Aquarium you could make a whole day of it!

Chattanooga Restaurants – Big River Grille

After spending all morning at the aquarium we were ready for a good lunch. The Big River Grille and Brewing Works is a short walk across the street and serves up a delicious menu with something for everyone. We had the barbecue chicken flatbread, and the chicken Waldorf salad. Both were delicious and more than enough to make for a filling lunch for the rest of our busy day. Chattanooga brewery

Chattanooga Zoo

On to the next stop on our Chattanooga adventure — The Chattanooga Zoo!

Home to over 300 animals representing over 200 different species, the Chattanooga Zoo gives visitors a chance to see and interact with some interesting characters from the animal kingdom. See the chimpanzee or jaguar face to face, watch the snow leopards play, ride a camel or take a whirl on the charming vintage carousel.

This AZA accredited zoo is affordably priced at $9.95 for adults and $6.95 for children and is located only two miles from downtown, The Chattanooga Zoo is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Songbirds Guitar Museum

We ended our day with a rockin’ good time touring Songbirds Guitar Museum.

Songbirds is a guitar-oriented, pop culture museum experience for the whole family and home to a stunning collection of rare and vintage guitars. Located on the campus of the world famous Chattanooga Choo Choo, this museum gives an insiders look at music history from the 1920’s to today.

Check out craigslist chattanooga for local listings, events and items for sale.

Songbirds proudly hosts an impressive collection of 34 Gibson Les Paul Model Sunbursts from 1958-1960. These beauties are considered to be the Holy Grail of electric guitars and are the most expensive of their kind.

Brady loved getting the chance to jam and get a mini-guitar lesson from the Songbirds pros. And my heart just about burst seeing him on the stage, laser focused strumming those strings. He’s got one huge fan already!