A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium.  They offered free admission for the entire week, and I wanted to take advantage the great deal.  Who would not want to go to the world’s largest aquarium for free?  So we packed a lunch and heading to Chicago for a day.

After missing the exit and turning around several times, my party finally arrived to our destination.  Parking was still being charged, but we had anticipated the cost simply because it is Chicago and parking is never free.  So there was the first $15.  We arrived early, so the lines were short.  No waiting is almost always a good thing.  That is when we discovered the aquarium was not entirely free.  Only the first floor exhibits were free, which means we had to drop another $15 per person to see anything exciting.  The cost is now just under twenty dollars per person.

Twenty dollars is still not a bad price, in fact it will probably be the cheapest fee for admission that I may ever pay.  However, it was unanticipated and somewhat shrewd.  They really were just trying to get more people in the doors.  After driving and paying for parking, what else were we supposed to do?  I felt as if someone had just cheated me out of money, and that never feels good.

I will probably not be returning to the Shedd Aquarium until I have children and they are old enough to know what is happening.  The experience was enjoyable, but would probably be much more enjoyable if I had my own four year old running around telling his older brother all the awesome animals that are just around the corner… DWEW!!! DWEW!!! COME HERE DWEW!!!