Despite our landlocked borders and fly-over status, the Midwest has quite a few great aquariums.

Oklahoma Aquarium, Tulsa

Oklahoma Aquarium

During a family road trip we overnighted in Tulsa an had an opportunity to visit the Tulsa Aquarium. We found an incredible array of salt and fresh water fish, opportunities to touch stingray, shark and shrimp and even feed turtles! Wander through the shark adventure to watch the toothy beasts swim over and around you. Daily otter feeding will elicit giggles and seeing the interaction of the coral reef divers and the colorful fish will make you wish you could dive in, too.

Open daily at 10am. Closed Christmas Day.

Pratt Education Center, Aquariums and Fish Hatchery, Kansas

Pratt Aquarium

Though you won’t find colorful salt water species here, the Pratt Aquariums feature fish that are native to, or have been successfully introduced to, Kansas. Biologists are on hand to show you through the building and answer any questions. The gem of this exhibit, though, is the wildlife right outside the door. The nearby ponds are popular with heron, ducks, and mink, for their abundant food supply.

Open Monday thru Friday at 8am.

Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium, Nebraska

This unique aquarium is popular for its affordability- only $1 for adults and 50¢ for children. A total of 12 large display tanks display Nebraska’s native water life; the largest tank is designed to host some of Nebraska’s largest fishes, including the Paddlefish. In addition to fish you’ll also see amphibians and reptiles.

Open year round at 10am. Days may vary due to season.

Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery and Aquarium, North Dakota

Another aquarium and fish hatchery focusing on local fish. In the fall migrating salmon return to the hatchery, delighting hikers along the river.

Open Memorial Day to Labor Day at 8am.

Minnesota Sea Life Aquarium

Take a break from your shopping at the Mall of America and take an underwater adventure. Over 10,000 sea creatures can be seen here- from the Giant Pacific Octopus to adorable miniature seahorses. 300 feet of ocean tunnel, touch pools and interactive quiz trails make this a fun and educational experience.

Open daily at 10am.

National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, Iowa

Aquarium exhibits show fish and wildlife that live in and along the river; a favorite is the river otters sliding in and out of the water, while perhaps less popular are the snakes that are found in the area.  Instead of a large aquarium tank, several smaller aquariums highlight different aspects of river life.

The Port of Dubuque area where the museum is located is adjacent to Dubuque’s downtown, and just steps away from a casino, a riverwalk area, and the Spirit of Dubuque paddlewheeler, which gives tours of the Mississippi River itself.

Open daily at 9am Memorial Day weekend thru October 31; open 10am daily November 1 til Memorial Day weekend

World Aquarium, Missouri

World Aquarium

Also located near the Mississippi River in St. Louis, in the fabulous City Museum. Featuring aquatic life from around the globe you’re likely to see fish you’ve never heard of. Plenty of hands on exhibits for kids plus adorable otters, slow moving sloths and snapping turtles mean kids will adore this aquarium.

To visit the World Aquarium you must purchase admission to the City Museum.

Schedule varies during the year. Closed Monday and Tuesday, open at 9am Wednesday thru Saturday and 11am on Sunday.

Shedd Aquarium, Illinois

The most well known of all Midwest Museums, the Shedd sits along Lake Michigan in Chicago. Possibly the largest assortment of marine life in the Midwest you’ll find everything from anacondas to Zebra sharks. See the difference between the river and sea otters. Learn why the Lungfish can breathe in both air and water. Or just enjoy the grace of the dolphins.

Open year round at 9am.

Reiman Aquarium, Wisconsin

Inside Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin in Milwaukee you’ll find aquatic life from the Great Lakes, North Atlantic and Caribbean. A touch tank lets you get up close and personal with stingrays, shark and lobster.

Admission to Discovery World includes the aquarium. Closed Monday; open Tuesday – Friday at 9am, Saturday and Sunday at 10am.

Photo credits:

Oklahoma Aquarium; JLHalsted

World Aquarium

Pratt Aquarium

School has begun, the nights are getting cool and farmers are preparing to harvest their fields.  Thoughts begin to turn to apple picking, pumpkin patches and corn mazes.

Corn Mazes by the Light of the Moon

Night Time Corn Maze

While a corn maze by day can be fun and challenging, a corn maze at night takes on a whole new dimension.  If the maze is open during the Harvest Moon (traditionally the full moon used by farmers to harvest their crops late into the night before the days of headlights on tractors) you may not need a flashlight to navigate the twists and turns of the maze.  But bring one- just in case.

My family has an annual tradition of visiting a local maze at Geisler Farms near Des Moines, Iowa.  We contact a group of friends, grill hot dogs over a fire pit, toast smores and as the moon rises in the sky groups of people begin disappearing into the maze.

This year Geisler Farms Harvest Moon maze is October 11 & 12.  Entry is $7 per person.

More Night Time Corn Mazes

Not everyone is lucky enough to live in Iowa, so here are a few more night time corn mazes around the country.

Alstede Farms in Chester New Jersey has Harvest Moon Hayrides & Night Time Corn Mazes on October 14 & 15, 21 & 22, 28 & 29 from 6-10 pm.  $14.95 for kids, $16.95 for adults.

Hinchley’s Dairy Farm in Cambridge, Wisconsin has “Flashlight Fun” every Friday and Saturday night in October.  You’ll even get a free pumpkin!  $8 per person.

Bowles Farms in southern Maryland have done moonlight mazes in the past though I don’t see one on their schedule for this year…  $10 per person

The Niederman Farm in Liberty Township, Ohio is open until 10pm every Friday and Saturday in October.  $9 per person; ages 2 and under free.

Cooper’s Farm & Maze in Uxbridge Township, Ontario is hosting full moon mazes on September 12 and October 11 and are also open Saturday evenings til 10pm.

Corn Maze

If finding your way through a maze at night isn’t enough of a challenge, you may want to check out this list of Haunted Corn Mazes.

Don’t forget a flashlight- one for every member of the family.  Or at least one for each child.  And a jacket.

Do you visit corn mazes?  Have you visited one at night?

Photos by JLHalsted

It’s a sight you grow accustomed to in the Midwest, the ubiquitous green and yellow farm machinery dotting fields, tooling along rural roads or, in the case of the antique models, brilliantly restored for local parades. John Deere is an international company that began with one man, Mr. John Deere, a blacksmith in Illinois.

Inside the John Deere Pavilion

Nothing Runs Like A Deere

John Deere created the first commercially successful steel plow- one that the rich, moist topsoil of the Midwest wouldn’t stick to- which made the farmers more productive. Today you can visit the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Illinois and get a first had look at how far that blacksmith shop has come and the levels of productivity those green and yellow “factories on wheels” are capable of. Read More »

My family has wandered through castles in many forms.  Majestic ruins like Ballybunnion, restored but retaining history like the Tower of London and opulent palaces like Kilkenny Castle.  But only recently did we have the opportunity to visit a castle as it was being built.

The beginnings of the first tower

A Castle Being Built in the Ozarks

For the next 20 years skilled artisans will be constructing this castle- the first full scale castle to be built in the US using techniques of the Middle Ages.  Quarried stones shaped by stone cutters, tools forged by a blacksmith, timber cut ans shaped by carpenters…  everything about this castle screams medieval Europe; except the dates of construction. Read More »