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One summer morning in June, Brooklyn turned on her television to watch Gilmore Girls while drinking an iced coffee and eating a strawberry-frosted donut from Dunkin’ Donuts. She began getting very excited because later that morning, she and her boyfriend Max were going to the Sea Breeze Aquarium in Seaside, Florida. Brooklyn and her boyfriend were looking forward to their trip there because she had recently started volunteering there for the summer. After all, she wanted a marine biology degree when she went to college in the fall. Brooklyn’s favorite exhibits at the aquarium were the sea turtle and sea lion exhibit because she always thought they were the most entertaining animals to watch. Luckily for her, the aquarium had her helping out with the sea turtles while she was at the aquarium so that she could work with her favorite animal. Ever since she was in fifth grade, she had always loved sea turtles because she thought they were one of the prettiest sea animals.
Around ten that morning, Max picked her up in his light blue Volkswagen Beetle, and the two of them drove to the aquarium together. Once they got to the aquarium, they were both overwhelmed by how long the line to buy admission tickets was, but they both really wanted to see the aquarium, so they continued waiting until it was their turn. When they both got to the ticket counter, an older woman with a nametag that said Carol on it said, “Hello and welcome to the Sea Breeze Aquarium. How many tickets do you need today?” Max replied, “We need two tickets, please, and this is my first time here, so we also would like a map of the aquarium if you have one.” Carol smiled at us and replied, “Yes, we have maps, so I’ll grab one for you. And thank you for visiting the aquarium today. I hope both of you enjoy your visit.” Max replied, “Thank you. I hope you have a great day.” Carol replied, “You too.”
After Brooklyn and Max bought their tickets, they walked around the aquarium. The first exhibit they saw was a cool jellyfish exhibit. The jellyfish were swimming in giant glowing tubes that lit up with different neon colors, like pink, blue, and green, so it was a fascinating sight for them to see. After they saw the jellyfish, they walked through a shark tunnel where sharks were swimming in the tunnel above their heads, so the experience made them feel like they were swimming underwater with sharks. Then they went over to a big pool where they touched stingrays swimming around in a circle.
Next, they saw the sea turtle exhibit, and Brooklyn took her phone out of her pocket and began taking numerous pictures of the sea turtles with the camera on her phone. Brooklyn took pictures from many angles, but her favorite moment was when it looked like the sea turtle was waving at her as it was swimming by. A sign next to the sea turtles said that their names were Crush, after the sea turtle in Finding Nemo, and Franklin, after Franklin the cartoon turtle, so Brooklyn and Max thought the aquarium had given them great names.
After seeing the sea turtle exhibit, Brooklyn and Max went outside to see the sea lion exhibit. While out there, they saw Brooklyn’s best friend Isla feeding the sea lions fish from a metal bucket. The sea lions were so happy to be getting the fish, and they kept diving in and out of the water while Isla was throwing them. As Isla fed the sea lions, Brooklyn waved to her and said, “Hey Isla, how’s it going today?” Isla yelled back, “Not too badly, but the sea lions are starving today, and it turns out that soon the new baby sea lion Harper is getting bigger every day.” Brooklyn replied, “It sounds like it’s been a pretty busy day for you then. Also, by the way, this is my boyfriend Max.” “It’s nice to meet you, Max, and I hope the two of you have a great rest of your day here at the aquarium. It was nice seeing you, Brooklyn,” said Isla. Brooklyn replied, “You too.”
After seeing the sea lions, Brooklyn and Max returned to the aquarium to grab lunch at the Jellyfish Café. Since it was almost two o’clock, they decided to share a turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich with a side of Lays potato chips, pasta salad, a bottle of Coca-Cola, and a chocolate chip cookie. As the two of them ate their lunch, they talked about how their favorite things they saw were the sea turtles, sharks, and the tropical fish, and they were both happy that they got to spend the day together.
After lunch, they walked through the exhibits for the sea turtles, sharks, and sea lions one last time before deciding to head home for the day. But before leaving the aquarium, they stopped by the gift shop to find some souvenirs to bring home. They bought T-shirts, a magnet, and a sea turtle vinyl sticker. As the two of them held hands as they walked out of the gift shop and to their car, Max leaned in, kissed Brooklyn, and said, “I’m so lucky that I got to visit the aquarium today with you.” Brooklyn smiled back at him and replied, “I am too.” Then, they got into Max’s light blue Volkswagen Beetle and drove home.
This was written by our editor-in-chief and co-founder, Hanna Peters.
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