Anyone remember the old DC aquarium in the Hoover building?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids loved in when they were little. Obviously pre 2013.

+1. It was great!

Same! Loved taking my kids there when they were young. Very accessible being here in DC and the right size and cost for toddlers to visit.

[Anonymous]

That place was so wonderfully grim. The black spray-painted ceiling was icing on the cake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember it being so dark and damp.

Once when I was really young, my mom told me we're going to the aquarium, I was so excited because I thought it was the one in Baltimore. When we got to the DC one, I was super disappointed and confused. Where are all the fish? Where are the sea lions?

Has Baltimore Aquarium ever held sea lions?

I remember in the 90s they used to sit on a concrete in the inner harbor. They were out all night, every night. And then one night someone spray painted them and they took the sea lions away. This is a foggy childhood memory that you should fact check

I'm glad i didn't dream it!

The outdoor seal pool was located on the west side of the Pier 3 building, near where the decommissioned USS Torsk submarine now sits in the Inner Harbor.

The Infamous Seal Pool


https://aqua.org/stories/2021-08-03-40th-facts-how-well-do-you-know-the-national-aquarium

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It wasn't in the Hoover Building. It was in Dept. of Commerce, basement.

This. I would walk by it but never went in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember it being so dark and damp.

Once when I was really young, my mom told me we're going to the aquarium, I was so excited because I thought it was the one in Baltimore. When we got to the DC one, I was super disappointed and confused. Where are all the fish? Where are the sea lions?

Has Baltimore Aquarium ever held sea lions?

I remember in the 90s they used to sit on a concrete in the inner harbor. They were out all night, every night. And then one night someone spray painted them and they took the sea lions away. This is a foggy childhood memory that you should fact check

I'm glad i didn't dream it!

The outdoor seal pool was located on the west side of the Pier 3 building, near where the decommissioned USS Torsk submarine now sits in the Inner Harbor.

The Infamous Seal Pool


https://aqua.org/stories/2021-08-03-40th-facts-how-well-do-you-know-the-national-aquarium

oh wow. those poor seals, so close to the water and yet stuck in that concrete pool

[Anonymous]

If your looking for a small closer to DC aquarium than Baltimore there’s the one at Glen Echo Park:

https://www.gepaquarium.org/

It’s small but interesting! I didn’t even know it was there until happened to walk by it last year.

[Anonymous]

I always thought it seemed like some late night TV joke that there was an alligator living in the basement of the department of commerce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This falls under "Things only native Washingtonians know" or the super long thread "I grew up here and remember..."

Oh come on, it’s only been closed ten years

[Anonymous]

I went there a couple times, so tiny!

[Anonymous]

Yes!! I loved that it was hidden and tucked away! Like a little secret. I took my now 15yo there before it closed.

[Anonymous]

This takes me back! I took my kids 18-19 yrs ago and it was quintessential DC at the time. It was totally grim but it was ours.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Much more manageable with young children in the early 2000's. Although I don't go into DC for any reason now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It wasn't in the Hoover Building. It was in Dept. of Commerce, basement.

That makes more sense. I was stunned thinking I never saw an entrance at the Hoover building and they didn't just let people in. Not even back in the 90s.

Np, I've worked at the Hoover building since 1998, and was concerned that I had somehow missed it all these years

[Anonymous]

My kids went to daycare at Commerce Kids so their classes used to go often. They loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This takes me back! I took my kids 18-19 yrs ago and it was quintessential DC at the time. It was totally grim but it was ours.

I think that sense - the sense it was totally grim but still ours - is what made me create this thread.

Anyone remember the 2-headed snake?