Op here. One child is 6, and the other is 10. Except zoo and aquarium (hopefully with penguin), they love pool or beach. Last year, we did 2 summer trips, 1 week at San Diego and 0.5 week at ocean city (drive). This year, we combine them together for 1.5 weeks. DH won't plan, so it will be on me to figure out transportation, hotel and itinerary. We prefer one day at zoo, one day at aquarium (if big enough), one day at interactive children museum, one day walking around the city, just every day needs to have something to do plan in advance. Kids love hotel big tv with cable and hotel pool.

We could drive to Pittsburg from dmv, but question is if Pittsburg is good enough for us to stay for 1.5 weeks. We need other places to explore.

Anonymous wrote:Atlanta is the answer but August is probably not the best month for it

+1

If you think July/August is brutal in DC it’s 10 times worsein Atlanta! That being said if you plan to be indoors for most of the time or have a hotel with a pool, the aquarium in Atlanta is incredible and you can also visit the world of Coke, go to a night time Braves game, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Pittsburgh. The national aviary. Plus, the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium.

agree with Pittsburgh. You can do a great weekend - zoo, aviary, children's museum, science center. Maybe a baseball game or kennywood (amusement park).

New Orleans has a nice aquarium but I guess also not idea for August.

Vancouver is gorgeous in August and has a nice aquarium but I guess that counts as international.

I think Monterrey would be awesome and you could combine with San Fran and/or Yosemite for a great trip. Or Santa Barbara and take the trip out to Channel Islands — you will see dolphins and likely the Channel Island fox, as well as potentially some other marine life.

And don’t forget about disneyworld. The aquarium at Epcot is I think the second largest in the country and animal kingdom is actually my favorite zoo.

Hershey also has a cute little zoo focused on North American animals if you are in the area.

And one more out of the box — the Sonoran Desert museum is Tucson is a phenomenal zoo focused on one region’s animals. The Tucson zoo is also a nice zoo. But again not ideal in Augus.

Also, Discovery Cove also has a wonderful aviary (but sometimes closed for bird flu so check) and Sea World (on the same ticket) has a wonderful penguin exhibit.

But, Orlando in the summer heat so there’s that.

Pittsburgh. The national aviary. Plus, the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Atlanta is the answer but August is probably not the best month for it

Agree that all aquarium lovers should see this one but Georgia is not ideal in August.

I recommend National Aviary and Shedd above, but recommend Atlanta and Georgia Aquarium all the time on here. It's a great aquarium everyone should go to, but you have to be 7 to meet the penguins vs. 6 at Shedd or the National Aviary.

My penguin lover loves other birds, so the National Aviary is one of the best places we've ever been, but Atlanta is definitely better if it's aquariums OP's kid loves vs. just penguins.

Shedd has two species of penguins and Atlanta has one.

Lots of cities have zoos and presumably you want to do other stuff for 1.5 weeks. For instance the Bronx Zoo is quite good, Omaha has a great zoo, but obviously Omaha and NYC are wildly different places to visit.

Any other criteria?

Anonymous wrote:Atlanta is the answer but August is probably not the best month for it

Agree that all aquarium lovers should see this one but Georgia is not ideal in August.

Anonymous wrote:Pittsburgh Aviary

Came here to recommend this too. It's called the National Aviary. You can pay for a penguin encounter if your kid is old enough. Pittsburgh also has a great children's museum in case you do those? More interactive than regular museums.

I think Shedd Aquarium in Chicago also has penguin encounters. It's close to Maggie Daley Park, which is amazing for kids.

Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta

Atlanta is the answer but August is probably not the best month for it

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Pittsburgh Aviary

For 1.5 week in August, any places good to fly to with great aquarium/zoo and other kid friendly ideas? We are not big fan of museums, and we don't even go to DC museums. We have been to aquarium in Baltimore, Boston and San Diego, any other great aquariums good for penguin lovers? We decide not to travel internationally due to many concerns, so any places in America is fine.