Looking for some family fun this summer? Here’s one option: Now on Fridays you can get into Baltimore’s National Aquarium after 5 PM for $18.12 a person. The special rates, offered weekly July 11 through September 12, are to commemorate the bicentennial of the 1812 Battle of Baltimore and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
This is good news for Washingtonians who’ve been missing their glimpses under the sea since the DC aquarium closed last September to renovate the building. Around 1,700 of the animals in the Washington collection were moved to Baltimore, so you can visit many of your old favorites, including Brownie the loggerhead sea turtle and Toby the rare blue lobster. Other animals on exhibit include puffins, stingrays, sharks, dolphins, sloths, and tamarins, to name a few.
Regular tickets to the Baltimore Aquarium are $34.95 for adults and $21.95 for children, and while the discount is only available for entry after 5, guests are allowed in the aquarium until 9:30 on these nights, giving you plenty of time to hang out with your fishy friends. All the regular activities and exhibits are included with admission, and there’ll also be a “star-spangled scavenger hunt” and snacks and drinks (yes, including beer and wine) available for purchase. Purchase tickets online until 7:30 the day of or at the ticket counter until 7:45.
If the discount still doesn’t quite fit your budget, just wait a couple of months: The aquarium’s annual Fridays After 5 program, when tickets are just $12, resumes on September 19.
