Saturday, 12 May, 2001
Sea World San Antonio
Every year my employer (Catapult Systems) takes all of the employees and their families on a day trip to an amusement park. The company rents busses to haul us there, pays our entry, and supplies lunch at the park. The last two years we went to Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. This year (today), we went to Sea World in San Antonio. The park is always fun, but I especially like the bus trip down and back. We usually put a movie in the VCR (these busses have ceiling-mounted TV monitors above some seats) and have a good time making fun of the actors. Last year is was National Lampoon's Vacation, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. This year somebody rented Point Break, which provided many opportunities for Keanu Reeves to show why nobody thinks he's a serious actor.
There is a lot to see at Sea World. Debra and I saw the killer whales show (don't miss this one), a "Fools with Tools" skit starring two sea lions and an otter (dull except for the otter), and a stunt show starring dogs, cats, a pig, pigeons, and some ducks. The cats and dogs show was pretty tame, although I was amazed by the things they had the cats doing. We can barely get our cat to come in at night. I'll never again believe that you can't train a cat.
There are things to see besides the shows, too. There's an aquarium with many types of fishes, a shark aquarium, a penguin exhibit, a dolphin pond where you can feed and pet the animals, and assorted other things. There are some rides, too. Debra and I tried out the Steel Eel and Great White roller coasters--definitely worth riding. The park is owned by Anheuser-Busch (makers of Budweiser, Michelob, etc.). One area of the park contains a stables housing the Budweiser Clydesdales, and a "beer school" that has some historical information on the company and a class that discusses how beer is made. Not that I needed any help in that particular department...
All in all it was a very enjoyable day.