A trip to the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium

We found out that on Saturday, June 8th the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium, in Norwalk, Connecticut, would be having a fish themed car show.  Naturally, this I had to see, so my brother and I went over. I had never been there before, but I really love aquariums, so I knew it would be a fun trip. I ended up spending way more time looking at the fish than looking at the cars- about 3 to 1 ratio I'd guess. I ended up taking over 1000 photos, and I will share some highlights here. I also got to pet a jellyfish, a manta ray and a crab, and I set my record for most pictures taken in a year- my old record was 13050. I'm now over 13500, and September and October both have huge photo events coming up. I expect to set a record in 2019 that will never be broken.

 This is the main entrance. Those tall towers date to 1911, I think the sign said.

The Aquarium is right on the Norwalk River, and the train bridge was built in 1896. It actually goes OVER the Aquarium!

 My brother pets a jellyfish!

 These teeny tiny jellyfish are half the size of a dime

 a crab

 The manta ray petting booth

 They come right up to you!

 They seem to like getting a pat on the back!

 This one wouldn't swim away until I reached in and pet the top of it!

 Sharks

 Seals

This came out blurry, as most of the fish pictures did, but it looks like it's wearing lipstick!

Finally, a clear fish photo. Note the others are all blurred- the fish move very quickly and are nearly impossible to get good photos of.

 really big sea turtle. There were three of them in the tank

 A school of fish that shares the tank with the sea turtle.

 an eel

 A lionfish

 There's a puffer fish hiding back there. Literally hiding- there was a sign saying he was new to this aquarium and hadn't gotten used to his new surroundings yet.

 More jellyfish

 Big tube of Jellyfish that had a color changing light on it

 This fish stopped to look at me!

 a big ray at the bottom of the shark tank

Not a big fan of sharks, but if they are in the place, I will photograph them.

 A sturgeon

 Sturgeons with their mouths open

 I don't know what it is, but it was barely moving much, so I was able to get a clear photo.

 A lobster! Finally a lobster in an aquarium!

 The crab I pet

 Horseshoe crabs and starfish

 The Otters were hilarious...very energetic and fun. They never stopped moving, so I wasn't able to get any great shots of them, although I tried...and then went back and tried again, but this is the best.

 A garter snake.

 An Eastern Newt.

 Turtles

One of the two otters took a little snooze, so I was able to get one clear shot!

 a long, thin fish and some snails

 a seahorse and a crab

 very active turtles

 The seal exhibit is both in and out doors

 There is a small overlook where you can look down to the seals or over to the Norwalk River, first sight of the car show

 Looking straight down from the overlook. As someone scared of heights and not a fan of walking on grating, I had to get off this as quickly as I could...

 lizard

a crocodile

 they had a monkey, but he was just sitting in that box staring at people.

 poison dart frogs

 big frog

 got him with the tongue out!

 quail

 They had model ships on display

 The building the Aquarium is in dates back to the late 1800s at least, the aquarium has only been in existence since 1988.

 To fit the aquatic theme of the car show, they referred to this Austin Healy as a Frog Eye Sprite...usually they are called Bug Eye Sprite.

 I took this picture to show the remains of the ladder that once led to the roof, but aimed higher up to get the bird in flight. Success!

 This is looking directly up at the grate I was standing on before.

 A Daimler, a brand I hadn't photographed before.

 A Rambler Marlin

 A Chrysler Cuda. Yes, Chrysler. In France, where this was originally sold, they were badged as Chryslers, not Plymouths as in the USA and Canada.

 a Plymouth Barracuda

 A Frazier custom built in 1954

 Train!

 A 1937 Gougeon Streamliner, a one-off custom build.

 I think the above fish are all bass

 Meercats!

 My brother crawled under and went in with the Meercats! I decided against it.

This was a really spectacular place. My pictures don't do it justice, it's instantly become a favorite place for me to go. I will be going again- at least once a year, perhaps more. It's more than just an aquarium, and there is construction going on- they are working on an expansion. So in the future, it'll be even better!

Unexpected Generosity

I wanted to throw a quick post up to thank Shane of Shoebox Legends...he hit me with another big box of cardboard goodness yesterday, and I was not expecting it at all!

 I have not gone through much of it yet, but I did go through some of the team bags. While I will be mixing these cards into future posts, I had to show one now.

 I pulled this one out and thought "Oh cool, I didn't know Action Packed made hockey cards" and then I turned it over and looked at the back. I saw what looked like a piece of paper sticking out from the two halves- figuring that there was a mini card or something hidden in there...

and I discovered it's so much more! It folds out into a mini poster! How cool is this? It may be one of my favorite hockey cards, to be honest. It's definitely my favorite Red Wings card.

Thanks again Shane!!

My Oldest scanned card from each NHL team

Here's an interesting topic that came to me the other night, while I was perusing my NBA teams section on Cardboard History Gallery. When I do my monthly upload, I like to see if anything I've scanned in the last month makes onto the first page for each team. It sometimes doesn't happen- for most NBA teams, the card would have to be 1991-92 or older to get on page 1. And while the early 90s is a great time, there simply aren't as many cards issued so as a general rule, the teams go a month or two sometimes without a single new page 1 scan.

The NHL, however, is much different. I've only just begun to collect, only in my third season, and I've taken in cards faster than I can scan them. So, I thought it would be fun to take a look at the oldest scanned card for each NHL team. It wouldn't be as much fun to do with the NBA- I don't think anyway- because I already have my entire collections for 1971-72 and older done, so basically it would be a lot of 1969-70 Topps. I expect the sets to be more varied for the NHL, but, let's find out, shall we? I'll be curious to tell if it represents my collection accurately, or if I have older stuff awaiting a scan. Will any long running team not break the 90s? I can't wait to find out, as I compose this post!

Of course, with seasons with multiple sets, and multiple cards from the same set, the lowest card number in the alphabetically first set will get the nod.

Anaheim Ducks

2006-07 Be A Player. This is my first NHL Autograph, a gift from CaptKirk.

Arizona Coyotes:

2014-15 O-Pee-Chee. Both teams moved to their current names that season.

Atlanta Flames:

1973-74 Topps

Atlanta Thrashers:

1999-00 Be A Player. Since this is a look at the league history, it will include defunct teams/names as well. 

Boston Bruins:

1951-52 Parkhurst. My oldest hockey card, so it "wins" by default. 

Buffalo Sabres:

1971-72 O-Pee-Chee

Calgary Flames:

 1981-82 O-Pee-Chee

California Golden Seals:

1971-72 Topps.

Carolina Hurricanes:

 1997-98 Donruss. I need to rescan this one with my newer, better scanner- those lines over that Red Wing should not be there.

Chicago Blackhawks:

 1971-72 Topps, a gift from Mark Hoyle.

Colorado Avalanche:

1995-96 Ultra. This is the only card I have scanned from their first season in Colorado. 

Colorado Rockies:

 1979-80 Topps

Columbus Blue Jackets:

 2000-01 Be A Player Signature Series

Dallas Stars:

 1993-94 Score Canadian

Detroit Red Wings:

 1964-65 Topps. My only card from the set.

Edmonton Oilers:

 1980-81 Topps. I really hate this design, by the way.

Florida Panthers:

 1993-94 Score.

Hartford Whalers:

 1980-81 Topps

Kansas City Scouts:

 1974-75 Topps. The only team with a team logo card as the oldest.

Los Angeles Kings:

 1968-69 Topps. That's a UER, not Skip Krake pictured.

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim:

 1993-94 Score. The third team where this set is my oldest.

Minnesota Wild:

 2000-01 SPx.

Minnesota North Stars:

 1970-71 O-Pee-Chee. Should have been before Wild but I typoed Minnesota in the chart I made for this project, and it would be a pain in the butt to fix.

Montreal Canadiens:

 1966-67 Topps. When 2019 began, my 5th oldest Hockey card. Still 7th.

Nashville Predators:

 1998-99 MVP. This exact same design was used for 1999-00 MVP in the NBA, which I got new, so it always throws me off.

New Jersey Devils:

 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee. I really like this design but I don't have much in my collection. I was born during this season.

New York Islanders

 1973-74 Topps

New York Rangers:

 1957-58 Topps. An absolute gem I lucked into being in the right place at the right time for, this was my oldest hockey car from January 2017 through February 2019. Currently my 3rd or 4th oldest, depending on how you want to rank the Bee Hive card I got.

Ottawa Senators 2:

 1992-93 Ultra. I don't have any cards of the first Senators.

Philadelphia Flyers:

 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee. In a weird happenstance, Dornhoeffer was my first player added from both the Topps and OPC sets from this season. It's the only vintage card I have both versions of.

Phoenix Coyotes:

 1996-97 Ultra. The NBA set is my all-time favorite sports card set. The NHL set is too small and does not use holofoil for the name.

Pittsburgh Penguins:

 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee

Quebec Nordiqes:

 1982-83 O-Pee-Chee

Quebec Bulldogs:

 1991-92 Pro Set. This early team dissolved decades before I was born. This card comes from the 75th Anniversary subset from Pro Set. It is my only card in my collection for the team.

San Jose Sharks:

 1991-92 O-Pee-Chee Premier

St. Louis Blues:

 1968-69 Topps.

Tampa Bay Lightning:

 1992-93 Pro Set.

Toronto Maple Leafs:

 1971-72 Topps, another card from Mark. The 1971-72 set appears almost as much in the NHL post as they would have in an NBA post!

Vancouver Canucks:

 1973-74 Topps

Vegas Golden Knights:

 2017-18 Black Diamond. Being so new to the league, they don't have much to choose from. This is the only insert and the only SN card on the list.

Washington Capitals:

 1981-82 Topps

Winnipeg Jets 1:

 1981-82 Topps. Surprised this set only appears once. I have a lot from 1981-82.

Winnipeg Jets 2:

2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Retro. The only parallel to appear on this project. 

And that's all of them. I'll update the list after I get my first Seattle card, whenever that may be. Hopefully by then I will have some of the other rare teams in my collection.