Discovering the fishies

So, I just came back from the annual holiday party at work. Now, I usually avoid things like holiday parties, for no real reason other than social ineptness. But, I figure, it is a bunch of medicine geeks and, in that setting, I'm actually pretty hip. Anyway, my real motivation was that it was held at Discovery World, a museum/aquarium in Milwaukee. I was excited at the prospect of checking out the aquarium, in particular, and I figured the science wing would have some cool things to check out too.

So I get to the party, do a little meeting and greeting, and then head over to the aquarium as soon as I am able. The aquarium was sort of small at first glance, but I thought what they lack in space they may make up in quality.

As I walk to the first exhibit, I can feel the adrenaline flowing, it's game time, my neurons firing in anticipation of all the exotic fish-related trivia tantalizingly dangling before me like a worm on a hook. And then I'm there and I look into the tank and I see...

Brown trout. Perch. Groupers. Yes, the same fish that are featured on dinner plates across the country were on display, swimming around the tank with a certain smugness that comes from knowing that they, at least, were not going to end up on your dinner plate. In fact, much of the display, featuring fish of the Great Lakes, could have easily been called instead, "It's what's for dinner." I half expected the little displays that provided information about the fish to say something like, "brown trout is best served with a lemon sauce and french fries."

What more can I say? They're trying to make downtown Milwaukee more of a cultural attraction and it clearly needs more work. Thank God Chicago is so close...