Lot tour: Exeter Aquarium

So this won't be anything new to those of you who post at N99 but those of you who aren't members there will not have seen these yet. I showed a little bit of the aquarium in today's Romilly update but by special request, I'm showing you some more. :)

I built the aquarium for three reasons. The first was that I was inspired by the aquarium at The McTavishams. The second was that I eventually want a lot for every career (this one is for Oceanography). The third reason was what made me kick my butt in gear and get it done: the June Project at N99 was to build a community lot, so I finally got started!


As always, all images are thumbnails, so click to enlarge.So here it is. I moved a few buildings around so that the aquarium is placed near other "educational" sort of buildings. So it's near the library, the museum and the high school. Not that you can tell from this angle! Very impressed that those letters work on the roof like that - I didn't even need to move them up or down.

Here's the top down view of the first floor.

And the second floor. Sorry about the grid!

Exeter Aquarium is mostly a public tourist attraction but I also have a small office for Sims in the Oceanography career to work in. It's in a tiny building that is separate from the main aquarium. Yes, the Romilly family are our guides once again - I did build it specially for Victoria!

Currently, only Victoria works in Oceanography, so she has the office to herself. I like to imagine she does a lot of field work, as well as her work at the aquarium.

Just inside the main entrance, you can buy your tickets from the counter. As you leave, you can also buy greeting cards/postcards as a souvenir of your visit.

The main attraction, of course, is the aquarium and the array of marine life that it houses.

Caitlin is just fascinated!

There are a few snack machines on the first floor, in case Sims get hungry while they're looking around.

And a couple of benches to sit on.

There's also a little restaurant on site, for those who'd like to have a proper meal.

  The experienced kitchen staff prepare delicious meals every day, for lunch and dinner.

You can even watch the sharks swim by while you eat! That's Victoria's dad Trent sitting down ready to order in the foreground.


Besides the fish, sharks and other animals, there are several models of different devices and transport used in oceanography and marine biology.

And this enormous model octopus!

There's even a touch pool (which I will one day take off the stage foundation, so it would be conceivable that people would be able to reach in and touch!)

Aerial view of the touch pool.

Across from the touch pool is a smaller aquarium.

Which Caitlin is also quite fond of.

And last but not least, Exeter Aquarium also boasts a theatre which plays various educational movies at regular intervals during the day.

Notes:

• So there it is, for those of you hadn't yet seen it. I think it's probably the lot I'm proudest of in Sullivan. I love my primary school but I didn't have to follow any tutorials to build that, so I can't say it was as much hard work as this one was. Once the aquarium tank part was done, this was mostly just tedious!