We Speak Attractions & Activities

Tampa’s Tide Pool Lands a Top 5 National Finish for Best New Attraction

Published

10 months ago

January 13, 2026

Tampa’s newest attraction is officially one of America’s best. The Florida Aquarium announced on January 13, 2026, that The Tide Pool placed fifth in the country in USA TODAY’s 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards for Best New Attraction — a ranking selected by a panel of travel experts and voted on by readers nationwide. The Tide Pool was one of only two new attractions in Florida nominated this year.

“This Top 5 national ranking is an incredible honor and a direct reflection of our unwavering commitment to providing world-class experiences that integrate ground-breaking exhibit design with animal wellbeing and guest expectations,” said Roger Germann, President and CEO of The Florida Aquarium.

Opened on August 1, 2025, The Tide Pool is one of the only cold-water touch habitats on Florida’s west coast: an immersive 60-foot, 4,000-gallon exhibit that transports guests to the rugged shores of the Pacific Northwest. It is home to more than 250 marine invertebrates representing 22 species, including vibrant anemones, striking sea stars, squat lobsters and painted greenling fish.

The water is kept at a cool 50 degrees to mirror Pacific Northwest waters, and the exhibit — built in six segments — pairs lifelike rockwork with an advanced wave-motion system, immersive soundscapes and a custom 70-foot UV-painted mural that transitions from sunrise to starlight.

The Tide Pool is the second phase of the aquarium’s multi-year, $45 million expansion, following the MORPH’D gallery in 2023, with puffins planned for 2027 and California sea lions and an expanded African penguin habitat in 2028. The aquarium, at 701 Channelside Drive in Tampa, has been named one of USA TODAY’s Top 10 Best Aquariums seven times, including a No. 8 ranking in 2025. For a downtown waterfront that keeps adding reasons to visit, a nationally ranked, hands-in-the-water exhibit is one more of them.

We Speak Attractions & Activities

The Call Me Mother Experience Brings Immersive Art and Maternal Health Stories to Houston’s Health Museum

Published

4 days ago

October 22, 2026

Royal Jones

Artwork from The Call Me Mother Experience at The Health Museum in Houston

The Call Me Mother Experience, an immersive multi-site art exhibit dedicated to the stories of the Black maternal health crisis, is now open at The Health Museum, 1515 Hermann Drive in Houston. The exhibition runs through February 28, 2027, and tickets range from $12 to $15.

Visitors should prepare for an immersive experience that includes poetry, film, performance, 3D sculptures, and original paintings created by a collective of nationally and internationally recognized artists, including D.E.E.P., Omari Maynard, Stacey Allen, Keda Sharber, and many others.

The exhibit walks visitors toward an opening question and into a reimagined waiting room, showing perspectives that range from father to mother and from despair to healing. Each site displays familial love and the grief that comes with the Black maternal health crisis in America, ending in a call to action.

“After two years working in the community to amplify local stories, I hope people see this exhibit as a celebration of our collective voices in the fight for maternal equity,” says D.E.E.P. “Every artist in the collective has had their own personal experience, be it infant death, fibroids, or birth complications. We have lived through these losses. We are using our art to demand better maternal healthcare practices in our lifetime.”

The stakes behind the exhibit are stark. As of 2024, Black women are three times more likely to die a pregnancy-related death than white women, and more than 80% of these deaths are preventable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Call Me Mother Experience is a Deep Ink project, fiscally sponsored by Fresh Arts, a Houston-based 501(c)(3) arts service organization, with generous support from H-E-B and several other philanthropic organizations. Additional satellite activations are planned at community sites and faith-based organizations throughout the Greater Houston area.

Learn more at callmemotherexperience.com.

Follow The Call Me Mother Experience on Instagram: @callmemotherexperience