Exploring renovated Science Center with 9-year-old

The line to get into the Science Center Friday snaked around the building.

The South Florida Science Center and Aquarium created a perfect storm on Friday.

The West Palm Beach center publicized its grand re-opening with a splash in local media outlets and offered free admission for that day, also the first day of summer recess for the 175,000-plus students in Palm Beach County public schools.

At times, it seemed like at least half of those students were waiting on line to get inside and get an up-close-and-personal look at what $5 million would buy. The stories promised an 8,000-gallon aquarium.

Science Center volunteers gave coloring books
to people waiting on line. The books became "fans".

When Wes Wendel, son of friends Susan and John Wendel, and I arrived at 12:20 p.m., I knew waiting in line was not something we could handle for very long. Neither of us wore a hat. The sun was blazing, making a river of sweat run down my spine.

But within 10 minutes, we found out that there were actually two lines -- the line where we were standing was actually for vouchers for those who didn't want to wait to get inside and a much shorter line near the museum entrance for those wanting to go inside.

Because there were only two of us, we were able to get inside at about 12:50 p.m. A few larger groups had to step aside to let us enter. The state fire marshal was there, making sure that only 500 people were inside. One employee had a clipboard and was actually making hash marks on paper to count entering visitors. By then, it had started to rain, so we were doubly lucky!

This see-through aquarium was on the left as we entered.

The 8,000-gallon aquarium consists of 14 tanks, separated into habitats from deep sea to freshwater canals. Wes, 9, knew many of the fish. He rattled off nurse sharks, barracudas and other names.

When we turned the corner, we were greeted by this motto, which would make President Obama smile:

As expected, this crawl-inside tank was extremely popular. It's essentially a cylinder within a circular tank where visitors, young and old alike, could crawl under and be able to stand up inside. That gave the visitors a 360-degree view of what a fish sees:

Alas, we were never able to enter into it, too much of a line.

That exhibit space also housed a hurricane simulator where visitors could step inside and feel what it was like to experience 100-mph winds. Another line that we didn't want to stand in.

As we wove our way through the crowd, Wes constantly met classmates from his nearby Meadow Park Elementary School or pals from Lake Clarke Shores where he lives.

Wes (left) pretends to be an archaeologist by brushing
off a fossil in a "sandbox".

John and his older son Aubrey were just 20 minutes behind us, but because it was storming they chose to take the vouchers. They drove to a nearby Dunkin' Donuts, hoping the rains would end and the crowd would decrease but the line was still there when they came back to the center. Even about 3 p.m. when John and Aubrey returned, they were turned away. The fire marshal had closed the center to new visitors for the day.

Wes said his favorite part of the renovated center was the stars and solar system presentation in the Dekelboum Planetarium. I liked the concept of the crawl-inside aquarium, definitely have to return to experience that.

We left at about 3:15 p.m. when I clocked 3,000 steps on my pedometer, including the trek to return to my car, parked almost at Southern Boulevard.

And now, for my numbers

I am reporting two weeks worth of numbers because I was on vacation for part of the time.
For the week ending June 1, 2013, I had my best walking day on Saturday, June 1, 2013, when I walked:

Steps: 17,164
Miles: 8.6

For the week ending June 8, 2013, I had my best walking day on Sunday, June 2, 2013, when I walked:

Steps: 18,974
Miles: 9.5