As I mentioned in the roundup, we all were at my wife's oceanside quilting retreat. I came down to watch my daughter for the weekend, and our main activity on Saturday was going to the Virginia Aquarium.
It was quite a treat: 700,000 gallons of aquarium as well as sprinklings of other kinds of habitat. What an incredible display of marine life it was. Some of the staff was there to assist us in touching a few things: horseshoe crabs, hermit crabs, and stingrays, which were our personal favorite. (If you've never touched one, they're a little bit spongy on the back.) We also saw some sharks, dozens and dozens of other beautifully-colored fish like the lionfish, as well as some seahorses. It was well worth the price of admission.
My daughter really likes “little” things. She gets this naturally from her mother. Outside of the exhibit area there were hand-crank machines for making elongated pennies. We put 51 cents in the plunger in the top (two quarters for the cost of making the elongated penny, plus the penny), and the machine squeezed the penny through a press and made a design on the front and back. The elongation happens because the penny only goes through in one direction.
So for a total of $1.02 my daughter has two elongated pennies: one with a seahorse, and one with a stingray, her favorite.
Elongated pennies are still my favorite souvenirs. They are cheap, take up little space, don’t break and are fun to make.
Personal Finance guru: ” A dollar for 2 cents-wasted investment!
Doc, and father of two: “Priceless memories!”
that’s so cool! i love collecting those coins as souvenirs! many places offer those coin collections and it’s pretty unique because you get to spin it yourself… making your own souvenir! sounds like you and your daughter had a wonderful and educational time as well.