Sea Center Texas

A must-see attraction in the Brazosport Area is the spectacular Sea Center Texas (300 Medical Dr. in Lake Jackson, 979/292-0100, www.tpwd.state.tx.us, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Tues.–Fri., 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Sat., 1–4 p.m. Sun., free). Sea Center Texas is a multi-use facility combining several aquariums, an education center, and a fish hatchery along with an outdoor wetland exhibit and a kids’ fishing pond.

The education center’s main exhibit is a 50,000-gallon aquarium containing Gulf of Mexico marine animals such as nurse sharks, Atlantic spadefish, red drum, gray snapper, and an enormous moray eel. Other large aquariums house tropical species found in area salt marshes, coastal bays, jetties, and artificial and coral reefs.

Kids will love the center’s “touch pool” where they can gently handle marine animals such as several varieties of crabs, snails, and anemones. Outside, the wetland exhibit is accessible by a long boardwalk over several marsh areas. Families can bring along a nature checklist and activity book to identify species in the area including green tree frogs, turtles, and a wide variety of birds.

The adjacent hatchery has the capacity to produce 20 million fingerlings each year (mostly spotted sea trout and red drum) for release into Texas coastal waters. Tours are available by reservation only.

Center for the Arts & Sciences

Regional culture converges at the Center for the Arts & Sciences (400 College Dr. in Clute, 979/265-7661, www.bcfas.org, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tues.–Sat., 2–5 p.m. Sun., free). This all-inclusive facility is home to the Brazosport Art League, the Brazosport Museum of Natural Science, the Center Stages Theater, and Brazosport Planetarium. With so many cultural activities sharing space under one roof, you’ll find an amazing array of attractions, from a colossal collection of sea shells to an art gallery and studio to a theater staging regional productions.

Perhaps most impressive is the natural science museum, containing wildlife, fossils, and an aquarium. Be sure to check out the exhibit featuring the Lightening Whelk (Texas’s state shell) and the planetarium, which offers public viewings and occasionally serves as a training facility for astronauts from NASA’s nearby Johnson Space Center.