Aquarium of Boise, Boise

Examining water-quality levels, feeding animals—biologists and aquarists perform these tasks every day before Aquarium of Boise opens at 10 a.m. And thanks to the nonprofit's morning rounds program, visitors can tag along (for an additional charge), which makes it the perfect treat for any aspiring marine biologist, the most popular career a child dreams of having, right after dinosaur. After spending time with the experts, visitors can explore the facility itself and see more than 250 species of animals and marine life in more than 35 exhibits.

The aquarium even has several exhibits where guests can interact with the creatures. For example, guests can feed adult sharks and stingrays at the shark and stingray pool, and they can actually pet fish over at the 1,700-gallon Amazing Angels exhibit. Of course, not every critter dwells in the aquarium's more than 35,000 gallons of saltwater; some, including chameleons and lizards, lounge in a rainforest canopy, and others, such as yellow-breasted lorikeets, flutter about in the bird aviary.