In February in Chicago, lots of local attractions, mostly museums, are open for free to Illinois residents. John and I liked going to the Brookfield Zoo so much we went twice. The second time we went we took John's brother Michael along. Besides all of the amazing animals that visitors can view, dotted all around the zoo are vintage novelty machines that create small blow-mold animal figures from a machine called a Mold-a-rama. Recalling my childhood, I really wanted to relive the exciting moment of watch my animal get molded from plastic. I picked out an American bison and John got a polar bear. There are several machines around the Brookfield Zoo, which is rare in comparison nationally.
The zoo had many great animal attractions that were divided by the type of habitat and animal. One of my favorite sections was the primate section, which had a series of large cavernous rooms, that actually "rained" in the rainforest (overhead sprinklers), and featured huge trees with ropes for the monkeys, apes, and chimpanzees to use. We had an excellent time at the Brookfield Zoo and I hope to visit again in the future.
Several weeks ago John and I were lucky enough to attend a free day at the Oregon Zoo. It was really easy to get to from our apartment--just a 10 minute walk to the MAX train station (light rail) and only two stops to get to the zoo. I was impressed by how close the animals got to visitors. I have several photos below where the animals were sleeping right next to their viewing windows for people to get really close. I really liked seeing the black bears and river otters. It was great to take advantage of the Zoo's free day and explore another great asset of Portland.
The Bronx Zoo has a remarkable menagerie of animals that would astonish any visitor, NYC local or tourist. The directions on how best to get to the zoo were a little confusing, but very manageable. It was no surprise to come across many families with young children, strollers, and stuffed animals. A great feature of the zoo was the great natural shade from all the trees throughout the entire facility. There was a central pavilion on the northern part of the park, called the Astor Court (the name reminded me of the Met), displayed many beautifully designed buildings with a variety of animal heads molded out of cement.
Take a look at my photos:
