Skip to main content

2017 Midwest Vacation Road Trip - Day 3 - St. Louis Zoo

Image
By
Day 3 of our vacation was totally focused on St. Louis.  I'll save the overall road photos from today and Day 4 for a separate post and focus on our trip to the St. Louis Zoo.  All four of us joined Maggie's aunt, cousin and her two twin daughters for a great day exploring the St. Louis Zoo.

The origins of the Zoo date back to the 1904 World's Fair.  The Flight Cage was a walk through bird cage exhibit that was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution.  Just prior to closing of the exhibition, the city of St. Louis bought the Flight Cage for $3,500.  The purchase of the Flight Cage which kept the structure in Forest Park is considered the start of the St. Louis Zoo.  Over the next decade, a zoological society was formed and debates over where the zoo should be located took place.  Late in 1913, the issue was settled as a zoological board of control was formed and over 70 acres of land in Forest Park were granted for the location of the zoo.

Today, the St. Louis Zoo attracts over 3 million visitors annually.  The zoo was recently named the Best Zoo and America's Top Free attraction by USA Today.  Obviously, that makes one of the best parts about the zoo is that it is free to the public.  Of course, there are certain exhibits and attractions at the zoo that require paid tickets.  But as you will see from the photos below there is plenty to see and do without spending a dime.

For the whole photos set on flickr - head here.  Below are some my favorites from the set.

This has to be my favorite and most fortunate photo (cell phone image also!) I caught this hippo as it was waking up to catch a breath of air!  HELLO HIPPO!




Not sure what the penguins are doing here - they almost look like they are stuffed!
This giraffe is doing its best Leaning Tower of Pisa imitation.
What I liked the most about the Red Rocks area Antelope yards was how close you were able to get to the zebras and other animals within these exhibits.

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Adam,

You know who this is, roadgeek with the same date of birth as you.

As it so happens, my current place of employment, and even that's a misnomer, because I'm now in business for myself, is visible from the St. Louis Zoo, or rather, certain parts of it.
10:50 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

By
  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...
Post a Comment
Read more