A happy Kit!

[kitanzi]

When I moved to GA last year - in fact, even before, while I was still just visiting monthly - ACat and I had a list of fun sounding touristy things he was going to take me to see. Most of them he hadn't been to himself, since locals never seem to get to many tourist attractions, no matter where you live. At the time, though, we were short on cash and most of our entertainment that summer was at home, in the pool. This year we've dug ourself pretty much out of the hole we were jointly in, and some of these ideas have come up again. telynor went to Atlanta Zoo with her son for his birthday recently, and from all reports it sounded great, so guess what made the top of the new list?


Our plans were contingent on good weather, but we headed out confidently this morning with slightly overcast skies and lovely spring breezes. We arrived at the zoo with no trouble and trotted up to the entrance to buy our way in. As ACat was filling out the paperwork, the cashier handed me back the credit card and gave me the spiel on what the membership entitled us to, including telling me that if I came back without my "husband" I could bring a girlfriend along. I solemnly nodded and we finished up and walked along before I snickered and relayed the comment to ACat. I'm still amused by the southern convention of any female friend of a woman being a girlfriend. I'd be happy to bring a girlfriend along with me, with or without ACat, but somehow I don't think we mean quite the same thing. ACat laughed and said she must know us - I pointed out that if she did, she wouldn't have called him my husband.

So, amused and paid for, we headed into the wilds of Atlanta Zoo! The place is gorgeous, though obviously in the middle of a lot of renovations that mean many enclosures are temporarily empty. The weather just kept getting better and better, and I think we must have picked the perfect day of the perfect season to see the Zoo for the first time. Golden tamarinds, elephants, giraffes, a very vocal lion, an orangatang who was posing for "hear no evil", a peacock that was playing peekaboo with a small child around the back of a building (not the peacock's idea, clearly), antic otters, an albino peacock that was too beautiful to be real, a pair of tiger cubs playing in the water with a big box (the box lost) - oh, too many things to list! We spent about three, three and a half hours there and saw everything from the crow who paints to the petting zoo, the reptile house to the pandas. For a day, we got to be 6 years old again, and it was FUN!

For all local friends - we now have a membership that will get us in, plus another adult and up to four kids. Anyone want to go to the zoo? telynor, folkmew and quadrivium, this most particularly includes you! *G*

Comments

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a fun day!

Although...

See, I feel uneasy around zoos. They're nothing like what they were when I was a kid; the enclosures are nice, and they really are keeping the animals safe and helping replenish species that are endangered.

But it's still a cage.

Re:

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is... there's no getting around that. All the pros you listed are true, too, though.

[hrrunka]

Yes, a zoo is still just a cage, but it does get real live animals where people who'd likely never get out into the wilderness can see them. It's much easier to understand why it matters when a species becomes extinct if you can see a real live example up close and personal. Look into the eyes of the tiger, knowing he's looking back into yours....

[quadrivium.livejournal.com]

I'd love to!

By the way, I think "Somewhere Down the Crazy River," by Robbie Robertson is possibly one of the sexiest songs in existence.

Re:

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

I had never heard it before... it's an excellent CD, overall. So, if you want to go zooing, say when!

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

Oh yes please! Especially if you don't mind the kids going (but then, they are such fun at the zoo!) Nothing quite like being with children at some place like a zoo to remind you of what it is like to see things for the first time.

I think Robbie Robertson is terrific, but I'm not sure I know that song.

Re:

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Sure - the reason I particularly singled you three out was you all have kids who would probably enjoy it, and we have none but can take along up to four. So, we just have to figure out a good day for it.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

That sounds utterly delightful. One day when *I* get to Atlanta I want to see the zoo with you :)

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! *hug* I'll look forward to it!