Milwaukee County Zoo

Okay, so we said this was going to be a blog for Seniors featuring places that are Senior friendly and that we would save grandchildren activities for another blog, but I guess we lied!

On Saturday we went to the Milwaukee County Zoo with our two granddaughters.

We were gifted annual passes to the zoo so each year we make several trips to visit the animals.

Usually we do take our grandkids with us, but we have been known to go on our own, too.

The Milwaukee County Zoo is a great place to visit even if you are going kidless.  Some people might think the zoo is just for families, for kids, but we disagree.

It's a great  place to Seniors to go on their own.

You can get lots of exercise covering all the different areas,  you can get a beer if  you want,you can learn about lots of animals, you can take your old fashioned camera and take lots of photos, and there are so many nice, clean bathrooms everywhere.

When we go to the zoo with the grandkids, we generally let them be the guides and tell us where they would like to go.

On this visit, we rode the train and the merry go round which are two things we always do.

I would say even as a Senior you should ride these two things if you want.  Sometimes you just need to do the things that make you feel young and bring back happy memories from childhood.

When we go to the zoo by ourselves, we always do it in the same order, Aviary, Monkey House, Reptiles, Small Mammals (although we have been known to skip that one) and then on to all the big animals.

That is why it is fun to shake it up when we are with the girls.

After our rides we ate lunch in the Flamingo Cafe. It is a bit pricey and we have been known to bring in our own lunches, but this time it was just easier to eat in the cafe. There are plenty of picnic areas throughout the zoo so go ahead and pack a lunch if you want to go that route.

After lunch the girls wanted to ride the Zoo Mobile.  It's a tram that takes you on a nice narrated tour through the zoo\

We would highly recommend the zoo mobile to get a great overview of the zoo and learn interesting facts along the way.  We were lucky that this ride as well as the train and merry go round are included with our annual pass, but even without the pass, the prices on the rides are very reasonable and well worth it.

Mind  you, we have still not seen any animals except while on our rides, but that is okay since the zoo offers so much more than just animals.

The girls wanted to try the ropes course.  We had never done this activity before so we were all excited to let them give it a whirl.

There is no age limit on the rope course so if you, as a Senior, feel so inclined, give it a try.  We, however, did not feel so inclined and decided to watch.

Both girls got their harnesses on and climbed to the very top.  They said it was scary but that they would do it again.  There is also a zip line with a weight limit of 275 pounds.  There are health warning signs aplenty.

  The employees who were working in that area were very patient and helpful which is always a plus.

After that fun activity the girls wanted to see their names in the sponsored animal area.  We, through our zoo membership were able to sponsor a red panda named Dr. Erin Curry.  We were all excited to see their names up in print.  Unfortunately we could not see our red panda since she was in an air conditioned area.  It is too hot for a red panda in our summer climate.

We will have to visit her next time when it is cooler.

We did walk through the monkey house after finding our names.  When we had visited the zoo in April, we were fascinated by the gorillas.  There were eight of them in the family.  There was a little baby clinging to its mama and a big old grandpa with other family members of varying sizes.  We watched those gorillas for a long time in April.  

Well, I heard a news report that three of those gorillas had died of e coli.  The grandpa and mama were two of them so we were a bit sad as we passed that empty area.  The baby had to be sent to another zoo so that another mama could care for it.  We aren't sure where the other surviving gorillas are, but I think I heard they were in quarantine.

Hopefully, we will be able to see the gorillas again next time we visit.

There is a sea lion/seal show at the zoo.  The girls decided that we should watch that show.  We have watched it on other visits but it always has new things to teach us.

It was a great show and the girls decided they wanted to feed the sea lion after the show as well as get their picture taken with the harbor seal, so that is what we did.

We would also recommend seeing this show.

No need to have any kids in tow to enjoy it!

We saw the bears, elephants, camels, and big cats on our way to our next ride, the Sky Glider.

It was another first for us.

John stayed on the ground for this one.

It was a bit scary but once we got over our nerves we did enjoy the view.  Of course, every possible scenario runs through my mind and none of those scenarios ends well.

We did arrive safely on the ground, all vowing not to ride that again.

Go for it if that is your kind of thing.

Well, our day at the zoo is coming to an end.

It's been a wonderful, memory making day for us.

We would encourage you to go out and explore this awesome zoo.

Take grandkids if  you want, but believe us when we say, you can enjoy it just as much without them.

Until next time, travel safe and enjoy the journey.

We are heading out of state next!  Stay tuned!

.