‘Philadelphia Zoo’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Visit: Maryland Zoo {Baltimore}

June 12, 2013 · Narrative

~Beware~ Upcoming picture overload. Just can’t help it.

Sometime last year, I was searching for day trip ideas (and, namely, to find places that we could drive to that had dolphins), and I happened upon a site that mentioned that you could hand feed the giraffe at the Maryland Zoo.

And I quickly made a note of that. (I have a note on my phone saved with “kids activities,” so I always have a running list of adventures we can partake in)

I loved the idea of hand feeding the giraffe, because that’s something that we can’t do at any of the zoos we’ve visited so far.

And then I found out you could also ride camels while there.

And groom the goats.

It was a veritable gold mine of bucket list items!

And then, a few months back, there was a Groupon for a Baltimore hotel.

And that’s when it all fell into place.

{more on the hotel coming later}

The zoo was our main purpose for visiting Baltimore.

That and the fact that none of us had ever been, making it a fun little weekend jaunt that wouldn’t break the bank.

The zoo is open from 10 to 4, and we pulled into the parking lot at 9:45 am, snagging a parking space in the very first row. The grounds are beautifully maintained, right down to the parking lot.

I do believe this is the second least expensive zoo we have visited so far, costing under $40 for the three of us to visit (no AAA discounts, by the way, but they do give military discounts).

There are two major sections to explore at the zoo, but we made a beeline for the giraffe area first, to make sure we didn’t run out of time. There is a free tram that will take you from the main gate to the African Journey section where the giraffes are.

The giraffes aren’t, of course, the only animals in that section, and once the tram dropped us off, we passed by vultures, a leopard, a cheetah, a warthog and more. At the giraffe feeding station, you can buy browse for $2 a piece to hand feed them. Because the zoo had just opened, there was no one in line, and it was perfect timing. And it also meant I could juggle two iPhones and a camera to capture the perfect pictures. I will tell you, though, that the giraffes eat the browse in the blink of an eye, so make sure you’re ready to take the picture. There were two giraffes there, both girls, one was in her mid-teens and the other was two years old.

Adorable.

Memorable.

Pure awesomeness, and definitely worth it.

If you look carefully, you can see its tongue outstretched all the way to the piece of browse that Nick is holding. Crazylong tongue.

Bucket list item: check.

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Visit: Philadelphia Zoo

November 12, 2012 · Narrative

When we were planning our recent trip to CoCo Key for belated birthday celebrations for Nick, I found out that the Philadelphia Zoo was less than fifteen minutes away. So with two kids that are crazy about animals, all of them, it was a given that we had to squeeze a visit in.

I mean, really.

The zoo was pretty simple to find. Much easier than finding that Liberty Bell. But the parking situation? Like whoa. The lots are quite a ways down the street from the zoo, and the later you arrive, the further away you park. We probably walked a good three-quarters of a mile from our car to the entrance. And it’s a fairly busy street that you’re walking along, and have to cross.

So my tip for you? Get there early. ‘Nuff said. But the happy footnote on the parking situation is that they’re in the process of building a parking garage right next to the zoo, which is due to be completed in the Spring of 2013. Which is all sorts of awesome.

Whether you visit the zoo then, or before, don’t let the parking deter you from going.

Because the zoo is seriously one of the most beautiful zoos we’ve been to. Such gorgeous habitats for the animals around every corner.

The next few pictures are actually murals located outside the zoo grounds, on the walk from the parking lot. So that just tells you how pretty it is inside…

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Visit: CoCo Key Water Resort, Hotel ML, Talia’s Restaurant {New Jersey}

October 15, 2012 · Narrative

Back in July, as Nick’s birthday was fast approaching, I asked him what he’d like to do in terms of a party. He decided that he wanted to take one friend away for a trip to a indoor water park resort, instead of having a party. At the time, he was thinking about Great Wolf Lodge, where we had been with Mystic and his kids back in October (super late review coming one of these days!), but then I heard about CoCo Key in Mount Laurel, which was a little farther from us (and in the opposite direction), but the same general concept.

And so a plan was born.

It doesn’t make sense to me to go to an indoor water park during the summer, so we planned to do it when the weather started getting a little cooler (and an escape to an 80 degree indoor resort was more in order). Between sports schedules and various other interferences, it finally landed on the calendar mid-October.

Like Great Wolf, there is a hotel in the same building as the resort, as well as a restaurant, making it very convenient. After our last soccer games on Saturday morning, we packed up the car, picked up Nick’s friend and Mystic’s daughter, Taylor, and headed off.

I ended up getting a great package deal that included the hotel room, four passes to their water park, four passes to the nearby Philadelphia Zoo (separate review coming soon), and $20 worth of credit for the hotel’s arcade. We checked in, and made our way to the room, ready to unload our stuff and get bathing suits on right away.

As soon as we walked in, I noticed the handle and lock hanging off the sliding door that led outside. In a first floor room. Me. Four kids. First floor room with a broken slider. No bueno. I called the front desk and the phone rang and rang and rang. I gave up and schlepped all the way back to the lobby (there is a lot of walking to be had at this hotel), and explained the problem. They promised to send an engineer down to look at it and would move us if it couldn’t be fixed.

We waited 20 minutes and decided to head off to the water park in the meantime. By the time we returned over two hours later, they still hadn’t come, I voiced my opinions, and we eventually got moved. Much better.

The kids and I watch Hotel Impossible, and it might have spoiled us. Or maybe we just like dust-free hotels. The bathroom had a $10 coffeemaker (at best) with a serious layer of dust on it. The dresser’s finish was wearing thin. The tv in the first room didn’t work. The rooms are a stark dichotomy to the image the hotel seems to be trying to project. They have bell hops, ready to help you with your bags, but the rooms look seriously tired. But the beds and bedding were bright white and clean (except for that all-important top blanket that we always remove right away; ick), and it was a decent place to stay. For what we needed, it was fine.

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