‘Zoo’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Visit: Brandywine Zoo {Wilmington, Delaware}

August 3, 2017 · Narrative

If a zoo could be described as cute and cheerful, the Brandywine Zoo in Wilmington, Delaware would totally fit the bill.

Delaware has always been one of those states that we drive through on our way to get somewhere else. A blink-and-you miss it, quick passage on our journey elsewhere, for some reason, we’ve never made Delaware our actual destination.

Until this past weekend.

After getting a small work obligation out of the way, we grabbed breakfast and hit the road. A mere two and a quarter hours later, we had arrived. Really, there are parts of our OWN state that take longer to get to than crossing the Delaware border does!

When I was planning out our day’s activities, I focused largely on the Wilmington area, and the Brandywine Zoo was one of the places that kept popping up. And if you’re a regular reader here, you know how much my kids love a good zoo visit.

Although the zoo itself was very easy to find, once we were in the parking lot (free parking btw), I found it a bit of a challenge to find the actual entrance to the zoo. There are a few signs, and they’re a bit small, and I swear we walked around in circles for a few minutes before we ended up going in the right direction.

The admission prices are super reasonable … $7 for adults and $5 for kids (and even cheaper from October through April, and actually free from December through February because you won’t see as many animals). Once we paid, the staffer gave us a map and away we went.

The first exhibit was a condor, a crazy large bird that I don’t think I’ve seen before. There was an employee right in front of the exhibit that gave us a quick run-down on the bird’s background and had a few feathers for us to touch (so soft!).

As we wandered around the zoo, employees were nearly around every turn, and quick to answer any questions the kids had, which was awesome.

You can walk right into the goat exhibit and mingle and pet them freely, which I loved, and that’s where Madeline took her “goat selfie” from this weekend’s photo round up – love it!

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Visit: Seneca Park Zoo {Rochester, New York}

April 25, 2017 · Narrative

A quiet zoo in upstate New York, it’s the perfect place to visit for a bit of family fun.

So, last week we were in Canada for a few days (more on that coming soon), and we decided to overnight in Rochester, New York on the way home. When we were eating breakfast in the hotel the next morning, I checked out what was in the area, as we wanted to poke around a bit before heading home. I saw that we were less than ten miles away from the Seneca Park Zoo, a zoo that we haven’t been to, and with my kids, a zoo is usually a sure thing.

Well, it turns out Nick wasn’t in the mood for a zoo, but he also wasn’t keen on my follow-up suggestions of the Jell-O or brewery museums, so with a little gentle coaxing, we were off to the zoo, which pretty much put my 9-year-old in seventh heaven. Because if it involves any kind of animals, she’s all in (and once we got there, Nick admitted that it was a good stop, so win/win).

It was really easy to find and parking is free (hurrah for small wins!), and we were lucky enough to find a space near the entrance. I didn’t want to spend the entire day there, because we still had a 4+ hour drive home, but when I saw people leaving at 11:30 am, when the zoo only opened at 10, I figured it was the perfect size for the time we had, and I was right.

It’s bigger than Turtleback Zoo, but smaller than the Bronx Zoo, which made it exactly what we wanted. The zoo was also laid out in a very simple and straight-forward manner. No traipsing all over to find animals you missed, it was actually one of the most cleanly laid out zoos we’ve visited.

They had a good assortment of animals, both big and small, and they had a good mix of animals that you would typically see in a zoo, like elephants and lions, along with animals that you don’t see quite as often, like hyenas and Golden Lion Tamarin. And to be honest, the breadth of animals there didn’t matter because we seriously could have stayed and watched the baboons and otters for hours. HOURS.

The otter was so adorable and obsessed in doing laps. He looked so zen swimming back and forth in his area, he would swim towards us with his face up, and turn around at the end and flip over and swim back the other way on his back. It was the cutest thing ever.

And the baboons? Well, they were so hysterical to watch. So interactive with each other. Whether they were cleaning their nails, looking for bugs in each other’s fur, or chasing their friends around their enclosure, they were just funny, and it was hard to tear ourselves away.

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Visit: The Bronx Zoo {New York, NY}

May 5, 2015 · Narrative

Looking for something to do with the kids or just spend a little time outside? Let’s visit the Bronx Zoo.

You would think with all our trips to zoos over the years, that we would have long since visited the Bronx Zoo, since it’s so big and one of the closest zoos to our home.

Think again.

Madeline had never been.

Nick went once on a field trip last year.

If I’ve gone, it was as a kid with my family or on a school trip.

Which means it was a good 35 years ago.

So we have never been as a family and we were clearly long overdue.

It’s kind of one of the reasons staycations are so popular … it’s a good reminder of what is in your own figurative backyard.

So last year, when friends invited us to go with them on Mother’s Day I, of course, said yes.

Less than an hour by car, it was pretty easy to get to, and even easier since I just followed them. We arrived close to when the zoo opened, so parking was a breeze, and since they are members, I think they have access to lots that non-members don’t.

See: bonus.

First impression?

The zoo is huuuuuge.

We spent about six hours there and I’m not even sure we did half of it.

It’s that big.

Tons of walking, so be prepared.
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Visit: RainForest Adventures {Sevierville, Tennessee}

May 6, 2014 · Narrative

Love animals and visiting Tennessee? RainForest Adventures is a quiet little tucked away treasure in downtown Sevierville. Let me show you around.

Our second Tennessee hotel was located on a semi-busy highway that went straight through downtown Sevierville. With every bit of real estate taken on both sides of the road, Sevierville is an odd mixture of the weird and the wonderful, dotted with every roadside attraction you can think of.

And then some.

Which made it kind of awesome.

Before we set off on our Tennessee adventure, I did massive amounts of research to pull together a list of places we wanted to check out, looking for a cross-section of things that both the kids and I would enjoy. My goal was to fill up about half our time, and leave the other half completely up to chance, wandering to whatever struck our fancy.

RainForest Adventures ended up being right down the street from our hotel, and one of the places we had planned to visit. Situated at the less busy end of the highway, it was easy to find with ample free parking.

The tours are self-guided, which are perfect for kids darting from one exhibit to the other, and it was quiet with only a few customers when we arrived. The facility is neatly laid out so you can intuitively walk from one end to the other without needing a map or having any fear of getting lost. Big enough to keep the kids intrigued, but small enough to be just right.

With over 600 animals and 130 different species, there was a lot to see, but not in an overwhelming way. There were a number of animals that we, of course, had seen before, but also many we hadn’t. There was an exhibit with capuchin monkeys that we could have seriously sat and watched for hours. They were a lively bunch, particularly one of them, who we decided was a mouthy teenager who didn’t want to listen to his dad. Because that’s pretty much how he behaved.

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Visit: Philadelphia

March 25, 2014 · Ad-Free

Looking for a quick getaway? Philadelphia is a great city to visit, filled with kid-friendly and adult-approved fun places to check out, history to soak in, and a massive amount of good eats.

Even though the weather in the Northeast is hardly cooperating, Spring Break is just a few weeks away and, with that, hopefully some sunshine! This year, the kids and I are planning something completely different, and we’re very excited. But more on that next month. In the meantime, we *do* have another trip to Philadelphia planned in the coming months.We have been there a few times over the last couple of years, and it makes a great quick getaway that is a short driving distance away with something for everyone. In case your Spring Break plans include taking a quick trip to Philly, I’ve rounded up some of our favorite things to see and do.

If you’re a regular reader, you know that we visit a lot of zoos. The Philadelphia Zoo remains one of our favorites. It is clean, beautifully maintained, and the grounds are gorgeous. You can check out our complete review right here.
When I took the kids (and two friends) to the Liberty Bell, it was actually the first time any of us had been there, and it was fun that we got to share that experience together. Even if it did take us forever to find it! *This picture is from about a year and a half ago – oh those baby cheeks on Madeline!

Although it is over the border in New Jersey, if you’re making a weekend out of it, add the Adventure Aquarium in Camden to your list. It’s not far from Philadelphia at all, and worth a stop.

On our list for our next visit to Philly?

A stop at the Betsy Ross House to learn about her life and the legend behind America’s most famous flag maker.
A visit to Pennsbury Manor, where there are horses, oxen, sheep, and even a few peacocks roaming the grounds, which is the recreated country estate of William Penn, and situated on 43 scenic acres along the Delaware River. Craft demonstrations, costumed interpreters, interactive activities, gardens and stables of animals whisk modern-day visitors back to the 17th century with.
At the Independence Seaport Museum, kids can explore the Spanish-American War Cruiser Olympia and the World War II Submarine Becuna. Every third Saturday of the month, known as Seafarin’ Saturdays, kids participate in activities
designed especially for them. They can take crafts home with them, or leave them at the museum to be displayed on the Family Gallery wall.
Opened in 1924, the 16-acre Elmwood Park Zoo has nearly 300 species indigenous to the Americas. Many of the animals—the American bison, peregrine falcon, bald eagle, timber wolf and American alligator—represent significant wildlife conservation success stories. The zoo also includes a spacious playground featuring interactive animal sculptures. Guests have a chance to hand-feed the world’s tallest living land animal at the new giraffe exhibit (you know how much we love feeding giraffes!).
Philadelphia’s only all-bug museum and the largest insect museum in the Northeast is the Insectarium, exhibiting thousands of live and mounted insects from Africa, Tanzania and other exotic locations, as well as interactive displays and a movie room.

To encourage you to stay and enjoy all the Philly has to offer, many hotels are offering a Visit Philly Hotel Package, which gives you free parking for two consecutive hotel nights. Not a bad deal!

And, of course, Philly is known for its cheese steak, so you can’t leave the city without trying some of the very best. Pat’s, Geno’s, and Jim’s are usually the top-rated choices for go-to cheese steak, but if you head towards South Philly, you can stop at John’s Roast Pork, which has been serving up deliciousness for over 70 years.

Great. And now I totally want a cheese steak.

Soon.

Another favorite stop of ours is the Reading Terminal Market. Filled with all sorts of food and other vendors, you can spend hours in here, totally shopping from stall to stall, soaking up the energy. It’s a not-to-be-missed stop.

If Philadelphia is one of YOUR favorite spots, do share some must-see places. We can’t wait to go back.

Philadelphia is the perfect spot for a getaway. Stay for any two consecutive nights at one of twenty participating hotels and your car stays free! For more information and to book your room visitphilly.com/overnight.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Visit Philadelphia. The opinions and text are all mine.