A free zoo may sound like an impossibility in today’s world
where everything seems to cost so much money, but there is such a place
indeed. The Lincoln Park zoo which lies
very near Lake Michigan in the sprawling metropolis of Chicago Illinois is to
the best of my knowledge the last such free zoo in the United States. Located in the densely populated Chicago
neighborhood which bears the same name (Lincoln Park) the zoo has lions, tigers,
bears and much more. With the towering
Chicago skyline in the background and the ocean like appearance of Lake
Michigan across Lake Shore Drive the scenery here is on par with the animal
exhibits. I had the pleasure of visiting this zoo over the past summer and have
to say I would recommend it to anyone.
My girlfriend Abby and I had decided on Chicago for our
annual summer trip and we were excited to hear about the zoo. We thought it would make a great starting
point and that her four year old daughter Kari would love to see the
animals. We arrived at the zoo about
noon after taking a train and two buses over the course of an hour in order to
reach the zoo. A curious Zebra greeted
us as walked through the welcoming gates.
He fidgeted excitedly from the fly bites, his pitch black tail whipping
frantically as he struggled to swat the flies of his rear end. Kari looked up a giggled as she explained to
me that Zebra’s do in fact have stripes; some days I don’t know what I would do
without her.
We walked around the zoo and saw the majestic lions and the goofy
sea lions. We took a stroll through the
world of creepy crawly insects. We slithered
through a maze of reptiles and amphibians, on our way to viewing the vertically
gifted giraffes. The monkeys took their
afternoon naps as some camels chilled in the shade. The day flew by and the laughter filled the
air. There are not many thing that can
bring a couple of parents in their mid-twenties back to childhood better than
the trill of exotic animals, and the joyous cries of children, as they see
these magnificent creatures for the first time outside of books.
Though having never visited the Lincoln Park zoo, I often get this excited feeling every time I walk through the front gates of Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo. Indeed zoos like these have much to offer those who visit. With a wide array of animals to see, memories of my childhood illuminate through the cracked bricks, chipped paint, and the worn down statues that have sat spread out throughout the zoo. The thrill of seeing the exotic animals, as you describes, takes me back to the old days. Indeed, your account of your trip to the Lincoln Park zoo not only made me ponder other places and events that are stored in my memories that help to uncover the timeline of my life. This just reaffirms in my mind that we are never too old to be kids again.
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