The Bronx Zoo

Although our original plan for this past Saturday was to take the ferry to the beach, the weather did not cooperate.  So we adjusted plans and decided to have a day-venutre at the Bronx Zoo instead.  I'd been once before but this was Dan's first visit. 

Saturday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed early to make our way north via public transit.  We stopped at our favorite Steve's Bagels for morning sustenance.  We knew we had to take two subway trains and that it would take a little over an hour to get there.  Well, as weekends tend to go, the 2 train terminated early, we waited 10 minutes at the second to last stop.  When we got off we headed to catch a shuttle bus to our destination and while it was "express" it still took 20 minutes in traffic and we were stuffed like sardines on the bus.  Our legs were sore from standing in such a tight space because we couldn't even shift weight.  Two hours from when we left, we finally arrived.  

We wasted no time and headed straight to the photo booth followed by the monorail and then Jungle World. 

We decided our theme for the day was Giraffe. It was a random choice but knew we would be leaving with a new stuffed buddy giraffe at the very least.  Instead we got a new t-shirt for Dan, a new buddy we named Pixie Little, and Dan picked a cute giraffe necklace for me.  And of course we added to my squished penny collection.

We paid $30 per ticket for the "full experience" which gave you access to the monorail, jungle world, 4D theater, bug carousel, the butterfly pavilion, and more without any extra charge.  It was well worth the extra money and we tried to see it all.

Never too old for a carousel ride!! 

The giraffe's were adorable.  There was a little one that was galloping around chasing after an ostrich.  So cute.

I loved these guys.  These two got into a fight and got their horns all tangled-up for a bit.

The seals were also a highlight.  We didn't see the the feeding but they were swimming around and jumping out of the water a lot. 

This guy was such a little gossip.  He was honking and barking constantly.  Who knows what he was saying.

The weather was overcast, cool, and spit throughout the day.  Although we missed the sun it was the perfect day to go to the zoo.  The crowds were minimal and we weren't sweaty and hot. 

The gorillas were our last stop.  This guy was resting against the viewing glass and the poor guy was being hounded by a massive crowd on the other side (including me). 

This little baby gorilla at his/her side was super playful and was entertaining itself by throwing hay on it's head.  So cute. 

This big guy was hiding

We left the zoo around 3:30 and walked a little ways to Little Italy in the Bronx.  A friend recommended a restaurant but because we were there in the late afternoon they weren't open yet.  So we found an alternative and enjoyed delicious pasta and rested our tired feet.  By the time we finished it was raining quite hard and we still had a long walk to the subway through a completely unfamiliar neighborhood.  I was super grateful Dan was with me. 

Once we got on the subway we expected a smooth ride since we purposefully walked to a different train to avoid the one we took in the morning.  Of course, the D train was also having issues and we had to walk through the massive Times Square station to transfer.  We got one stop from home on the N train and ended up walking the rest of the way.  18,000 steps throughout the day and we were exhausted.   We watched TV and enjoyed the sweet Italian treats that we picked-up on our way home from the Bronx.

A great day-venture, we knocked an item off our summer bucket list, and we made lots of fun memories.