Tag Archives: zoo

It’s Like a Zoo Out Here!

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The Cincinnati Zoo is ranked as one of the top 10 zoos in North America and has the nickname of “The Sexiest Zoo in America” because of their successful breeding programs!  It’s also the 2nd oldest zoo in America!

Having not visited in 15 years, I enjoyed going yesterday.  I also wanted to check out the annual “Festival of Lights” event, so I accomplished two missions!  When I’m on a mission that means I walk fast!  Here’s the Christmas tree upon entry…

The zebras are one of my favorite…

The pink flamingos don’t even look real…

The green on these birds is gorgeous!

Since we didn’t arrive until 4pm and only had an hour or two of day light…I didn’t take the time to learn the names of all of the animals we saw.  I really like this bird though…

These bats were fighting and I’m not sure what the ducks were doing…

The owl was one of my favorites…his colors and demeanor are outstanding!

The orangutan seemed to be posing for me…he froze in this position while I took multiple photos…and other primates seemed to run from my photos!

I always feel a little sorry for animals at the zoo…some don’t seem happy to be there!

Reindeer are cool!!

As you can see…night is coming…and the crowds!

There are over 2 million LED lights at the Zoo!

I used my new tripod for the first time and also tried my Olympus PEN on manual setting for the night shots.  My settings were 1/25 shutter, 4.5 F-stop, and 1000 ISO.  Photography is a true passion for me…I was looking forward to taking photos more than anything else!

The small lake had the prettiest display of lights.

You can see the ducks swimming in the reflection…

This is the tunnel you enter and exit through…very pretty!

I hope you enjoyed your tour and perhaps this will help get you into the holiday spirit!!

Contrasts While Biking

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Bobby’s Bike and Hike was a fun 3 hour tour of some areas in Chicago.  As with most travel experiences, there were a wide variety of sites to see.  Part of the time we traveled on the main roads in Chicago, which wasn’t a problem because there were 20 riders and we whizzed through stops signs!  We only covered 8 miles…but cycled through the neighborhoods of the Gold Coast and Old Town.  The Gold Coast got its name because the homes are very expensive.  Many of them have been converted into condos.  We rode past the original “Playboy Mansion”, but Hugh decided that the cold Chicago winters didn’t work with women in bikinis!  I checked Tripadvisor for some of the most popular tours and this was listed as #1. 

We learned some interesting facts about Chicago, but if I had it to do over again…I probably would have preferred just renting a bicycle and gone at my own speed…which is faster…and also would have been able to stop where I wanted to take photographs.  We stopped at the free Zoo and this gentleman was playing the violin!

There was a stop at the Contemporary Arts Museum…

We rode through Lincoln Park…

 

I’ve never seen a mailbox with a flower basket attached!

 We rode along Lake Michigan and there were lots of people playing volleyball, sunbathing, walking, jogging and bicycling.  

I also booked an “Architectural Foundation” boat ride for later in the afternoon…but I’ll save that for tomorrow! 

Hope your having a great day!!