Playing in the Children's Petting Zoo
It had been several years since I had been to the zoo and was really looking forward to visiting it with Nora. We have been working with her for so long with all the names of animals, I was interested if she remembered them and if she could connect them with the real thing. She did great, identifying rhinos, elephants, tigers, giraffes. She named all the usual suspects but she really impressed us when she pointed out the sloth. This little girl forgets nothing! It was fun to watch her get so excited to see one animal after another. When she got tired of looking at one, she would merely say “next”, and off we went.
The zoo was very nice, nicer than I remember it. There are so many animals that we never made it through the whole zoo before Nora went down for a nap. But before she did go to sleep, she go to touch a snake. She was a little unsure about touching the snake. She got a finger on it and pulled back quickly, however that was all she could talk about when we got home, that she touched a “snakey snake” as she would hiss to display how a snake goes :) She also pet some goats, saw elephants, gorillas, giraffes, tigers, penguins and much more, even “dragons”. She didn’t miss too much, but she did miss the polar bear exhibit which was awesome. The bears were the most active of all the animals we saw that day. Swimming and wrestling, they were quite entertaining.
Be sure to visit the Skyline Chili at the historic Vine Street recreation as they have walk-around 3 ways! And if you are not from this area, that sounds pretty sketchy I’m sure. What a 3-way is, a pile of spaghetti, topped with Cincinnati-style chili, smothered in finely shredded cheddar cheese. Not a healthy choice, but the stuff addictions are made of! As a matter of fact, I think this trip, I will go on a quest to find the best Cincinnati Chili as there are several restaurants that claim to hold that title, with Skyline being the most favored among Cincinnatians.
Overall the zoo was incredible, plan for a full day to see all the animals and exhibits, and wear shoes you can hike in. The hills cannot be avoided and are fairly steep when pushing a stroller.
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