By the time Monday rolled around, we had done everything that had been planned. I really wasn't in the mood to go back to the MoA and have to deal with all of the people, so we decided to go to the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory. And we couldn't have decided on a better place to spend the day.
The Como Park consists of 300+ acres in the city of St Paul. We managed to see the zoo, the conservatory, and the Japanese garden. If I lived there, I would be at this place weekly. I couldn't imagine a greater place to spend an afternoon than sitting in the sunken garden, surrounded by flowers and fountains, reading a book. It is really a marvelous place--and the admission price is a 'suggested' $2.00 per adult DONATION, $1.00 per child. And if you can't afford that amount, you still are not denied entrance. And what's even cooler still: The park is open 365 days a year.
Of course, I took an enormous amount of pictures here. I'm not too sure my family is thrilled about my picture taking--they always seem to be waiting for me to catch up with them. I think I should go to our destination ahead of everyone else and have them catch up an hour or two later. This way, I won't keep everyone waiting to get to the next attraction. ;) But, I digress.
I will do multiple posts about the park--this was I won't put anyone into picture overload. The first batch of pics are from the zoo. Enjoy.
While the zoo isn't very large, by any means, it does house quite a diverse number of animals. They have large cats and wolves, seals and penguins, primates and birds, polar bears and hoofed animals. Because of the design of zoos these days--the desire to make them more and more 'natural'--it isn't as easy to take pictures as it used to be. But here goes:
This ostrich was NOT dead--just sleeping!
Mama giraffe:
This picture amused me to no end. The seal/sea lion (don't know which it was) was sleeping up against the wall--just as if he/she was put in 'time out' for some transgression.
Next on the list: The Conservatory.
