So I went to the North Carolina Zoo today with my 2 munchkins. It's a daunting task taking the kids to the gas station let alone the Zoo, but somehow I drew up the strength, tossed them in the car, and took off towards Asheboro: Home of of more mobile homes then any other city in North Carolina.
It's been, oh say about 20 years since I've been to the Asheboro Zoo. Last time I went was when I was attending Creative World Day Care on Muris Chapel, and went as a field trip. I expected it to have changed, I expected it to have gotten better. I'm not sure it really has. Since my last visit in my child hood I've had the chance to visit other great Zoo's and animals habitats, like the San Diego Zoo, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Santa Barbara Zoo, and locally the
Lazy 5 Ranch, and while I'm trying to stay positive, and proud of our only state Zoo, it's not what I hoped it would be.
We entered on the South Africa side which I assumed would have the better animals. For the first hour we were lucky to even find an exhibit open, and when we did the animals were far off in the distance or asleep. Kind of like that scene in Jurassic park, where they ride and ride and see no dinosaurs. I'm a firm believer in animal rights, but I kind of hoping someone would go out there with an electric cattle prod. At one point I about took one of the little Chinese babies the immigrant mother was carelessly hanging over the fence to see, and pushed it in for some excitement.
So we walked and walked, and then walked some more. When you finally visit all the South Africa exhibits your rewarded with a center park food court which we decided to invest in ice cream cones at. Remember when your a kid and you go somewhere, and the ice-cream tastes "so good" because your tired, exhausted, and hungry? Yeah, it was that kind of ice cream. Overpriced and delicious. It's at this point you've got to prepare yourself for a 1 mile trek up a steep incline. I was pushing a dual seat stroller loaded with baby bags, jackets, and 2 ice-cream covered children by myself up this hill. I sweated, I hyperventilated, but eventually I made it, despite the disbelief of the people going in the opposite direction.
When you reach the summit of mount Asheboro, you descend into the North American habitat of the North Carolina Zoo. This is where most of the animals who still had a heartbeat lived. Once again though, the children's playground was closed, and many of the hands on exhibits failed to do anything when the buttons were pressed.
Right about here is where you'll discover a stand selling honey. The store is called "My Daddy's Honey", which immediately gave me X-rated thoughts, and made me want to steer clear of the old guy who I was now picturing as a child molester.
The polar bear was the life of the show, it almost seemed trained to entertain as it did it's best to clumsily attack a huge ball in it's water habitat. This was the first time the kids had gotten excited the whole day, although I must admit I still thought about pushing the Chinese baby in the water.
The North American exhibits pass quick in comparison to the South African side, partially in part to the fact they were all closed. It's also about this time you discover you get picky and choosy, and tell yourself that you don't want to go see a Nigerian peeking owl if it requires pushing the stroller up another hill.
So a few minutes later and we're sitting at the bus stop waiting for the tram back to the other parking lot. When we got back to the car, I asked Chance what the favorite part of his day was and he replied "the bus ride."
