The Jacksonville Zoo

A few months ago we bought a Groupon for the Jacksonville Zoo and then a few weeks ago realized that it expired at the end of the year....whoops! So we decided to go the day before New Year's Eve to check it out. Now, if you have ever been to the zoo, you start to realize that one is not too much different than another, so I'll just give you some of the highlights:

-The ostrich is huge and ran right past us....sweet
-There was a jaguar baby that was about as adorable as possible. I could definitely see many an animal lover being mauled trying to cuddle with him
-If you walk in and you're starving, there is a place right by the entrance with pretzels and nacho "cheese" (Which we all know bares very little resemblance to actual cheese but is delicious...won't be able to eat that on the Clean Program!)
-They have two other restaurants in the zoo, which we skipped because they seemed to be mostly junk food french fries, etc. (One is Mexican, the other American)
-The zoo is situated right on a river and you can dock your boat and walk in. Apparently you're supposed to walk to the front of the zoo and pay the entrance fee, but there are no signs telling you to do that.
-The giraffe's are giant! You can buy food to feed them and they'll come right up to you and take it with their long tongues.


Other than that, it's a zoo like any other. There was one thing that I think is a must-see: they give empty cardboard boxes and other "toys" to the zoo animals once a month to keep them interested in their environment. We watched one monkey for a good 30 minutes because she was so entertaining! She took apart a plastic box and then played with it and tried to figure it out. She learned some sign language from her mother (who had been in another place where they taught them a few signs) and so she will come up to the sides and do the "gimme" sign with her hands and it's adorable.

All in all, we had an enjoyable time and if you have kids, it's a great way to teach them about nature and animals and all that good stuff :)