The "Other" Zoo

On Thursday, I took the kids to the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, PA. Most people when I mention that zoo look kind of perplexed and say that they didn't know there was a zoo in Norristown. :-)


Of course, we have the Philadelphia Zoo, the first zoo in America with it's huge displays and large "zoo" animals: lions, tigers, elephants (well, not for much longer, but that's a topic for a whole other post). We have a membership there and the kids do enjoy it.

But, I decided to surprise them and take them to the small zoo that many don't know about. It is much smaller, doesn't have the lions, tigers and elephants, but has a charm that is undeniable. And, there are animals they wouldn't necessarily see anywhere else like American Bison. The Union Pacific train caboose always goes over big as does the big playground and the walk-through aviary and the crawl-through prairie dog tunnel.




I have to mention that I like to visit this zoo for another reason, as well. They not only discount military families' admission, they don't have *any* admission cost for military families. That's right, free. Wow. There aren't many places around today that acknowledge families like mine at all with even a small discount, let alone allow free admission. So, I was happy to buy the children ice cream on the hot summer day, pay for pony rides and buy them a small souvenir-- my way of saying thanks to them for being thankful. And, a great time was had, hot temps and all!