Weekend In Chicago: Day 4

The Brookfield Zoo

Tuesday was the last day of our extended weekend vacation in Chicago. We still had a tickets to the Shedd Aquarium on the Museum Campus but neither of us wanted to go back into downtown again. So our time in that part of the city was over. But we still planned on spending the day in one of the  suburbs. 

Paula and I travel well together. We always have. So packing up and checking out of the hotel was comfortably routine; almost automatic.

At the front desk I mentioned to the clerk that while we had no major problems during our stay; the room amenities and condition of some areas of the hotel left a something to be desired. 

I mentioned that a room in a 3 star hotel (the rating Four Points by Sheraton O'Hare received on Priceline.com) usually included a fridge and a microwave. We had to "upgrade" (aka pay $20 a night more) to get a room that included them.

I don't remember the desk clerk's exact response. It wasn't rude but it did convey an undisguised "take it or leave it" type of apathy. Because of that attitude we will probably never stay at that Four Points by Sheraton O'Hare hotel in Chicago again.

One more time we grabbed breakfast and something to drink at the BP gas station near the hotel. This convenience store was one of the better aspects of our vacation. More on that later in the final post in this series. 

Our plans for the day, other than heading back home, was to visit a zoo for a few hours. We found two in the area: The Lincoln Park Zoo and the Brookfield Zoo. 

Lincoln Park was free but required a return to the city just north of the downtown area, and was mainly intended for families with kids.  

From what I read during my trip planning, Brookfield zoo, although it charged admission, had a lot more that would be of interest to two adults than Lincoln Park. 

The 2 specific reasons we chose to go to Brookfield were: the dolphin show and the butterfly house.   

From the hotel, we drove about 11 miles south to the town of Brookfield. We arrived at the south gate entrance of the zoo (paying for parking, thankfully, for the last time this trip) just before noon. 

We stepped up to the ticket booth and discovered that the $15 ticket price I had seen on their website was just for "basic admission" into the zoo. To see the dolphins, the butterflies and do one other attraction that required a separate ticket we had to pay an additional $10 each.

Since the extra cost was the only way we were going to be able to do what we specifically came to do, I reluctantly paid the for the "upgraded" ticket. 

Just inside the south gate were a pair of lion statues and we could see a rather large fountain in the distance. 

Here's a close up of each of those. 

It was a beautiful warm sunny summer day; but because it was already the middle of the day not many of the animals were very active.  

Here's the zoo map. This will give you an idea of our path and the area we covered during our visit.  

Having entered the park at the south gate, we headed west. Stopping at the baboon habitat. There were a few of them sitting around on the rocks. They didn't seem to mind the heat. 

  














The dolphin show we had tickets were for wasn't until 2:30 so we had some time to walk around and see as many animals as we could. Here are some pictures of some of the animals we saw. 

Penguins

Reptiles 

Snoozing Polar Bear 

Giraffes

Two Totally Relaxed Lions

This next animal is one that neither Paula nor I had ever seen before. It is a black footed cat; the smallest feline species found in Africa. The zoo was in the process of introducing a trio of 6 month old kittens into their new habitat. 

They were very cute. Although they looked like playful and cuddly domestic house cats the placard outside their cage insisted otherwise. If you are interested in those differences you can find more information about the black footed cat on the internet. 

To us these cats looked like the Puss N' Boots character in the "Shrek" movies. We took a picture that shows this. See if you agree. 

We were at the top center of the zoo when we realized that it was time to head over to the Seven Seas area in northeast corner to get in line for the dolphin show. 

We were a bit hungry and decided to get a big soft pretzel to share. Luckily we were in an area where there was a counter service restaurant near by. (blogger's note: I wrote that last line with a bit of sarcasm. I think this zoo had more places to eat and buy souvenirs than any other we've ever visited. Listed on the back of the paper map were a dozen places to eat and 8 gift shops.)

I checked with someone at the guest services booth to make sure that we were headed in the right direction to get to the dolphin show. If we went the wrong way we'd be late and it was the last show of the day. 

We walked by the butterfly house and the carousel. As we passed it I regretted my choice of ticket options back at the front gate. A ride on the carousel was one of our options but I chose a visit to the children's petting zoo instead. Even though I knew we probably wouldn't go ever get there. I should have chosen the carousel. I would have definitely used that ticket. 

With only about 20 minutes to get to the show we couldn't take the time to stop and eat our pretzel. Good thing we didn't because when we got to the Seven Seas area, the line to get in was very long. We were about 100 yards from the entrance. 

But the theater held quite a few spectators. I am not very good at estimating crowds but I'd say it was close to 1000 people. 

Since we got in line so late we didn't have the choice of the best seats. We sat on the right side of the pool about 3 rows from the top of the arena. Here was our view. 

While waiting for the rest of the crowd to filter in and the show to start we finished the rest of our soft pretzel dipping it in the small cup of cheese I had gotten. (Don't judge us. We were on vacation and it was delicious). 

Also while we were waiting I took picture of my wife. Of all the shots I took of her during our vacation this is probably my favorite.  

As showtime drew closer the dolphins were swimming around in the pool playing with some yellow volleyballs. They were throwing them around in the water with their noses. 

Once everyone was seated the show began. The theme of the show was the dolphin Olympics. It started out with the "team" doing a variety of tricks. 

One of the "events" was a competition to see which dolphin could jump up out of the water to touch a ball tethered from the ceiling. I didn't get any video but Paula got some good still shots. 

Close...

Closer...

Got It !!!

It was a terrific show and I would have liked to have seen more. As expected we exited through the gift shop and then went down stairs to view the dolphins swimming underwater in their tank. 

We had just one more thing we wanted to do, go see the butterflies. After that we were ready to head home. 

The butterfly house was without a doubt Paula's favorite animal exhibit of the day. The "house" was more of an metal mesh Quonset hut. Inside the enclosure was a small garden with hundreds of butterflies. 

With I-phone and digital camera in hand Paula and I took many many pictures. So many in fact that I had a difficult time choosing which of them to include in this post. But here they are. 

Among the rules of the butterfly sanctuary was "don't touch the specimens." But during our visit several guests had butterflies land on them. 

This brings me to my favorite picture I took during our butterfly experience. As we were getting up off a bench to leave Paula got a visitor. Perhaps the attraction was the pattern on her shirt. 

After about 30 minutes in the butterfly garden we checked ourselves in the mirror looking for "hitchhikers" as required by the rules. The exit brought us out right next to a merchandise tent where they were selling stuff at 40% off. We browsed through it but didn't find anything we "couldn't live without". 

At this point we had seen all we wanted to see at the zoo and ready to head to the car. Since it's main station was right there we were decided to take the zoo tram to the south end of the grounds so we didn't have to walk. Also, it was one of the privileges included in our admission. 

We found a seat near the middle of the tram and waited. We didn't leave until at least 15 minutes later but neither the driver nor the guide gave a reason why.  

The tram was very boring. It went really slow. I mean slower than walking speed. Also the guide, an older gentleman giving narration over the on board PA system was improvising his narration. 

He was obviously knowledgeable and passionate about the zoo both past and present; but he was not very entertaining.  

The tram route took us to the north east part of the zoo before it turned south. Because of the distance and the speed the trip took us about 30 to 45 minutes. We could have walked to the gate in about 15. But we were tired and sitting down was a welcomed rest. (seems I've written those words quite often during this series doesn't it?)

The one good thing about the tram tour was that once it reached the south gate we were next to a Starbucks coffee shop. Paula wanted one for the road. With her iced mocha latte sweetened with a couple of packets of Splenda my wife and I headed out to the parking lot. 

This was not the best zoo we've ever been to but it wasn't the worst either. It was a nice way to spend our last day in the Chicago area. Seeing the dolphin show and butterfly garden was worth the extra charge for the admission.

The Brookfield Zoo encompasses 216 acres. That's more than 4 times the area of the Philadelphia zoo. Yet it's not a better zoo. Here's some of the reasons why. 

The layout was a bit complicated and confusing. I didn't notice it until I was doing research for this post that it was shaped like and abstract map of the United States. If I had thought of it that way during our visit it would have been a whole lot easier to navigate. 

I've already mention the over abundance of food counters and souvenir shops. But now I realize that the Brookfield Zoo is more than twice the size of Disney's Magic Kingdom. So in comparison the number of counter service restaurants and of merchandising outlets is not excessive at all. 

Blogger's note: Just in case you are wondering the zoo is less than 1/2 the size of Disney's Animal Kingdom, which is 500 acres. 

One of the biggest negative aspects for me was that several of the buildings that you walked through to see the animals smelled really badly. Now I know that animals have a tendency to have a rather unpleasant and sometimes pungent odor to them. But it was stronger and more frequent at this zoo than the others we've ever visited. If we ever went there again I'd probably  avoid any of the buildings and remain in the "open air" areas.  

But overall we will fondly remember our visit to the Brookfield Zoo. 

It was about 5:30 when we turned on to Interstate 55 and headed south toward Indiana heading for Kentucky. 

Our time in Chicago was officially over. We had a 6 hour drive ahead of us but it would end up with us back at home and asleep in our own bed. That's where we wanted to be.