Cheap Frills: Trip to the Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Fall is the best time in the world to get outdoors in this area. I played hookie one day last week and hubby and I trekked over to the Fort Worth Zoo and Botanical/Japanese Gardens. What a perfect day!

Turns out that Wednesdays are half price day at the zoo so we unknowingly timed it perfectly. We had so much fun. There were no crowds at all and the temperature was in the mid 70's.

The colorful Flamingos were right at the entrance. I love these birds and have no issue with putting one of the fake ones in my front flower bed. They are really very interesting. Imagine sleeping while standing on one skinny leg.

I love to watch Gorillas. Their antics are so human-like. I watched a mommy gorilla interract with her little baby. The moment the baby started wandering away, she went right after him, took his hand and led him back to her side. So cute to watch.

This guy just plopped down on the rock and stared out. Wonder what he was thinking?

Elephants are entertaining as well. There was an old spare tire in the cage and they were tossing it around. One elephant was eating the straw off another elephant's back.

This baby giraffe reminded me of the children's book called 'Are You My Mother'. Do you remember that book?

Tigers are such beautiful cats.

Look how this lion blends in so nicely with the rocks in the background. All the animals were pretty mellow while we were there, but I was there once when the lion started roaring. I had to cover my ears it was so loud. The ground actually vibrates and you can literally hear it for miles.

There were lots of interesting birds to see. They practically posed for me.

We got to go inside the parakeet cage and feed these parakeets. They are so tame and always ready for a treat. You had to watch your step because they were everywhere.

This guy was strange. I think his head twists all the way around. He was huge.

Pretty tropical colors. I thnk I have a dress somewhere in my closet that looks a lot like this. :)

This guy was a chatterbox. Everytime I'd talk to him, he'd respond. He probably thought the same thing about me.

As you can tell, I love the birds best. They are so unique and colorful. I think this was my favorite though. I had to take this photo through a glass wall so he was really more colorful than the photo shows.

This is the biggest turtle I've ever seen. I wonder how old he is. It took him forever to walk 3 feet. He kept coming towards me so I guess he wanted his picture taken.

We went to the snake exhibit too but I didn't take any photos of them. I'm fascinated by snakes but want to stay as far away as possible. They are so creepy!

Moving on to the gardens a couple of blocks away, we found a little park bench and had a little picnic of pasta salad and wine.