When I was younger, the singing duo of Simon and Garfunkel had a popular at the time song titled, “At The Zoo.”
One of the lyrics to the song went something like this, ” Something tells me it’s all happening at the zoo. I do believe it, I do believe it’s true”
Many years later, in my 30 Plus Teams Tour of Washington DC , I went to the famous Smithsonian National Zoo to see if the line in the song is still true.
It is.
Number 52 on my bucket list is the National Zoo of Washington DC .
Like so many museums in the city, admission is free.
I arrived at the zoo around 8:45am before the crowds arrived .
Some of the animals were out already , including the “star” of the zoo, Bei Bei, the panda , who will be returning to China around November 19.
So if you happen to be visiting the city around that time, stop by and say hi to Bei Bei, he’s very entertaining.
There’s so many animals to see at the zoo, but because of my fear of snakes, birds and bats , I avoided seeing the Reptile House and the Bat Cave like the plague .
I was as happy as a pig in you know what when I saw the sign saying “Bird House Closed”.
The first trail you see when you enter the zoo is the Asia Trail, which features animals from, you guessed it, the continent of Asia.
There’s also an American Trail, which features animals native to the Americas .
I enjoyed seeing the big American Bison.
They aren’t Buffaloes , they’re Bison as one of the signs on the exhibit informs you.
They even tell you what the difference between a male and female Bison.
(Male is bigger with a lot of hair. The Zoo has two female Bisons)
A walk around the zoo just doesn’t give you a peek into the animals cages, but some information about them, including the information that would be considered TMI.
Some of the animals weren’t in their cages or exhibits while I was there.
If this happens, the zoo will put up a sign reading humorously , “NOBODY HOME”.
I spent 2 hours at the zoo, but that just isn’t enough time to visit.
Like a lot of things in the city, it’s easy to get there by the Metro.
It’s on the Red Line and you can get off at one of two stations, Woodley Park Zoo/Adams Morgan or Cleveland Park Station.
Some people like to get off at Cleveland Park and walk back but I like the Woodley Park Zoo stop even though it’s an uphill walk.
Plus what I love about Washington DC, there’s signs to point you to the place you want to go to.
No matter which station you decide to get off at , the walk prepares you for all the walking that you’ll be doing once inside the zoo.
30 Plus Teams 30 Plus Dreams 