Visiting The Lincoln Park Zoo In Summer

I know some of you are anxious to hear about my fall vacation to Utah.  It was a dream come true to finally make it to Zion National Park.  I've heard nothing but wonderful things about it, and after seeing it myself,  I can honestly say everything I have ever heard is true.  But, I have a couple of summer travel posts I want to do yet, and I'm still going through all my Utah photos, so it will be two more weeks before I start my Utah Travel Series.

In the meantime, today I want to share about my visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo in summer;  and I've emphasized "In Summer" because the only other time I've ever been there was in the winter.  (You can read about my visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Winter HERE and I also wrote another post about the Lincoln Park Conservatory HERE.)  I was honestly stunned at how different the park looked in summer verses the winter.  Foliage and vegetation makes all the difference in the world!

The first time I went to the zoo with my daughter and son-in-law, we were childless, as Alethea wasn't born yet.  On my second visit, we not only had a toddler in tow, but a newborn as well, so we were moving a lot slower and didn't get to see everything.  One thing we missed was the conservatory, but that was OK because the first time we visited I got to see the inside but there were no flowers on the outside because it was February.  On this visit, I got to see the outside garden flower beds.  It was incredible to see such beautiful flower beds with the conservatory and Chicago skyline in the distance.

Beautiful yellow Calla Lilies with purple Salvia as the edging plant.

There's a large, lawn space in-between the beds for picnicking, strolling, sitting in the grass, and viewing the flowers from all angles.

Even though Alethea lives in a city, she doesn't get to see skyscrapers very often so this was a pretty exciting day for her.

There is a lovely fountain with a stone bench all around it.  Alethea loved walking on the stone bench all around the fountain.

I just love the beautiful, soft plumes on this ornamental grass.

The weather was so perfect the day.  Alethea loved running on the grass through the gardens.

After enjoying the flower gardens, we headed off to see the animals.

At the time of day we were there, the lighting was not the best for photographs, but I did manage to get a few nice shots.

I didn't see this fun, unique sculpture during my first visit to the zoo.  It's a globe, that rotates, and water runs over the top down to the bottom.  The kids all seemed to love it!

The giraffes were no where in sight when we first arrived, so dad took Alethea into a building while I waited on a bench with my daughter as she fed the baby.  Eventually, the giraffes just appeared (it must have been feeding time) and the crowd just let out an excited collective squeal.  It was so fun to hear, and of course I ran over quickly to see them and snap a few pictures.

The pond and/or outdoor bird area was the part of the zoo that looked the most different to me.  I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was with all the foliage on the tree and the beautiful plants surrounding the water.

Flamingos are always my favorite animal to see in a zoo.

I was so excited to see a baby rhinoceros!  I mean, how often does one see a baby rhino?  He was so CUTE!  He followed his momma everywhere.  Unfortunately, even though I snapped a gazillion photos, I didn't get one that was not blurry.

The first time we visited, the apes were inside.  They still had quite a few gorillas inside, but it was fun to see some playing outside too!

Aren't camels such a fascinating animal?

I hope you enjoyed my little visit to the zoo?  Have you been to a zoo lately?  I'd love to hear from you!

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