@tigertiger: there won't be a single repeat zoo, and I stated in my itinerary that I will not be visiting any zoos that I've previous toured. I've already had a few comments sent to me questioning why I'm skipping Omaha, Columbus, Atlanta, etc, but I've already seen all of those (and many more!) and so on this epic 5-week trip there will be only new zoos, along with at least 2 small aquariums. @mweb08: I would love to visit the National Aquarium and Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, but it is somewhat unlikely. Maybe I can squeeze in those visits, but there are also many other establishments that I'd also like to tour along the way. We'll have to wait and see how the summer road trip progresses, as our little daughter might not take kindly to zoo after zoo and many hours spent in the car.
Well I think you're visiting some places that aren't as good as the Baltimore locations. But I look forward to your reviews and pics nonetheless.
I second this! Hopefully you'll get lucky with your newest edition much the same way my parents did with both me and my brother where any form of motion (be it bouncing on the lap or a car) put us right to sleep.
Let me know when you make it to Fort Wayne--I'd love to meet you and you family and show you around a bit if you'd like.
I'll keep everything on this thread for now, as it is one of the 10 most viewed threads in ZooChat history, and once the summer rolls around I'll begin my reviews in a different location. I have added 5 establishments to my 2010 summer road trip, due to discussions with anonymous ZooChatters and others (special thanks to Allen Nyhuis for what seems like hundreds of emails) and the hope that the trip can become a full 6 weeks in length. They are: Birmingham Zoo and its bachelor herd of elephants in the brand new "Trails of Africa", a stopover in Baltimore to include the National Aquarium and Maryland Zoo, and a stopover in Chattanooga for the Tennessee Aquarium and small (but free with AZA membership) Chattanooga Zoo. If all goes well then that makes 30 zoos and aquariums this summer...fingers crossed! Updated Road Trip: July 12th - August 23rd (There are allowances for days off between certain zoos) Day 1: Drive all day Day 2: Zoo Montana* + drive all day Day 3: Drive all day (a total of 23 hours from Abbotsford to C. Springs in 3 days) Day 4: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo + drive 7.5 hours Day 5: Sedgwick County Zoo* + drive 3 hours Day 6: Tulsa Zoo* + drive 4 hours Day 7: Kansas City Zoo + drive 4 hours Day 8: Saint Louis Zoo* + Gateway Arch + drive 4.5 hours Day 9: Nashville Zoo* + drive 3 hours Day 10: Louisville Zoo + drive 3.5 hours Day 11: Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo* + drive 1.5 hours Day 12: Binder Park Zoo* + drive 4 hours Day 13: Cleveland Zoo* + drive 6 hours Day 14: National Aquarium* + Maryland Zoo + drive 6 hours Day 15: North Carolina Zoo + drive 3 hours Day 16: Riverbanks Zoo* + drive 5 hours Day 17: Tennessee Aquarium + Chattanooga Zoo* + drive 2 hours Day 18: Birmingham Zoo + drive 1.5 hours + Montgomery Zoo + drive 5 hours Day 19: Audubon Zoo* + drive 7 hours Day 20: Caldwell Zoo* + drive 2 hours + Dallas World Aquarium Day 21: Dallas Zoo* + drive 4 hours Day 22: Houston Zoo* + drive 3 hours Day 23: San Antonio Zoo.5* + drive 4.5 hours Day 24: Gladys Porter Zoo + 6 hours Day 25: Drive all day (9 hours) Day 26: Rio Grande Zoo + Albuquerque Aquarium + drive 3 hours Day 27: Drive all day (7 hours) Day 28: Utah’s Hogle Zoo* + drive 5 hours Day 29: Zoo Boise + drive 3 hours Day 30: Drive all day (7 hours) Days = 42 (6 weeks) Zoos = 26 Aquariums = 4 * Free Zoos/Aquariums with AZA membership = 17 U.S. States = 26
Kudos on the inclusion of Gladys Porter, I have not been but it looks like a looooong trip out of the way! I don't know if it would be worth it but there is the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi if you wanted to make a detour on the way down from San Antonio!
This summer's massive road trip is now completely organized. There have been a few minor additions and changes from previous drafts, but 36 days have been finalized and the 32 zoos/aquariums that we will visit are listed below. The trip will actually be closer to 42 days in length, and I have deliberately not included 6 days on the itinerary as those extra days will be used for shopping, laundry, recuperation/rest days and other tourist attractions. Our daughter will be 10 months old once we begin this saga, so it is difficult to tell how well she will adapt to such a long time away from home. For instance, the 4 aquariums that we will visit I've placed on the same day as smaller zoo visits, but I'm not sure if such stops will require a day all to themselves. The trip will begin on Monday, July 12th (one day after the World Cup Final), and end around August 23rd for a grand total of 6 weeks. There are just over three months to go!!!! For anyone who doubts whether or not such a trip is possible (zoo, drive, zoo, drive, zoo, drive, etc) just remember that my wife and I did a very similar road trip in the summer of 2008. This time around we are not revisiting anything, so every single attraction will be new to us. If all goes well and nothing changes too dramatically from this itinerary then by the end of August we will have seen 53 of the 60 best zoos in America (our all-time total will be 110 zoos/aquariums/wildlife parks). That information is according to the classic book "America's Best Zoos", by Allen W. Nyhuis and Jon Wassner. There are plans to meet both authors on this trip, as well as maybe another ZooChatter or two. SUMMER 2010 ROAD TRIP: Day 1: Drive all day Day 2: Zoo Montana* + drive all day Day 3: Drive all day (a total of 23 hours from Abbotsford to C. Springs in 3 days) Day 4: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo + drive 7.5 hours Day 5: Sedgwick County Zoo* + drive 3 hours Day 6: Tulsa Zoo* + drive 4 hours Day 7: Kansas City Zoo + drive 4 hours Day 8: Saint Louis Zoo* + Gateway Arch Day 9: Rest Day + drive 4.5 hours Day 10: Nashville Zoo* + drive 3 hours Day 11: Louisville Zoo* + drive 3.5 hours Day 12: Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo* + drive 1.5 hours Day 13: Binder Park Zoo* + drive 4 hours Day 14: Cleveland Zoo* + drive 6 hours Day 15: National Aquarium* + Maryland Zoo* + drive 2 hours Day 16: Philadelphia Zoo* + Independence Hall/Liberty Bell Day 17: Rest Day + drive 8 hours Day 18: North Carolina Zoo* + drive 3 hours Day 19: Riverbanks Zoo* + drive 5 hours Day 20: Tennessee Aquarium + Chattanooga Zoo* + drive 2 hours Day 21: Birmingham Zoo* + drive 1.5 hours Day 22: Montgomery Zoo* + drive 5 hours Day 23: Audubon Zoo* Day 24: Rest Day + drive 5.5 hours Day 25: Houston Zoo* + drive 3.5 hours Day 26: Caldwell Zoo* + drive 2 hours + Dallas World Aquarium Day 27: Dallas Zoo* + drive 1.5 hours Day 28: Cameron Park Zoo* + drive 3 hours Day 29: San Antonio Zoo* + drive 4.5 hours Day 30: Gladys Porter Zoo* + 6 hours Day 31: Rest Day + drive 9 hours Day 32: Rio Grande Zoo* + Albuquerque Aquarium* + drive 3 hours Day 33: Rest Day + drive 7 hours Day 34: Utah’s Hogle Zoo* + drive 5 hours Day 35: Zoo Boise* + drive 3 hours Day 36: Drive 7 hours + Home! Days = 42 (6 weeks) Zoos/Aquariums = 32 * Free Zoos/Aquariums with AZA or Woodland Park Zoo membership = 28 U.S. States = 27
Hope you have a great time! I will also be visiting the North Carolina Zoo, Tennessee Aquarium, and possibly the Chattanoga Zoo for the first time this summer, but I should beat you to these places. Have you checked hours at all these places as part of your planning? Why are you going from Cleveland down to Baltimore, then up to Philly, and then down to NC? It's not a big difference, but that adds some extra driving. BTW, the St. Louis Zoo is free to everyone. What are you looking forward to the most?
@mweb08: I have typed up a list of all 32 zoos/aquariums with all of the hours of operation. The days in Philadelphia and Baltimore can definitely be switched, and I chose Baltimore first because it is slightly closer to Cleveland and thus less of a drive after a long day at the zoo. But when the time comes there is always the possibility of some minor changes to my plans. I'm particularly looking forward to the Dallas Zoo, as with "Giants of the Savanna" opening soon that zoo should become one of the very best in the United States, and perhaps #1 for African animals. St. Louis Zoo and North Carolina Zoo would be the next two zoos that I'm eagerly anticipating, as I've spoken to many ZooChatters who consider those zoos to be amongst the best in North America. St. Louis has many historic buildings, and I've heard it referred to as a "European-style" zoo. North Carolina is massive, and with 500 out of 2000 acres developed it will probably take a full day to tour. At the end of the trip it will be nice to sit back and consider all of the top zoos and aquariums that I will have seen across the continent over the past few years. I'll feel as if I can accurately comment on just about every major zoo in either the United States or Canada, and as long as I keep buying lottery tickets then my zoo obsession might have to be taken overseas to the great zoological establishments of Europe. At least in Europe there wouldn't be so much driving, as one can toss a rock in the air and hit a zoo over there!
Yeah, Baltimore is a little closer, but you'll have to basically drive back by it after going up to Philly, so you'll be adding an hour or more according to my calculations. Yeah, those 3 zoos would be the ones I'd be most eager about visiting. I'd also list the aquariums though since they're supposed to be 2 of the best 5 in the nation, and they break up all the zoo visits. Yeah, you'll be able to do a top 50 zoos ranking if you like and there really wouldn't be many establishments missing that could be considered. Pretty cool.
I spent the whole day reading your reviews on and off! Very informative, especially the zoos I have been interested in checking out. Do you think you might take a detour back to the Columbus Zoo? I'd be curious what you thought of their new polar bear exhibit after loving Detroit's a couple years ago. Though I haven't been up to date what zoos have updated their polar bear exhibits since that date. I plan to go to Columbus Zoo this summer and look forward not having to see grottos for once!
For your reading pleasure... This is a HUGELY AMBITIOUS SCHEDULE!!! I now have a grand total of 35 different zoos and aquariums set for this 6-week road trip, and in years past my wife and I have always ended up visiting more zoos than we originally planned. For this trip I'm expecting to maybe visit LESS: perhaps 30 zoos and aquariums with several knocked off of the current list. It will be so different now that we have an adorable 10-month-old youngster, as our daughter requires a lot of work and so if we hit 30 then I'll still be thrilled. Time will tell. Believe it or not we are definitely leaving on Monday morning, July 12th, and I've now tossed Milwaukee, Buffalo and Roger Williams Park onto my updated itinerary. Insanity! The magic number this summer is 56. By the end of August, as long as everything goes according to plan and we survive with a baby along for the journey, we'll have seen 56 out of the top 60 zoos in America...and all of them since 2006. The four zoos that will be missing for us (according to the fantastic book "America's Best Zoos") will be Honolulu, Oakland, Lowry Park and Busch Gardens. FINAL COPY (draft #7???): Day 1: Drive all day Day 2: Zoo Montana* + drive all day Day 3: Drive all day Day 4: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo + drive 7.5 hours Day 5: Sedgwick County Zoo* + drive 3 hours Day 6: Tulsa Zoo* + drive 4 hours Day 7: Kansas City Zoo + drive 4 hours Day 8: Saint Louis Zoo* + Gateway Arch Day 9: Rest Day + drive 4.5 hours Day 10: Nashville Zoo* + drive 3 hours Day 11: Louisville Zoo* + drive 3.5 hours Day 12: Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo* + drive 5 hours Day 13: Milwaukee Zoo* + drive 4.5 hours Day 14: Binder Park Zoo* + drive 4 hours Day 15: Cleveland Zoo* + drive 3 hours Day 16: Buffalo Zoo* + Niagara Falls Day 17: Rest Day + drive 7.5 hours Day 18: Roger Williams Park Zoo* + drive 5 hours Day 19: Philadelphia Zoo* + Liberty Bell + drive 2 hours Day 20: National Aquarium* + Maryland Zoo* Day 21: Rest Day + drive 6.5 hours Day 22: North Carolina Zoo* + drive 3 hours Day 23: Riverbanks Zoo* + drive 5 hours Day 24: Tennessee Aquarium + Chattanooga Zoo* + drive 2 hours Day 25: Birmingham Zoo* + drive 1.5 hours Day 26: Montgomery Zoo* + drive 5 hours Day 27: Audubon Zoo* Day 28: Rest Day + drive 5.5 hours Day 29: Houston Zoo* + drive 3.5 hours Day 30: Caldwell Zoo* + drive 2 hours + Dallas World Aquarium Day 31: Dallas Zoo* + drive 1.5 hours Day 32: Cameron Park Zoo* + drive 3 hours Day 33: San Antonio Zoo* + drive 4.5 hours Day 34: Gladys Porter Zoo* + 6 hours Day 35: Rest Day + drive 9 hours Day 36: Rio Grande Zoo* + Albuquerque Aquarium* + drive 3 hours Day 37: Rest Day + drive 7 hours Day 38: Utah’s Hogle Zoo* + drive 5 hours Day 39: Zoo Boise* + drive 3 hours Day 40: Drive 7 hours + Home! Days = 42 (6 weeks) Zoos/Aquariums = 35 * Free or Half-price Zoos/Aquariums with AZA or Woodland Park Zoo membership = 31 U.S. States = 33
Good luck to you both on your latest road trip I am sure you will get many PMs from some of the members while you are on the road, I for one will be looking forwards to any of your postings from the trip when you have the time to do so, I guess if you see any rhinos you could snap a few pics for the gallery(and myself, lol) Have a great trip you guys, cheers.
Can I ask what the 60 zoos listed in America's best zoos are? I have the 1994 edition of "The Zoo Book", but wonder how it has changed. For what it's worth, here is the 1994 list: Eastern - Maryland Zoo - Bronx Zoo - Buffalo Zoo - Central Park Zoo - Franklin Park Zoo - National Zoo - Oglebay's Good Zoo - Philadelphia Zoo - Pittsburgh Zoo Southern - Knoxville Zoo - Louisville Zoo - Memphis Zoo - Miami Metrozoo - North Carolina Zoo - Riverbanks Zoo - Zoo Atlanta South Central - Audubon Zoo - Caldwell Zoo - Dallas Zoo - Fort Worth Zoo - Gladys Porter Zoo - Houston Zoo - Oklahoma City Zoo - San Antonio Zoo - Tulsa Zoo Great Lakes - Binder Park Zoo - Brookfield Zoo - Cincinnati Zoo - Cleveland Metroparks Zoo - Columbus Zoo - Detroit Zoo - Indianapolis Zoo - Lincoln Park Zoo - Milwaukee County Zoo - Toledo Zoo North Central - Great Plains Zoo - Minnesota Zoo - Henry Doorly Zoo - St.Louis Zoo - Sedgwick County Zoo - Topeka Zoo South-western - Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum - Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - Denver Zoo - Phoenix Zoo - Rio Grande Zoo West Coast - The Living Desert - Los Angeles Zoo - Oregon Zoo - Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium - San Diego Zoo - San Francisco Zoo - Woodland Park Zoo I note that a few zoos - such as San Diego Wild Animal Park - are listed as "other places to see animals" and not given a full listing despite easily being of comparable standard. Have any zoos been dropped? And which ones added?
I have signed copies of each book (1994 & 2008) and the 2008 version by Allen W. Nyhuis and Jon Wassner is much more detailed, informative and obviously up-to-date with the over one billion dollars that American zoos have spent on improvements in the last decade or so. I've listed the 60 best zoos in America below, but the book "America's Best Zoos" also contains mini-reviews of an additional 37 zoos. Eastern: - National Zoo - Maryland Zoo - Bronx Zoo - Buffalo Zoo - Philadelphia Zoo - Pittsburgh Zoo - Roger Williams Park Zoo Southern: - Montgomery Zoo - Jacksonville Zoo - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Zoo Miami (new name for Miami Metrozoo as of 2010) - Busch Gardens - Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo - Zoo Atlanta - Louisville Zoo - North Carolina Zoo - Riverbanks Zoo - Knoxville Zoo - Memphis Zoo - Nashville Zoo South Central: - Audubon Zoo - Oklahoma City Zoo - Tulsa Zoo - Gladys Porter Zoo - Dallas Zoo - Fort Worth Zoo - Houston Zoo - San Antonio Zoo - Caldwell Zoo Great Lakes Area: - Brookfield Zoo - Lincoln Park Zoo - Fort Wayne Children's Zoo - Indianapolis Zoo - Binder Park Zoo - Detroit Zoo - Cincinnati Zoo - Cleveland Zoo - Columbus Zoo - Toledo Zoo - Milwaukee Zoo North Central: - Sedgwick County Zoo - Minnesota Zoo - Kansas City Zoo - Saint Louis Zoo - Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo Southwestern & Western: - Phoenix Zoo - Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum - Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - Denver Zoo - Rio Grande Zoo - Utah's Hogle Zoo West Coast: - San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park - Los Angeles Zoo - Oakland Zoo - San Diego Zoo - San Francisco Zoo - Honolulu Zoo - Oregon Zoo - Woodland Park Zoo - Point Defiance Zoo
Don't forget to give me a shout when you get to Ft. Wayne--be glad to show you around or give you a place to park a baby for a bit!
