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Oh the weather outside is frightful, but it is worth freezing your butt off to go check out Lincoln Park Zoo’s ZooLights, starting up again tomorrow (18 December) and lasting through 3 January from 5 to 9 pm.
This display of lit up trees, which sits behind the seal enclosure, is set to twinkle to holiday music
ZooLights is especially great for kids, but just because it is family-friendly does not mean that there is not plenty for you to enjoy. For one almost all of the animal exhibits are open, which means if you have a hard time getting to the zoo because of daytime commitments, you can finally take it all in at night.
To quench the thirst of your inner badass, ZooLights has ice carving demonstrations that feature two dudes hacking massive cubes of ice with chainsaws, surprisingly producing some gorgeous work.
Ice sculpting at ZooLights
Needless to say the lights are impressive and I was really blown away at the selection of animal-themed lights. The coolest is one that my camera could not pick up: a rhino lit with dark purple lights.
If you have been to the zoo before you will probably not need to stay long at ZooLights. The downfalls of this free event are that it is crowded and most of the animals are snoozing. A stroll through the park is all you need to feel festive but don’t expect this to be an event you stay at for more than an hour.
Still, I had a fabulous time at ZooLights and was particularly wowed by the effort that went into creating the event. Oh, and just in case you are wondering, LP Zoo’s ZooLights went greener this year by providing more LED lights! Yay for saving energy!
See more pictures after the jump!
I know I should have updated yesterday, but I had such a fun, full and busy day that I just had to take a break and put it off until today (and I still will have to post more tomorrow about Day 8 AND 9!!!
In honour of Melon Fest, there were chefs and mixologists at Green City Market handing out samples of melon salad with goat cheese and melon soups. Sound good? Yes. Sound safe? Yup. But then there was this renegade chef who was handing out samples of his goat cheese and dill ice cream in a watermelon corn soup (picture above)! Goat cheese dill ice cream!? Come again? After I took my first bite, all I could think of was that my tastebuds were confused but happy. I thought the dish was perfect.
Can anybody identify the chef in this picture (the man on the left!)
Ten points goes to the reader who can identify the chef on the left in the picture above. Someone needs to give this man props for his weird and wonderful creation!
The inside of Cafe Brauer
On Wednesday, I was incredibly honoured to give a Green City Market tour to the chefs who attended Chefs Collaborative’s Summit. I am so thankful to the amazing and hard-working Laura Watkins, marketing and communications coordinator at GCM, for letting me give the tour!
Before the tour started, Rich Hawley, another awesome GCM employee, took me around to each vendor and I found out some interesting and fun stuff that makes them unique! Since this is stuff I did not know before, and information that really impressed the chefs on the tour, I thought I would share it with you!
I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time Wednesday afternoon and am very, very thankful that Mark, who works with Green City Market, invited me along to the Chefs Collaborative lunch at Cafe Brauer.
Cafe Brauer, as I learned, is an example of Prairie style architecture that originated in Chicago!
Today I went back to the zoo to enjoy the beautiful weather and took some pretty incredible photos. The animals must have been in a good mood as well because if I didn’t know any better, I’d think they were posing! (Except for all the big kitty cat naps.) Take a look and be sure to check the zoo/park out when you have a chance.. if nothing else, it’s a wonderful opportunity to admire the new foliage and blossoms! Ah, spring.
"I know exactly what I'm doing."
This poor Tiger at the Lincoln Park Zoo became angry at the man standing next to me and started to swat at the glass. I felt so bad for the little big guy because he was just pacing back and forth. Maybe the Lincoln Park Zoo needs to look into ways to help de-stress this big cat?
Poor Tiger :-(
Dev xx
Enjoying a beautiful second day of spring, Devin and I decided to visit the Lincoln Park Zoo. The Zoo is free and offers a wonderful array of animals, recreational activities, and park area. An exciting taste of what’s to come this spring and summer, I could not have anticipated a more delightful way to spend an afternoon.
Our first stop was to a makeshift barn which teaches children and families about how to live life off of the land. The barn is outfitted with a seemingly larger-than-life tractor, demonstrations on weather, and even an incubator which held newborn baby chicks.
Geared towards a more hands-on approach, kids appeared to be more than enthralled with the exhibits, as well as the visual enormity of the cavernous room. Devin and I had a little fun hanging out in the weather room. More hallway than room, visitors are encouraged to press different button scenarios varying from tornado, to sunshine, to a spring rain. (More exciting than my experience taking a meteorology course in undergrad, that’s for sure!)
Next we walked over to the real barn, which featured all our favorites: Pot-bellied pigs, cows, sheep, and horses. Though the animals did not appear to be phased by our intrusion, the smell certainly worked to peak our…senses. As I shared with Devin, cows have been my favorite animal for as long as I remember.
Needless to say, I was tickled with the exhibit. Bouncing around like school girls, Devin and I used our superior animal-speak techniques to get the pigs to partake in discussion. But it was to no avail.
The barn worked in conjunction with another venue which demonstrated the dairy process. The room featured a group of delightful ladies, spending their time lazily grazing from their trough of hay. C’est la vie! The back wall held a display case which depicted the cow milking process, and a supposed demonstration held at 11 a.m. which we were too late for.
The barns in this part of the zoo are all historical landmarks. This union stockyard was, as we can assume, one of the foremost processing plants for cattle. A bit depressing, but I’m hoping the ladies back at the milking plant don’t know.
From there we walked over a scenic little bridge that brought us to the second part of the zoo, where some of the more exotic animals are kept. As we trekked over to the other exhibits, I was struck by the amount of people out for the afternoon enjoying the zoo. If the 58 degree weather was any cause for spending a Saturday outdoors, the greening trees and the beautiful park surely was.
Next we went to the Monkey house. As we walked in, we caught sight of the “Primate Kitchen.” And once we saw the menu, we were struck by how much better they ate than us! Acorn squash, arugula, lemon grass… a vegetarian feast!
The monkeys weren’t too bad either. It seemed as though they were almost posing for the camera, sitting on the nearest branch, one even held an arm up in the air. Obviously waving at us. We have that way with animals. But much to our dismay, we were quickly ushered out as it was time to close up and feed. A bit concerned that perhaps we had arrived to the zoo too late in the day, we rushed over to see if there was still time left to see the cats.
This may have been one of the more upsetting parts of the day. When we go to the Tiger viewing area, we decided it would be best to use the side viewing area, allowing for a better look. Packed with people, this tiny area provided an amazing view.. of the Tiger pacing back and forth, right on the other side of the window. People were tapping on the glass, the flash of cameras going off relentlessly. At one point, it almost appeared too much for the animal, as it lept up and smacked the glass with its paw. The man directly in front too more pictures, tapping again on the glass to provoke it. I walked away soon after.
The rest of the day was a wonderful blur of people watching, soaking up the sun on the park lawn, and a little bit of animal watching. But the highlight of the day was the Seal exhibit. The house has a wonderful underwater view of the seal which swim around the tank, putting on a show for the spectators. One seal darted through the tank, as if to race. The second took a more leisurely approach, swimmingly calmly around, on his back. He was my favorite.
If you have yet to visit the Lincoln Park Zoo, I highly recommend it. It’s the perfect place to bring your favorite animal-loving friend.
On another note, as it is now spring break and I am done with school for about a week, I’m heading back home to Florida to spend some time with my family. Stayed tuned for MakingFloridaHome?
Be sure to check out the video clip I posted below from the seal exhibit. Just a taste of those silly seal shenanigans!
-Ileana
