Today, we went to Lion Country Safari. I’ve been there a few times over the years; the drive-through part is a lot of fun. The first time I went, I really expected it to be a cheap cheesy attraction. But, I was completely wrong.
The last time we went, it was with my sister Amy when Jack was just a wee baby.. maybe 4 months old? He didn’t appreciate it too much. When my sister and her family came down last year, they went, but we didn’t join them due to that pesky work thing.
Jack was active and attentive to most of the festivities. We risked all and let him out of the car seat (speed limit on private road: 8 mph). he was in the back with Gina for a while, looking out the window. Then, he got antsy go get up front. He sat on my leg as I drove, but become more fascinated with the various steering wheel controls than the wildlife. He changed the radio channels, adjusted the volume, switched tuners, etc. Actually, now that I think about it, I have to make sure the headlights are on auto and don’t have high beams on. Once he started diving for the lower controls on the dash, it was time to pass him back.
Our nephew Frankie joined us for the trip. I promised his parents I’d come back without him, but wasn’t able to deliver on that promise. I disappointed them and myself.
There were more cars on the route than an previous visit. Also, there was a lot more animal activity on the road. An ostrich jumped into the right lane and walked with the traffic for a while. A couple of other ostriches cross the road in front of us. A giraffe got up close and personal. We got a lot of good crappy video on my cell phone because I was unable to find our camera before we left.
After driving through, we hung out at the rest of the park for a few hours. The first hour was food related. I am horrified to say that we spent nearly $40 on food. So much for an inexpensive outing. It’s not that $40 is a horrendous amount of money, but I am actively engaged in an effort to spend money eating out as often as we have become accustomed. I figured a couple burgers and drinks, and we’d be good to go. It was absurd, and the food was of the “barely edible” persuasion. Note To Self: Bring lunch next time. Lesson learned.
During lunch, we bought annual passes for Gina and I. Jack is still free. If you go twice in a year, and buy anything on either visit, it pays for itself. Its a really good deal. They still hit you for $6/parking each visit, though. Cheesy.
We walked the grounds looking at all of the animals. Alligators, lots of birds, monkeys… The KOI pond was closed. I wouldn’t even know what KOI were if not for a recent episode of The Office.
The highlight of the trip was the petting zoo. Jack, Frankie and I went in to visit all of the baby goats, or whatever the little buggers are. They were a lot of fun. Jack found himself in the crossfire once and got tangled between two of them. He tumbled. I picked him up and one guy said “look at his face!”. “The pout, or the scratch?” I asked. “The pout”. Jack has a little scratch on his face from a balance malfunction near a table and a toy. I wasn’t sure if the guy was suggesting he sustained the injury in the animal incident, or if his pout was funny. It was the pout. And the pout is funny. His facial expressions are really exaggerated. He recovered from that pretty quickly, and went back to hanging out with the animals. He didn’t pet them a lot, but liked getting up close. I liked petting them. They’re a lot of fun, and they expect to be petted. They run up to you to be petted. Then you wash your hands vigorously and hope that the combination of their filthy fur and your hands don’t form a crazy new disease.
The final event of the outing was to take the “Nature Walk”. The “Nature Walk” has a concrete path. And its only about 9 feet long. It was dissapointing.
No comments:
Post a Comment