Izzy (and Mama) Eat: The Gourmand Goes To College...

Tales of Empty Nest and College Boy Eats.. The Next Chapter

Friday, June 20, 2008

The Bonk Zoo: A Day Of Bruises and Animals



One of the day's calmer moments...

Until today, Izzy and I had never made a trip to visit the Bronx Zoo. I had been there once or twice with A. but it wasn't one of my favorite places. Since I am more of a Central Park kind of gal, I didn't feel remiss in waiting so long. Besides, without a car, a trip up to the Bronx would take too long to even contemplate.

That being said, the call of the elephants (which we didn't get to see) can be strong and when H. mentioned the possibility of going this week, Izzy jumped at the chance. Before we left this morning, I baked a batch of Chocolate-Chip Banana Scones, packed up a bag full of lunch and snack items, including smoked mozzarella, tomatoes, strawberries and baby carrots and we were on our way.


By the car from Jersey City, the trip was only 35 minutes, far less time than it takes to get from one end of that vast zoo to another. We arrived at 10:30ish and I thought that meant ample time to see the sights. Yet somehow in between snacks (including a giant bucket of popcorn) and lunch we only managed to glimpse the following: Bison, Birds, Antelope, Baboons, Giraffes, Tigers, Lions, Polar Bears, Turtles, Fish, Prairie Dogs, and Peacocks. More time seemed to be spent begging for snacks, eating snacks, having lunch, and traveling from one location to another, either walking, taking the cable cars or the shuttle bus. And I won't even get to the interminable car ride home, during Friday rush hour traffic. 35 minutes turned into 2 hours spent with starving children. At least I still had snacks left to share and H. kept shoving whole-meal biscuits into the back seat to quiet the hungry trio.


To make matters worse, many bruises ensued from the running and cavorting with friends. Bloody scraped knees, bloodied hip bones were only the beginning. When I got home I discovered a cartoon-sized bump/bruise that had erupted on Izzy's forehead, where he had bonked it on the ground earlier in the day.


It looked so awful it warranted and call to the doctor and here I sit worrying and blaming our trip to the zoo, which seemed more work than pleasure for me. My wise friend G. tried to remind me to "Think of how much fun the kids have." Hmm...Can't they have fun some other way? There must be a more pleasurable way to enjoy this zoo.


Since I actually purchased a year-long membership, I will have to figure out what that is. I really would like to see the elephants and I know Izzy would too.




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

With the membership you get unlimited admission to the: Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo and NY Aquarium in Coney Island...as well as a couple of other places
I think.

We used to go to the zoo at least once a year as a child and now I've already taken my 2 year old three times to the zoo. All visits to the zoo are chaotic and bumpy. But your friend was right...they are always fun for the kids (and this grown up). You have to have a go-with-the-flow attitude to enjoy it.

And you can't do the Bronx zoo in a day with a 6 year old. Not even with a 16 year old. You can definitely cover all of the Central Park Zoo in a day.

Hope your next visit is better. Did you ride on the train in the Asia exhibit?

Izzy's Mama said...

We love the Central Park zoo precisely because it is so much more accessible and leisurely. One can sit and contemplate the monkeys for an hour but still have time for the rest of the zoo. No dragging, no nagging. My kind of zoo.