Great weekend outing, if you can stand the cold - little more than an hour from Frederick, the National Zoo in Washington DC is a great place to spend the day if you have kids, and a winter Saturday is perfect. The large predators that like to sleep during the heat of the day in the summer are much more active, the crowds are smaller, and parking is more plentiful.
Some of the animals that were more visible in this weekend's foray than when I have been there during the warmer months include the lions, tigers, red pandas, and the great pandas (which prefer the colder weather anyway).
If going during the winter, a couple of tips - pay attention to the weather report and dress accordingly, I would recommend layering and erring on the side of dressing too warmly. If you go to the Zoo's Web site to look at a map of the facility, utilize the various animal houses (primate, lizard, elephant, etc.) as strategic places to stop, linger and warm yourself. Be prepared to walk. The zoo covers a pretty fair amount of land on the side of a hill. If you don't mind walking uphill after you're halfway through your visit, parking lot A is at the top - if you want to be going downhill at the tail end of your visit, then hit parking lot D. You can also base your visit on where the animals are by visiting the zoo's site.
Admission: Free
Parking: Free for members, all others $4 for the first hour, $12 for two to three hours, and $16 for more than three hours
Hours: 6AM-6PM (Until March 10)
6AM-8PM (March 11-Nov 3)
Buildings open at 10 and close 4:30 PM (until March 10) and close 6PM after March 10.
1 comment:
Great new site. Found it from frednet.wordpress.com. I have a sort of photoblog from around Frederick (and elsewhere) - blog.raimist.com. If you are in need of images that I capture from around Frederick or any that you see on my site, let me know and I can get you copies or you may directly link to them. I have also added you to my blogroll..Keep on blogging..
David
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