{"id":1901,"date":"2013-08-03T12:38:49","date_gmt":"2013-08-03T12:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.melissaetto.com\/?p=1901"},"modified":"2013-08-03T12:38:49","modified_gmt":"2013-08-03T12:38:49","slug":"a-trip-to-see-akron-zoos-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.melissaetto.com\/?p=1901","title":{"rendered":"A Trip To See Akron Zoo’s Expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dane and I went to the Akron Zoo on the 24th. \u00a0We haven’t been there since early this spring. \u00a0I had said I wasn’t going back until the expansion was complete so today was the day. \u00a0The expansion has been open for over a week and it was a unseasonably cool day, perfect! \u00a0Maybe not. \u00a0We arrived and the parking lot was full. \u00a0The zoo employee at the gate gave us a map and explained that they were parking incoming cars an overflow lot and busing people back to the entrance. Not only was it a perfect day for the zoo for everyone, the Akron City Schools were holding an event for the children. \u00a0I contemplated going home and going back next week but we pulled in to turn around and got lucky because someone was leaving so we got a prime parking space!<\/p>\n

Here is a quick tip if you visit the Akron Zoo. \u00a0The layout kind of dictates that you follow one path at the beginning. \u00a0The expected path is to go through the Penguin area. \u00a0When it is busy we often work our way backward through the park. \u00a0If you walk to the right after entering the zoo the normal route to exit the zoo. \u00a0You will be walking past the flamingos and on straight back to the food court\/kimono dragon\/aquarium building. \u00a0The areas you by passed by going that direction can be seen on your way out when it should be less busy.<\/p>\n

We went in and worked our way back to the Grizzly Ridge expansion area. \u00a0It is located on the hill were the otters habitat had been.<\/p>\n

The entrance to the new area has chainsaw carving of a grizzly bear, which I didn’t get a picture of since it was a very popular photo op. yesterday…..I will get one next time. \u00a0But their sign has some carvings too….<\/p>\n

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\"Carved<\/a><\/p>\n

At the beginning of the new expansion area is a habitat for their bald eagles…<\/p>\n

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The Grizzly Bear habitat has a wonderful observation area with the water feature for the bears right up to the glass allowing very up close viewing. \u00a0Their habitat is large and it looks like they are enjoying it!\"Grizzly<\/a><\/p>\n

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I am very pleased that the otters are back and how wonderful their new habitat is. \u00a0I missed seeing them the last few times we visited.<\/p>\n

\"Akron<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"Otter\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"otter\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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The zoo has done an excellent job improving their habitat. \u00a0Their water feature is quite large and they have incorporated a clear tube slide for children that goes through it. \u00a0It was so busy I somehow didn’t get a picture of that. \u00a0I can say that it was quite an attraction for children as the line for the slide was quite long. \u00a0I will have to go back and get pictures of that!<\/p>\n

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This area has plenty of rocking chairs under the overhang for resting and getting out of the sun. \u00a0There are also picnic tables in various places too.<\/p>\n

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They have a horned owl and also a porcupine in this area also. \u00a0The porcupine is a character. \u00a0He has a little compulsive ritual he does when he walks up to the glass that the kids get a kick out of.<\/p>\n

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There is a nice view of Akron from the Grizzly Ridge area. \u00a0There is also a coyote exhibit that is very nice but we didn’t see any at the time. \u00a0That is another reason for a return visit!<\/p>\n

I really think that this expansion has improved the zoo incredibly. \u00a0They did a fabulous job making it a wonderful place for the animals and also for the guests of the zoo.<\/p>\n

We made our way around the remaining areas of the zoo to see the usuals….<\/p>\n

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\"Akron<\/a><\/p>\n

We made sure to stop by and check out the new octopus.<\/p>\n

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One of the funnier things we saw were the penguins chasing a bug. \u00a0The last time we were there a leaf floated down into their area and it became a game for them to see which one would get it. \u00a0This time it was see which one would catch the bug. \u00a0They seem to really enjoy it!<\/p>\n

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I definitely recommend visiting the Akron Zoo to see the new additions. \u00a0It has always been a nice zoo and this just made it better.<\/p>\n

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Dane and I went to the Akron Zoo on the 24th. \u00a0We haven’t been there since early this spring. \u00a0I had said I wasn’t going back until the expansion was complete so today was the day. \u00a0The expansion has been open for over a week and it was a unseasonably cool day, perfect! \u00a0Maybe not. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[135,1],"tags":[27,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-1901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-out-and-about","category-uncategorized","tag-akron-zoo","tag-akron-zoo-grizzly-ridge-expansion","tag-akron-zoo-otters","tag-grizzly-ridge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.melissaetto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.melissaetto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.melissaetto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.melissaetto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.melissaetto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1901"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.melissaetto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1931,"href":"http:\/\/www.melissaetto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1901\/revisions\/1931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.melissaetto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.melissaetto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.melissaetto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}