Philly Vacation--Day Four

Flamingo from Philly Zoo

It has been good visiting here during the first week of school. That has meant no lines and only a few kids. However, the few that we've seen have been a lot of fun to watch. Like the little boy at the zoo who called to his mother, "Look, he wants a piggyback ride!," when he saw one of the goats mount another one. That goat looked like he had something entirely different in mind than a piggyback ride. Speaking of the zoo, that was one of the places we visited today along with the Franklin Institute Science Museum.

We have been visiting the local zoo with Wally and Theo since they were born. When they were little we went at least once a month. Even though they are adults now, it's still a fun thing to do. Maybe even more fun because we don't have to pull them down from the fences before they climb into an exhibit. We enjoyed all of the animals we saw, but our favorite, of course, were the big cats. They reminded us of the four cats we left at home especially when we saw one of the younger tigers scratching at a door. That was because she wanted to get back to where two other younger male tigers were. Her persistence seemed just like our cats when they scratch on our bathroom door until we come out.

We left the zoo as it was getting hot and made our way to the Franklin Institute. Every time you mention the Franklin Institute to someone who has been there, they talk about the giant, walk through heart. So that's the first thing we saw. However, I think our favorite for the day was the Amazing Machine room with all of the gears and levers to watch and play with. We ended the day with a trip to the planetarium which depending on your perspective, was either a good place to learn about weather on other planets or a good place to take a nice nap.

Until next time...
 

Pennsylvania established the Philadelphia Zoological Society in 1859--the first of its kind.

Other tigers were behind this door and she wanted in.

Wally and Theo watching rhinos. They are about 20 years older than when we visited the zoo with them in strollers.

Besides the big cats, giraffes are always interesting to see.

The Franklin Institute was first formed in 1824, but is most famous for its Science Museum that opened in 1934.

Theo getting ready to enter the giant heart.

Theo at beginning of the Amazing Machine exhibit.

Ward in part of a very interesting exhibit they had on the brain.