For My Birthday in February, My friend Nancy and her daughter , Dawn and I spent the day in Boston.
Category Archives: Boston
2012 Photo of the week~ Week 7
Gray day in Boston…When are we going to get some sun?
Short Takes
Yesterday was a beautiful day. I’m pretty sure we hit 70 degrees. Amazing for November in New England and even more amazing when you think we had a snow storm only a week ago.
I wish I could say I was outside enjoying the unseasonably warm weather and gaining experiences to share but unfortunately I spent the whole day inside catching up on housework and laundry. I couldn’t put it off for a day(although I was tempted) because I already agreed to work an extra shift and then it will be back to my own schedule…no other day to take care of the chores.
As I sit here writing this I have the TV on watching Operation Wild. I really enjoy this show. I guess you’d call it a reality show along the lines of Cops but it focused on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The officers they feature are very personable and a lot of the stories are laced with humor. I also like the show because it’s set in Florida. It’s not Miami Vice it’s more about the animals and the Everglades or the Florida Keys.
I am planning to go to Orlando in January but I don’t know if I’ll get anywhere near the Everglades. I think it’s at least a 4 hour drive from Orlando to the Everglades but there are other parks and recreation areas to explore this trip.
The things I’ve learned while writing this blog occasionally come in handy. Tonight I got a call from the marketing department of my time share. They were promoting a new Resort in Orlando and offering a discounted 3 day trip. I explained that I wasn’t interested this time but the rep went on to ask where I lived in Ma. Seems he was coming out to Cambridge for a few days and wondered what he should see. I immediately encouraged him to take the time to spend a day in Boston. I recommended he take the Old Town Trolley tour because he will be able to get on and off as well as enjoy a narrated tour.
I told him about the Old North Church, The Freedom Trail, Faneuil Hall and the Boston Gardens! And it all just poured out without a thought! I’m so glad he called. I was getting in a rut for material but after answering his questions I realized that what I take for granted because it’s right here in my back yard is interesting to folks that don’t live here!
And my last bit to share is that Costa Rica is giving away hundreds of trips. It’s called Costa Rica’s Million Dollar Gift of Happiness. To enter go to: www.facebook.com/visitcostarica
Franklin Park Zoo the finale
When we left our heroine, she was..oh sorry wrong story.
I believe I had just recognized the other entrance as the one that I had taken the first time I explored the Franklin Park Zoo. Since I had arrived from the right side I followed the path to the left to circle back around to the start at the Zebra entrance. This took me by the hyenas enclosure but I didn’t see any. It was getting very warm and a little humid so maybe they were sleeping. I moved on.
Next up was a Baird’s tapir. This was larger than I expected. I guess since they are related I was expecting something more along the size of the little javalina’s like I saw in Arizona back in ’08. This was much bigger than that! It was just patrolling the perimeter fence.
At the top of the hill was another snack bar area but it was closed. Seems to me it was closed when I last visited too.
Turning the corner I passed the camels in the same place I remembered them from before.
A bit farther on was the lion enclosure.
I searched around that exhibit for quite a while before I finally spotted “Christopher”, the African Lion. He was stretched out in the shade in a corner of his enclosure. I wanted to get a picture but the only angle was through the glass window and there were loads of other Zoo Visitors in the way. I commented that he was alone and one of the other visitors said that a couple of years ago they introduced a female lion and he killed it. Then they had another male lion in there for a while. No one seemed to know what happened with that but Christopher was back being alone and that’s the way he seems to like it.
Around the corner from the Lion’s Den was the tiger enclosure. These big cats were also hiding in the shady areas out of camera range. I spotted 2, one was a white tiger and the other was an orange cat. The only reason I saw the white tiger was because his huge tail kept flipping up and back down almost like it was in rhythm. The rest of him was hidden in the underbrush.
And then I was back at the Carousel with the giraffe on my right and the Serengeti Crossing on my left. Somehow I missed the gorillas, the lemurs and the new Giant Anteater Exhibit. The zoo was closing at 5pm and rush hour was well underway so I felt that it was more prudent to wrap up for the day than to go looking for the missed exhibits. After all, I can always come back for another visit.
I had a great time anyway. I really loved the Aussie Aviary with the Budgies aka parakeets. I could spend my whole day there.
Lions and Tigers and Budgies?
Leaving my little prairie dog friends I returned to my quest to get back to the first exhibit. I made a slight detour to see what was in a large barn like building. This is the “Little Critters” exhibit. It includes a Boa Constrictor, green tree frog, a sugar glider and a tortoise.
At first I thought the Amur leopard exhibit was closed because it said it was under construction but apparently they are building a new enclosure because as I passed the new one I came upon a lush, shaded enclosure and there was the leopard. It was a truly beautiful animal even if it was just waking from a nap.
I passed a fake termite mound and the Red Panda enclosure but I didn’t see the panda and then I was back on the main path. Coming right at me was the “little engine that could” or at least a little red train. The train was headed to the other side of the zoo with a load of parents and kids. It looked like fun but I wasn’t ready to start riding around yet.
I was headed to the Serengeti Crossing. In this large exhibit you will find Plains Zebra, Ostrich and Wildebeest.
The wildebeest also had a baby. The enclosure had 2 observation decks. For the size of this enclosure I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could see all of the animals listed. The ostrich was front and center drinking from a mud puddle.
A small group of wildebeest including the baby were relaxing in the shade of some trees and the zebra was patrolling the fence at the rear of the enclosure.
Now that I was back on track I moved on to the Giraffe Savannah. Sure enough, front and center were two marvelous giraffe.
It’s amazing how such gangly animals can move so smoothly and gracefully. The giraffes share their enclosure with another kind of zebra, the Grevy’s zebra.
I spotted just one enjoying some shade right across from the carousel.
Just past the carousel and the zebra was another enclosure named Butterfly Landing.
Like Magic Wings in Deerfield, this enclosure was home to butterflies and moths. There were Painted Ladies and Monarch Butterflies to name just two.
There weren’t as many as at Magic Wings. The attendant said they try to keep the numbers down because some people “freak out”. I mentioned that I remembered seeing loads of Painted Ladies gathering on the mud of puddles after a summer shower when I was growing up.
The attendant said yes, that is how they absorb minerals they need from the dirt. Unlike Magic Wings which is open year round, this display is seasonal only.
Leaving the Butterflies to their dirt, I passed the playground with its bungee jumps and the Things Wild Gift Shop to enter the Aussie Outback. I passed the emus, and red Kangaroo and in a separate enclosure, a tree Kangaroo.
That was a treat because they were very active actually climbing the tree and then coming back down and hopping around their enclosure.
Back outside I saw 2 black swans outside the Aussie Aviary.
I paid $2.00 for a feeding stick and headed into see the Budgies. This was fun! First of all I knew these birds as parakeets when I was growing up and just like my pet parakeet, they came flying when they thought there was food!
I finally passed my seed stick to some of the kids so I could free up my hands to take pictures. It was win-win for us all. I spent quite a bit of time here. I think this was my favorite exhibit.
I moved on to Bird World which was a bit of a let down after the aviary and walked through the Flight Cage of the Andean Condor. If there was one, I didn’t see it. The Flamingos were having a party in their enclosure.
Seriously, no sedate standing around for this bunch. They were splashing water, making hooting noises and calls and flapping their huge wings. They smell! But according to the signs that’s not dirt, it’s just their odor and since they like to be in groups the scent is multiplied by so many bird bodies…kind of like a locker room after a big game.
I had reached the Giraffe Entrance and now it looked familiar. There was a statue outside the gates. There didn’t seem to be as many people over here. It was time to make the swing back.