Did you know you can drink at the zoo? Truly, being an adult rules.
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Yes, I went to the zoo, and there’s something to be said for sipping piña coladas while you look at giraffes. I recommend this.
The piña colada came in a giant half-pineapple, and it was awesome. The giraffe, meanwhile, was right at the edge of her enclosure, stretching her long neck out to bite at the grass right in front of the fence. We vibed.
The elephant recently had a baby, and the baby was swimming in a mud puddle while its mama watched, and we vibed, too.
The zoo acquired a male sloth to become friends with female sloth Pancakes. As we watched Pancakes and her companion lounge in a tree, I felt certain I was meant to be a sloth in another life. The vibes were fantastic.
The zoo proved to be a lot of fun, but that’s mostly because I let it be. I hadn’t been to the zoo in ages, and it reminded me a lot of being a kid and running from one enclosure to the next, giddy with the thrill of being on a field trip or whatever.
So, while I could appreciate the benefits of adulthood as I sipped my drink, the real fun was letting myself be childlike. My friends and I ooh’d and ahh’d at the animals. We mourned the butterfly house’s temporary closure, and we split a salty soft pretzel as we walked up the hill to the herpetarium.
The herpetarium, for those who are wondering, is not my strong suit. I am not a reptiles-and-amphibians kind of gal. I can appreciate that some of these animals are pretty cool, but the thought of encountering a snake in the wild leaves me jumpy and paranoid. I don’t like that we are separated by just a thin pane of glass.
But nevertheless, my friends led the way and I followed, filled with too much FOMO to sit this one out. And, just as I feared, the reptiles and amphibians watched me with reproachful eyes. They knew we were enemies. They sensed my anguish. They relished it.
Luckily, the herpetarium was quick enough and then we were onto the cheetahs, which is much more my speed, pun intended.
As the day stretched in front of us, my friends and I joked and chatted and had an amazing time. It was just a beautiful early-summer afternoon, and there was nowhere we had to be, and it was the first time in a long time that we could soak up some lazy, fun hours out on the town.
There’s something to be said about letting yourself enjoy something. I could’ve been focused on my to-do list, going over my plans for the upcoming week, thinking about all the chores I left behind at home. Instead, I took a picture right as the polar bear jumped into the water. Way more fun.
I think it’s easy to get caught up in all the things we have to do. Especially as adults, without the natural break in routine that summer brings when you’re younger, most of us get wrapped up in our tasks and obligations and forget to let our hair down. And then it’s easy for mundanity to slip in.
Not so when you go to the zoo. Or do whatever your version of going to the zoo is. Just something to take you out of the routine, to push you outside, to do something new. I wish this for all of us sometime this summer.
So, yes, I recommend the zoo piña coladas. But mostly, I suggest we all do something totally different and fun and relaxing sometime this summer. We deserve it.
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