Tampa has a Zoo?

I have known about the Lowry Park Zoo since I moved to Tampa over 5 years ago.  My problem for all those years, was that I had some type of prejudice or something against it.  I screwed up.  I can't believe I deluded myself.  That place is great.  I mean honestly, the extended family and I spent a solid 7 hours there and no one got antsy. It was because of LivingSocial.com that we all had the time we had; so thank you LivingSocial.com.

We started off kinda slow, the critters were all sleeping and out of view and photograph range.  The Leopards were hiding, and some type of wild pigs were hiding, and some other things were doing their high-sun slumbering.  The Sloth Bear, oh the Sloth Bear, he was so funny the way he was all sprawled out and lounging in the sun.

The birds at the zoo is what got our attention.  The Lorikeets had a lot of personality and were a ton of fun.  My niece was having a blast feeding them, while my brother-in-law and my nephew were ducking, and covering.  They made quite the spectacle of themselves, and cracked me up.  My niece kept walking around them with cups of nectar I bought her.  The five-bucks-a-cup was a small price to pay to watch them squirm. Their photos were not near as cute as the birds.  Besides, I would have rather recorded their stupid behavior  than immortalize it in a photo.

The Lorikeets warmed us up for the Orangutans.  Those Orangutans were some goofy critters.  I couldn't get a good enough angle to get the ones hiding under boxes.  There were two goofballs that were playing some kind of game in the background.  There was another one that had a pink clothe that it used as a cape and headdress. The star of the show though was the juvenile.  The little one was swinging upside down in front of the crowd, switching ropes and running all over.  The whole family actually stayed in one spot and watched a while, it impressed the hell outta me.

Around the corner was a Sting Ray petting tank.  We have played with the Rays before at Sea World, but the niece and nephew had never seen anything like that before.  Their squeals were a bit too much for me to keep a straight face.  I bought them a bunch of shrimp just to watch them jump.

Feeding the Sting Rays wasn't enough for me.  No more than 300 feet from the tank was a Giraffe area.  I have a thing for long necks and they are no exception.  I blind-sided the kids so they didn't have chance to back out it.  They turned around and I handed them some lettuce.  My girlfriend giggled a bit as well, we all enjoyed feeding the big girl with long eyelashes.

Things being the way they are, circular and all that.  We ended the day with feeding and playing with more Wallaby's.  I had no idea there were Aussie animals at Lowry Park.  I mean they have Penguins and Wallaby's, what more do you need for a good time?

I have to say.  I made a mistake by not making the journey to Lowry Park.  If you have not been yet and you think something negative or have an excuse on why not to go.  Go join LivingSocial.com, get the 2 for 1 deal that's 24 bucks, and do it.  I do not regret the trip, in fact my nephew can't wait to come back for his birthday and pet the rays.  Thank you Lowry Park Zoo.