Road Trip: Zoo Day

From Cory's personal travel journal (revised)

Zoo Day!  We took the Metro to the National Zoo and availed ourselves of the FREE admission.  Mission 1:  Pandas.  We walked right to the Asia Trail.  We saw the collection of large Asian animals, including the sloth bear.

The Asian sloth bear

The pandas were not in the outdoor display, so we got in line for their indoor habitat.  The short line wait was certainly worth it.  We saw both pandas in the collection.  Tian Tian, the male and Mai Xian, the female.  They were both just chilling, eating, sleeping, doing what pandas do.

Bamboo- breakfast, lunch, and dinner

The rest of the zoo was great, too.  We checked out the bird houses, large mammals, reptiles, and invertebrates.  

Frog getting fresh with a toucan

Frog ignoring the warnings about the cranes

Look out, pal!  I'm aggressive!  Can't you read the sign?

This little guy might be cuter than our own Frog

Frog chillin' on a frog

Anaconda

At the back end of the zoo, it started to rain heavily, so we fled to a cajun crawfish bar for a drink and a snack.

When we hit a gap in the rain, we took the Metro back to Alexandria.  They took us out to a wonderful sushi restaurant for dinner.

A half-eaten plate of sushi, isn't life wonderful?

We debated what to do next.  We had to decide between getting great local ice cream or take a drive to the tidal basin and the FDR monument.  We went with the monuments, and glad we were of it!

Cory looking for a frog making noise in the fountain at FDR

More beautifully lit fountains at FDR

Thomas Jefferson Memorial from across the Tidal Basin

Martin Luther King Jr. Monument from a distance.

The walk through the FDR Monument was great.  There is a series of fountains and a narrative of FDR's presidency, told in quotes and letters carved in stone.  We walked along the Tidal Basin, looking at the D.C. skyline and observing, at a distance, the Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorials.  What a great way to end the day.