A leopard chasing a bird, penguins that still smell and finding out what zoo animals taste like.  For this week’s Date Day, we headed to Chicago’s own Brookfield Zoo.

Its been a few years since we’ve been to Brookfield, so we were interested to see what was new and exciting.  We entered through the north gate, took an immediate right into the land of Hoofed Animals and spied a couple lazy camels, a zebra or two and some antelope.  We also saw four up close giraffes, which was more than we can remember seeing in the past.

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Next, we took the Forest Preserve Nature Trail.  This is a little used half-mile trail around Swan Lake on the far west side of the zoo.  If you ever want to get away from the crowds, you’re almost certain be alone here.  There are plenty of birds and turtles along the trail, but the lack major animals keep the crows away.

The nature trail exits at the entrance to the Great Bear Wilderness.  This part of the zoo opened in 2010 and features a modern and open place for bears.  It’s much better than the previous bear pens on the southeast side of the zoo – which remain boarded up and empty.  We’re not sure, but the polar bears and grizzles seem happier here.  They also have a bald eagle and a small heard of bison in this area.  Interestingly, the Bison Prairie Grill which can be found here, features a Bison Burger on its menu.  We didn’t actually hear one but could imagine a conversation going along the following lines.

Little Timmy: “Look mommy and daddy, a herd of Bison!”

Mommy: “Yes Timmy, aren’t they wonderful?   This is why we bring you to the zoo, so you can see wild animals up close and learn about nature.”

Daddy: “Come over here Timmy, let’s see what bison taste like!”

We left the bison burgers behind us and strolled through the Regenstein Wolf Woods on our way to the living coast.  Like the nature trail, the woods seem little used and were nearly empty.  We enjoyed watching the small pack of wolves for a bit but had to press on.

Next up was The Living Coast.  We remember when this exhibit first opened in 1997.  It hasn’t changed much since then, but the fish, sharks, coral and jellyfish are always fun to see.  It’s like having a little slice of the aquarium right in the zoo.  Of course, the penguins are still at the end of the coast and still smell as terrible as they did on day one.

We next walked along the south border of the zoo.  Here we found some of the old school buildings from the zoo’s early days.  The Reptile and Bird House, the Feathers and Scales House and The Swamp House.  All of these have creepy crawly nightmarish things, so we (Tom) generally avoid them.  The south walkway also has the old Baboon Island, which was closed in 2013.  We wish the zoo would put something new here as it is becoming a bit of an eyesore.

Next, we headed to the east end of the zoo and found its newest addition.  The Hamill Family Wild Encounter opened in 2015 on the site of the former Children’s Zoo.  It’s a 3-acre, hands-on immersion that’s fun for adults and kids alike.  They have the world’s largest parakeet aviary, tons of goats for petting and even some wallabies.  Next time we come to the zoo, we may actually stop here!

Our next stop was by far the most exciting of the day.  We happened to get to the Big Cats exhibit just as a small bird found its way into the leopard area.  We spent a fascinating few minutes watching the leopard chase, stalk and chase again the little bird.  It was amazing to see how fast the leopard could run, jump and climb as it bounded from one end on the enclosure to the other.  It was the first time we’ve seen one of the big cats do anything other than sleep or slowly walk around.  After a few minutes of frantically flying around, the bird found its ways out of the enclosure, where it proceeded to sit and mock the angry leopard from above.  Luckily for us, the bird’s escape hatch was far too small for the leopard.

We finished up our trip to the zoo with a walk around Pachyderm land.  We circled the old building, but all we could find was a single, lonely looking pygmy hippo.  Seeing a sign that said the building was open, we headed inside expecting to find the large animals.  Interestingly, the inside was also empty.  Not a single elephant, rhino nor regular sized hippo in sight.  We’ve been getting a lot of rain lately and started to wonder if Noah had beaten us there and was starting to load his new Ark, but that will have to be an adventure for another Date Day.

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We left the zoo around 1:30 and had just enough time to try out Mollie’s Public House in nearby Riverside.  We’d never been to Mollie’s before, but really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere.  We shared some hummus and baked brie, had a couple pints of beer and chatted with the friendly bartender.  We even learned a little about the history of Guinness advertising by reading the signs on the walls.  2:30 came before we knew it and it was time to head back to reality to pick up Nate from school.