Columbus Zoo Elephants, Bears and Sting Rays … Oh my!

This weekend marks the end of another summer and (hopefully) gone are the days of sweating while walking the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in central Ohio (as least until next summer anyhow).

The weatherman predicted our weekend would be a total wash out as Hurricane Isaac made his way to Ohio, but as it turns out, there was a lot of cloud cover but not much in the way of rain.  As we watch and as we waited for the possible bad weather to show, we finally made the decision to just make a go of it this Labor Day Sunday.  Packed with our rain gear, the camera and a few snacks we headed to the zoo in this iffy weather.

Being a zoo member, I’ve learned that popping in for a short visit lends itself to small surprises and even visits on not so great weather Sunday afternoons can mean low attendance and smiles on our part.

We found a Sun Bear hanging out in a tree for an afternoon nap and a super cute baby elephant named Beco (BEE-co).

We even found the turtles were chillin.

And with the warmer weather comes seasonal exhibits.  So we took advantage and strolled through the Pheasant Aviary.

Then we continued on to the North America exhibit to see a few Moose and Mexican Wolves. 

One of the many reasons I enjoy the Columbus Zoo are the up close and personal with the animals.  Who else could (or would) stand this close to a Huge Brown Bear? {ok, so there was a huge piece of glass between us… but really}.

whew…

Boy am I exhausted.

But before we could head home, we certainly had to visit the new (seasonal) Sting Ray Bay!!  Such a great way to see (and touch) these beautiful creatures.

and …

then there was the turtle walking home for the night… Yes.Really.It.Was!

And we will be back!