Mesker Park Zoo, Evansville, In.

As promised, here's some photos from our trip to the Mesker Park Zoo in Evansville in 2007.

A greater rhea.

A peacock wandering around the zoo.

A prairie dog.

Zebra.

A giraffe.

A ring-tailed lemur. I loved him so much! Yes, I wanted to cuddle with him. Lemurs are my favorite primates. :)

Do you see the large tortoise in the back?

I think this is a przewalski horse.

Evansville, Indiana

As you read this, we're probably settled in for Christmas with Chris' family in Evansville, In. We usually head to Cincinnati for a while too, but not this year. Since we visited family in Ohio in August, we're not going to stop by this year.

Here's some photos from November 2007 that I snapped on my first trip to Evansville and my first trip, ever, to a state that wasn't on the East Coast! Make sure to read the cutlines, I'll explain the photo and posts links.

The city's greenway, which runs along the Ohio River.

The Four Freedoms, a monument along the greenway, facing the Ohio.

University of Southern Indiana. My father-in-law tutors there.

The old courthouse, built in the late 1800s.

The old jail, located across the street from the old courthouse. It was also built in the late 1800s.

An old art deco Greyhound bus station 

The Gerst Bavarian Haus, a German restaurant, is my favorite place to eat in Evansville, with Emge's Deli a close second! (Ignore the crazy man running at the camera.) There's also Turoni's Pizza, which is a favorite for the locals.

We also visited the Evansville African American Museum. It was fabulous! I was very impressed and loved all the detailed and interactive exhibits.

I have yet to visit the Angel Mounds -- another Native American burial ground. I've been told that the mound is usually operating on off-season hours when we're there, so we haven't been.

In a later post, I'll share photos from the Mesker Park Zoo, a small zoo in Chris' hometown. We've already visited it a couple of times together. It recently added a rain forest exhibit and I must go check that out!

Have a very merry Christmas and talk with you soon!

Snow at the N.C. Zoo

While in N.C. celebrating Christmas with my family, Chris and I headed to the N.C. Zoo for a few hours last Saturday.

While we were there, it started snowing!

Snow at the grizzly exhibit.

The grizzly was asleep earlier when we saw him. We woke up to check out the snow, I guess.

Here's the grizzly sleeping earlier in the morning.

Instead of taking the tram back to the parking lot, we chose to walk, stopping at some of the North American exhibits.

Here's some more photos from the trip:

I've never seen this snow fox up walking around before. I guess he was happy to see the snow.

Sleepy bobcat.

Bison.

An elk in the pasture with the bison.

Red wolves.

This hummingbird flew up to the fence and chirped at me several times. I don't know if he was happy or mad to see me.

The coati (pictured) and cacomistle were up and active.

Some orchids in the Aviary.

More flora in the Aviary.

Eclectus parrot in the Aviary.

More flowers in the Aviary.

Victoria crowned pigeon.

Gorillas in the Forest Glade exhibit.

A close up of the gorilla.

I thought there were new Australian exhibits, but I guess, like the red kangaroos, those were only temporary. So those have come and gone before I got a chance to see them. :(

The lemurs were also not out. I guess, like the elephants, giraffes and rhinos, it was too cold for them. Maybe next time.

Mill Mountain Zoo, Roanoke, Va.

Mill Mountain Zoo, Roanoke, Va., is probably the smallest zoo I've ever been to. And it's accredited!

We visited recently on a Christmas shopping excursion to the city. I really enjoyed the colorful pheasants, the marmosets and wolverine. Very cool.

Many of the exhibits were closed because of the windy and cool conditions. We paid just over $7 for one adult, which seems to be a lot for a small zoo.

Here's some photos:

Blue Magpie

Golden pheasant -- one of my favorites!

Pygmy goat

Snow leopard

Japanese Macaque

Eurasian black vulture -- a huge fella!

Sichuan Takin

Black-eared tufted marmoset. I wanted to cuddle with them!

I believe these are white-napped cranes.

Since we have a N.C. Zoo membership, we got in half price. (The N.C. Zoo is huge and a great weekend activity for the family. Check it out if you're down that way.)

While on top of Mill Mountain, check out the Mill Mountain Star, the Star Trail and The Discovery Center. There are no photos of the Star Trail below. We didn't walk on the trail that day, but we've done it before.

You can see this star from most areas in Roanoke.

Here's a view from atop Mill Mountain. The star is located behind the photographer in this shot.

A snake in The Discovery Center. I don't know why Chris insists on snapping photos of snakes!

At the bottom of the mountain, check out the Chestnut Ridge Trail. We walked there for a bit and it was a great walk, even for the cool, windy day we were there. It's 5.4 miles, but we walked about 2.5 miles, cutting through a campground and walking down along the road to get back to the parking lot.

I'm checking out the map to decide which way to go. I'm bundled up, but was still cold in the wind.

A shot of the road as we crossed it along the trail.

Horne Creek Historical Farm, Pinnacle, N.C.

If you're any where near Winston-Salem, N.C., sometime, go a little further north and check out Horne Creek Historical Farm in Pinnacle. Take the Pinnacle exit off of U.S. 52 and head west.

We went a few weeks ago and enjoyed taking the self-guided tour to explore the hold home, corn crib and foundations or sites of former structures.

I always enjoy walking around old homesteads, imagining how the families used to live there. Walking through the houses, I always inspect the clothing, rugs and quilts to see how they were made. I check out the kitchen utensils and wonder what it would be like to cook and feed a family there.

Though small, Horne Creek has a lot of interesting buildings and artifacts (or reproductions). The day we visited there was a Girl Scout troop getting a private tour. We watched as they shelled corn and fed the cow and sheep. Hands-on activities are always the best!

Here's some photos from our trip. Sidney had to stay in the car, probably because of the resident cats, dogs and other animals. I suppose they don't want other animals roaming around the place.

Take a look at some of the things we saw:

These sheep were not too sure of us. They didn't come any closer until we turned our back to them.

Here's a Girl Scout shelling some corn. Look like fun or hard work?

Barn kitties!

There were a couple of these hound dogs.

A sweet goat.

This cow was not that interested in us when she realized we weren't there to fed her.

Some vines we saw up the hill from the barns.

Corn inside the corn crib.

The old homestead.

Check out these old books!

A rug in one of the bedrooms.

I love the different designs on the bottom and top of the quilt.

Chinese checkers, anyone?

I love the corn husk doll! Do you recognize any of these other toys?

I love how bright this quilt is.

Gobble, gobble, gobble!

Besides chickens and turkeys, there were some guineas (not pictured) too.

There was tobacco outside the tobacco barn. I'm not really sure why. Does it have to dry outside before going in the barn?

This is tobacco in the barn. It was really cool inside.