It was a chilly December night as a small group, braving the wind and snow, ventured to an unknown land…a winter wonderland!
As we traveled down Belden Avenue, headed due east, we took in the neighborhood holiday decorations, taking care not to slip on the ice. We knew we were close to our destination when the sky grew lighter and the air felt more festive! Gina was the first to spot the Lincoln Park Zoo lights, and after a brief but intense snowball fight, we headed toward the beautiful glow. The greeters at the zoo gates handed us 3-D glasses, which made the lights really rad!
Our first stop was the sea lion pool, where there were trees lighting up in sync to music. There were even a few sea lions out swimming around. We then headed to the ice sculptures, where we were impressed to find a holiday Sponge Bob, a monkey, and various other zoo animals all carved out of ice. And after a brief, 15 minute, trip through the gift shop, we headed onward to the carousel. Gina, Elizabeth, and Cynthia all excitedly found their spirit animals, climbed on, and enjoyed the ride as the rest watched–we had just as much fun watching, as the three go around and around.
We made our way through the primate house, enjoying the free arts and crafts! In the picture to the right, Cynthia and Gina are rocking their stellarly-decorated reindeer antlers. Once we left the primate house and the four posed for their photo op in the life-sized ornament, we stopped and watched the big light display in the middle of the zoo. The lights were synced up to music, and we enjoyed some singing and dancing. It was pretty impressive!
The Lincoln Park Zoo has been doing light displays since 1995, and it is free to the public! This year, the display contains over 2,000,000 (that’s two million!) lights, making for a truly magical experience. The lights will be on display daily from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, now through January 5th (they will be closed December 24th and 25th). Check out the Lincoln Park Zoo’s website for more information.