We began our vacation (stay-cation) in the week preceding Labor Day. I’ve numerous posts this year about the extreme weather, but we hit the weather lottery during our time off. It was 76 – 82 degrees and sunny ever, single day with relatively no humidity.

If you know us, you know we like animals. We’re not people who want a bunch of animals in our house, but we genuinely like critters. We’re fortunate to have one of the best zoos in the US nearby and have talked about visiting for some time. It’s been years since we’ve been. So, off to the zoo we went on Monday. I think we made it around the whole park and we even rode the train. The only thing I thing we skipped on purpose was the insect house. (I see enough insects in the country. I don’t need more.) We saw the famous Fiona, the new elephant walk, the kangaroo walk and the cheetah run. Even though you know that cheetahs are incredibly fast, seeing it in person takes your breath away. Wow! My favorite part of the day was the giraffes. I got to walk up to a giraffe and feed it greens. So cool! Did you know that a giraffe’s tongue is well over a foot long and a dark blue/black color?

I also have a new favorite animal, the Fennec fox. Seriously. If you’re having a bas day, go look these guys up. Cutest thing I have even seen. Difficult to see in the photo but smaller than a housecat.

After the zoo, we went out to dinner which is a treat in itself. Another highlight was visiting the newly opened Dorothy Lane Market. Stop rolling your eyes right now! DLM is awesome and if you’ve never been, you don’t understand.

We also visited the Liberty Town Center for some shopping and another excellent meal. We hung a new mirror and lights in the 1/2 bath, hiked a couple of new areas on the bike path and spent a lot of time on the deck.

Despite doing a lot of things most people probably consider very boring, it was a wonderful and relaxing week.

XOXO