LA Zoo

When I think of LA, I think of this:

Then I throw up a little in my mouth.

I'm not a big fan of Hades Los Angeles. At all. So today while I was sitting in the gross traffic, I tried hard to remember why I was doing it. I came up with this:

I also took a little trip down memory lane. Which may sound strange, given my utter loathing of the entire county (no offense to those of you who live there). But believe it or not, my hatred actually has a foundation. It's not like my distaste for sushi, which stems mostly from concept and visual (I mean, really, RAW fish? I don't even like cooked fish, and you want me to eat it RAW? Wrapped in SEAWEED? Are you NUTS?). One summer I stage managed a play in Hollywood. You heard me. I worked on a play in Hollywood. I was big time. Five days a week I started in Fountain Valley after my shift at Applebee's around 3:30. 10 miles on the 405, 10 miles on the 605, 10 miles on the 5, 10 miles on the 101, exit Sunset, right on Gower. Rehearsal didn't start until 7:00, so I really didn't need to leave so early. But I would because I didn't want to sit in this:

I would get up there around 4:30 and find little adventures. I went to Echo Park once (much to my mother's horror),drove around and explored in my 1981 Honda Accord...most often I went to the little park adjacent to LACMA and the Tar Pits. I'd read, people watch--it was actually kind of nice. And every day I'd have a turkey, cheese, and avocado sandwich with cheese-its. But on the whole LA is dirty and gross and way too full of people. So as much as I enjoyed my turkey-cheese-and-avocado sandwiches at the museum, I was glad when the whole thing was over.

This morning I took that trip for really the first time since then (and "then" was a pretty long time ago--probably close to 8 or 9 years). I mean, I've been to LA since then--a few times, only when it was necessary. But today I took mostly the same path, and alone (well, I had Ben, but he's not really riveting company in the car).

We drove past the 101, though, and continued on the 5 to Griffith Park. I had another deja-vu flashback, this time to a field trip for an online Geology class to the Griffith Observatory. I hated that stupid class. But the observatory was cool.

Then we pulled into the zoo. Here I left the familiar, if distant, road and started a new memory. I was not entirely without LA Zoo experience--I went there once with a group of first through third graders when I was teaching in an afterschool program. But that was a long time ago.

Obviously I forgot my cell phone at home. And obviously I didn't realize it until I was pretty much exiting the freeway. Because I live in an era that is over-dependent on cell phones, I obviously freaked out. It wasn't like Disneyland, though, which is 15 minutes from home and very familiar. I was in LA for crying out loud. It was practically a foreign country, and one that I was not too keen on being in. I also do not own a watch. (not really even because I can check the time on my phone--mostly because I have not managed to keep a watch for more than a week. Ask my mom.) So I had no way of knowing what time it was, and no way of calling anyone in case LA tried to eat me.

And now for the Hometown Tourist part of my little story. Enough with the reminiscing and dramatics. The line to get a ticket was long and boring. Ben and I took pictures to pass the time.

Finally we went in, I think around 10:30 (although I really have no way of knowing). The zoo is fairly large. But a giant section in the middle (as well as the parking lot) was under construction, so we didn't get to see the elephant--which is all Ben wanted to see--or whatever else they were hiding in there. But on the whole it wasn't too bad. It definitely wasn't as cool as the San Diego Zoo, which I should have suspected given it was 1/3 the price. But it was infinitely better than the Santa Ana Zoo, which is about twice the price. I feel like the SAZ grossly overcharges...at any rate, most of the major players were there: bears, zebras, gorillas (in a very cool exhibit), giraffes, rhinos, hippos, an invisible elephant...it's a little confusing to navigate, though. There really isn't a main path, and you could definitely get lost in all the little outlets where the animals are found. There are signs, which are helpful, and maps throughout which tell you where you are. I liked that. There's a playground up at the top, which is good for the little ones to run around and play and take a break from looking at animals. The zoo was way different than I remembered with the kids; I think because of all the construction. The new stuff looks really nice and state-of-the-art, and when it's all done the zoo will probably be pretty awesome. But as it was, if I'm going to spend a large chunk of time in the car to see animals, I'd rather go to San Diego, even if it means dropping more money. But most of that probably stems from a freshly imprinted dislike of Los Angeles, not so much the zoo itself. We did have fun; Ben doesn't know he's in LA. Maybe he does--there is a certain smell. Okay, enough with the digs on LA.

Price: $14 for an adult, $9 for a child over 2, free under 2. No AAA or reciprocal zoo passes. Lame. But a decent thrill for $14. For $30 you can get a ticket to the zoo and a ticket to the Long Beach Aquarium. That's a pretty good deal, I think.

The trip: I feel like I've pretty much covered that. Driving in LA sucks, it's just a fact. It doesn't matter what time of day or night. I used to hit 5 MPH traffic on my way home from the play at 11:00pm. You will always sit in traffic. Gross.

The highlights: Definitely the gorillas. There's a children's zoo, but the contact part was closed (which is a bummer, because that's always Ben's favorite). There are tons of places to get meals or snacks (this is always important to me as a mom and as someone who consistently forgets to eat breakfast, like today). Several snacky places even give out free samples. I also liked the little playground.

The downsides: I've mentioned LA, right? Also, with all the construction, parts of it were really drab and ugly. But the upgrades look really nice; hopefully they'll be open soon.