Another weekend, another adventure! Pebble had been asking to go to the zoo again, and, since we’d last gone to the zoo, I’d found out about a neat little waterfall not far away. We got tickets to enter the zoo at noon, and left home early to see if we could find the waterfall. I’d found an address for the place on a website about the falls. Unfortunately, there is no parking. Falls Road is also very narrow, so no street parking. There was a converted mill complex up the street, Mill 1, and we parked there. There were no signs saying we couldn’t, and we didn’t plan to stay long.
We made a right out of the tiny lot, and walked down the road. We could see Jones Falls Stream down below. We also got a glimpse of the Falls. Shortly thereafter, we came to the “pathway” down to the water.
There was a rough sandy track leading down to the viewing deck, and by rough, I mean very rough. There were some “steps,” but they were spaced far apart, and Pebble had some trouble with it. We had to pick our way down the steep path carefully.
Once we got to the bottom, there was a small viewing deck. The deck looked like it had seen better days, it had a small hole in it, we saw a bit of garbage, and there were graffiti tags everywhere! Still, the falls were beautiful!
We didn’t stay long before heading back to the car. All told, this part of our adventure took only 20 minutes or so. It was neat to see, but also sad. The city could do so much with this spot. Add some parking, smooth out the trail, renovate the platform, remove the graffiti… With the Mills being repurposed right up the street, you’d think they’d want to attract more business to the area. We won’t be back, but we are glad we checked it out.
It only took another 10-15 minutes to reach the zoo after we left Mill 1. This was our first time at the zoo since some of the Covid restrictions had been lifted. It seemed like there were a lot more people here today, even with the timed tickets, and not all were wearing masks. We headed in, and went to see the prairie dogs first.
After watching the prairie dogs, we took the long path down to the main area of the zoo. Per usual, we headed right to the African Journey. There was a sign there that masks were required in this area of the zoo. The boardwalk was crowded, and social distancing was difficult! We stopped to see the flamingoes, then the zebras and rhinos, and on to the cheetahs, warthogs, lions, giraffes, and elephants. Near the Oasis Cafe, which was doing a brisk business, we found a grassy spot for a picnic. It was the perfect spot as we had a view one direction of the elephants, and the other way we could see the giraffes.
In this area of the zoo, the zoo erred on the side of caution. Travel through the area was still one way, and masks were a must. Did you know lions could contract Covid? When we got to the Chimp House, we discovered that the zoo had moved away from only allowing a max of 12 people in the building at a time. Instead, visitors were sent in in clumps and only given a set amount of time in the building. Once that group had been moved out, the next was allowed in, and the clock restarted. It definitely helped move things along, and we didn’t feel rushed. Stormy and Rainbow were able to get up close with a chimp, and we saw the baby chimps playing. The slender nosed crocodile was also swimming next to the glass, and Stormy loved being so close to it!
While waiting to enter the Chimp House, I spoke a bit with a volunteer about changes at the zoo. While the zoo was closed for Covid, staff were able to start redoing exhibits. The crocodile in the Chimp House was back on exhibit after having its enclosure redone. Many of the exhibits in the Maryland Wilderness are now being closed, too. The cave and the tree slide are still closed due to Covid, and the otters are off exhibit for renovations of their home. You can’t even walk all the way to the Farm anymore, but are forced to turn around just past the Aviary. Stormy was sad to hear the lily pad jumping pads in the Aviary were still gone. The volunteer said the lily pads were close to 50 years old!
After we finished our tour of the African Journey, we visited the penguins, and tried to see the bears. Unfortunately, they were off exhibit so that the keepers could clean the enclosure. We decided to pack it in then. Pebble was tired, and upset that she hadn’t seen a horse. Apparently, the zebras and okapi were not good substitutes!
Near the playground, close to the exit, we stumbled on a keeper chatting about a gray African parrot. Stormy had a lot of questions, and was thrilled to hear the parrot say her name, Echo. Echo also quacks to earn peanuts.
We had a great day out! All three girls loved the waterfall and time at the zoo. The zoo is definitely doing its best to cautiously reopen. There were more food vendors open this time, and both the train and carousel are running again. The tram from the main entrance, though, is still closed, so be prepared to walk in, and the area to pet the goats remains closed, too. Pebble has already asked when we can go back again… Happy trails!