We have a zoo membership to the St. Louis Zoo. It is simply one of the best zoos around! First, it is gorgeous! Most of the animals live in habitats just as you would find them in nature. You are surrounded by beautiful plants and trees everywhere you walk. Second, it is FREE! Free I said!!! We do get a zoo membership each year. It gives us a few free parking passes and then several more passes for the train, carousel and children’s zoo. It really is a great deal if you live in the STL area. We tried to go to the zoo on Friday, but unfortunately they were extremely busy and the lovely mounted police officers had us leave the area No admittance. Sigh. So I promised the girls we would try to go back this weekend. This Memorial Day Weekend. I knew when I said it – it would be hot and crowded. But our pass expires in a couple of days and I really wanted to use our free tickets. We loaded up and off we went!

They have really made some fantastic changes at the Zoo – even in the time that we have lived in STL. If you haven’t been in a while you should go take a peek! The parking area right off of 64/40 is just terrific! So many new sculptures. And also a new parking strategy. This is the elephant that greats you now.

Hakuna Matata! (You can also see the new bridge that crosses your from the lot to the zoo in the background!! No more waiting on traffic – MUCH easier with the kids!)

Sun block, Sun glasses and a big stroller just in case we get tired of walking.

Hannah was certain she wanted to walk — for about the first 200 yards

Like I mentioned earlier – this was a “use the tickets” trip. We didn’t really take any time to see the animals. We can go back in a few weeks when it isn’t as busy and do that for free. Today we had a mission! And the train was first on the list. We didn’t have any lines to deal with. We swiped the card, got our tix and jumped on the train! Abby really likes when we get the blue train (but I gotta tell ya, Daddy was really excited with how shiny the silver one was).

ALL ABOARD!!! Abby sat with Daddy and Hannah and I shared a seat.

And then the waving begins! The train makes about 4 stops. We get to circle the entire zoo! We even travel through a few tunnels. The girls had great fun! Abby loved that there was a “girl conductor”.

Next stop: The Carousel! We spotted some flamingos and alligators… err… I mean, pelicans on the way!

Abby picked a Siberian Tiger and Hannah picked the Chimpanzee.

We’re heading to the Children’s Zoo next! Come read more in Part 2.