Friday afternoon at 12:00 P.M. Lora called and said she and the kids were going to Grassmere Zoo in Nashville and she asked if I wanted to go with them.
She came by picked me up and we rode to Nashville, Santana was with them.
At Grassmere Zoo I had my camera with me, so I was taking pictures while Bucko pushed Meadow in her wheelchair.
We went to the Grassmere Zoo at 3777 Nolensville Road Nashville, TN 37211 615-833-1534.
In the Savannah loop, we saw three brown African Elephants, Hadari, Sukari, and Kiba they were standing next to a huge bolder, one of the elephants was holding a large stick with his trunk, and a Zookeeper was standing with them.
We saw one giraffe bending down to eat the lush green grass, and another giraffe standing straight and tall. There are six different types of giraffes at the Grassmere Zoo they have reticulated and Masai giraffes.
We also saw a couple of Red River Hogs they are very sociable animals, they can weigh up to 250 pounds and get up to three feet tall.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmBJGDg6ymDD4GFShdZAdy-DnQ7kdhw1AlvaO30vyLzHJhKWZgtbaPsqX-HrrmUyu96q4lY-8ZH2mSbGzzbvSYnFQvo9H04BCAwWKYT70fyLGyQPRJXqGBBiR5tkj5x8WvGMFFspD4PY/s320/PICT0109.jpg) |
African Elephants |
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Giraffe |
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Red River Hogs |
In the Central Zoo, we saw the beautiful blue Macaw, we saw gibbons at Gibbon Island, we saw the dens of the meerkats, we visited the seahorses, and many other reptiles and fish at the unseen New World.
The kids climbed inside the glass that leads into the middle of the meerkat's dens to get an up-close view of the meerkats.
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Visiting the Meerkats |
The kids stopped to play on the jungle gym and we watched a bird show at the amphitheater
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Bird show |
In the Jungle loop along the bamboo trail, we saw a white tiger, lynx, red-ruffed lemur, ring-tailed lemur, cougars, red-crowned crane, red panda, porcupines, and tapir, we stopped at Alligator Cove to watch the alligators, the flamingo lagoon was filled with pink flamingo’s, the kids could touch the animals at critter encounters and Kangaroos Kickabout.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifN4MD-Vln66dMuqij5HtXc6z5YNC0PszxwoBfZwo3r4WnB2XRvI5dHcDMLOpuXXm7eVS_m85uIAYJE59U_onoM1NHgN5dZXGiCve5uSNY3QWH1BZWLKonZGoYxeKk-4uZDos09sA7mE4/s320/PICT0066.jpg) |
Critter Encounter |
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Alligator Cove |
We left Grassmere Zoo, and we rode down I-40 to Opry Mills Mall which took about twelve minutes it was a little over eight miles.
Lora parked near the entrance of the Rainforest Cafe at Opry Mills.
At the Rainforest Cafe, we were seated in the Tuki section with the amusing and curious baby elephant that Meadow was mimicking.
Lora and I split a portabella wrap with tomato basil wrap layered, which was rolled with spinach, red onions, roasted red peppers, and grilled portabella mushrooms, tossed in roster garlic balsamic dressing.
We all shared an awesome appetizer adventure, the idea of two or more featuring Chimi-Cha-Chas, Spinach, & artichoke dip, with tri-color chips, cheese sticks, served with chicken tenders, served with fresh guacamole, marinara, coconut curry sauce and for dessert, we ordered an out-of-this-world Sparkling Volcano.
We walked around the mall looking inside many of the shops, it had been a very exciting day.
We started the two-hour ride home, all the kids fell asleep, and we were home by 12: p.m.