Stephen Yeargin

Mostly on a whim, I decided to spend my Friday off at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. It is fairly long drive from Goodlettsville to the south side of town off of Nolensville Pike. I took our camera with me because I cannot recall the last time I attempted nature photography. That, and I needed visual evidence that I did in fact spend the day away from the computer.

There are a few lessons to be learned from going to the Zoo on a Friday morning in September.

1. Median age of all visitors: 4.5 years old – A school group parked the bus at the same time I did. And then another. The park was filled with kindergartners and first graders running all over the place.
2. Strollers appear to outnumber people – In addition to the school age crowd, there were quite a number of toddlers and infants. The stay-at-home moms were holding conversations while deftly maneuvering these mini-SUVs over every bump and rut.
3. The park is still growing – If you ever go to the Memphis Zoo, you will find a very organized and broad range of animal, grouped by family and species. The Nashville Zoo feels more like you are walking through the wilderness and happen to stumble upon a monkey exhibit. There is a lot of walking between exhibits.
4. Bring extra batteries – I cut my trip short because I had walked through most of the park (never opened the map) and my camera batteries died.
5. Seasonal allergies and zoos do not mix – I really should have thought about this before leaving home this morning.