Let’s Have All the Summer Fun at Chicago Zoological Society’s Brookfield Zoo

Which is your favorite animal? Is it a great ape, polar bear, or bald eagle? Perhaps it’s the iconic American bison, monarch butterfly, or the greatest of the big cats – the lion. Okay – let’s go! At Brookfield Zoo you can see it all.

A zoo membership is the way to go, since a single adult admission is around $30. The beauty of the year-long membership is that you can visit the zoo for 30 minutes, 3 hours, or all day long. Pay a visit to your favorite critters or see them all! You know you’ll be back for more!

In the building heat of a July morning everyone wants to cool off, including a lazy bones polar bear, sprawled on his belly, using a series of underwater rocks for support, with just his head above the water. He lowers his snout. Is he blowing bubbles, when he dips his head under the water? It appears so – giggles and snickers erupt from the youngest visitors.

It’s feeding time, which draws a crowd, snapping photos and wondering what the bear will do next. He turns his back to the zoo visitors while he chows down. He’s not shy — he’s using the tiered rocks as a makeshift dinner table. With a full belly he turns to face the crowd, who are viewing the tallest of bears from the underwater viewing area. He poses for photos, shared on social media, uploaded to this blog.

The Brookfield Zoo looks a lot different than it did 30 years ago, when I worked 5 consecutive summers in the main giftshop, selling T-shirts, stuffed animals, carved African sculptures, and fine jewelry. The animals are just as lively! Enjoy their antics!

If you have the opportunity, make it a family affair, whether it’s just a pair of you or the whole gang. I have so many amazing memories of visiting the zoo as a child AND working there as a teen and into my early twenties, in that wonderfully airconditioned gift shop. As I said earlier, get the membership, so you can go as many times as you like, stay for only as long as you like, and have lots of stories to tell. Don’t see your favorite animal. . . ? Let the zoo know – maybe they can work on that!