Why Leave Prospect Park?

We just visited a small slice but had a great day

The kids too their scooters and we headed to the zoo. On the way we stopped at the rock that marks the battle of Brooklyn. (thanks wallyg and flicker for the photo.) The marker says "At this point the Old Porte Road or Valley Grove Road intersected the Line of Hills separating Flatbush from Brooklyn and Gowanus. In the Battle of Brooklyn or Battle of Long Island, on August 27, 1776, the pass was barricaded in front of Dogon Oak and other obstructions, protected by a rag tag group of voluntary militia dug in on Redout Hill just to the East awaiting attack. Holding their own against Hessians coming from the South Till until they were flanked from the river by a body of British troops led by General Henry Clinton and suffered a bloody defeat which resulted in the capture of General George Sullivan. Whatever troops survived retreated across what is now the Long Meadow, joining The Maryland regiment for a final resistance near the Old Stone House of Gowanus.

Then off to the Zoo.

I thought that the middle of Spring Break would be a quiet day at the Zoo, but I forgot about the "mini camps", the after school centers that become one week camps during school vacations. So there were clumps of little kids. They were easy to avoid. My kids also know that when you wGowanuso a zoo and they are feeding the sea lions, it is the best time to go the other way. We have seen the show, it is very nice, but the zoo is best enjoyed with some elbow room.

Aggie is a very nice cow. I am glad my kids are willing to touch her. I wont. We love to see the Hamadyas Baboons they are the ones with the big red asses. You are practically guaranteed to see something obscene in that habitat. Then off to the Discovery Trail. It is a winding little trail brings one really close to the animals. In fact some habitats have no fence at all. When we visited the kangaroo last winter (in the snow, that was nice) she was nursing her joey in the doorway to the exhibit. Also as Hamadyas the trail you can see Prospect Park itself behind the animals. You can see the runners going by. I have run by thousands of times and forget how close to the zoo I am.

It was only 12:30 and I wanted to go the the Aquarium, but the kids were too hungry to make it the half-hour trip to Nathan's. We jumped out of the Park to eat. I have never had a positive experience at the McDonald's on Empire Boulevard. They take the fast out of fast food.

The kids wanted to go to the "Bird House", the Audubon Center in Prospect Park. There is always something to do there and the staff is really very nice.








They were even showing movies because it was raining. We say the Fresh Water episode of the Planed Earth Series. How poignant.











This is the view from the terrace of the Audubon Center:



























This was my view on the way home: