Cross-Country, Part 4 (Zoos & Brews)

I came for the county counting.  Although, let’s recall I had to bribe my older son before this road trip could even begin.  How many zoos could we see during six days of driving from coast to coast, plus a week in Phoenix?  A lot.  We visited six, well seven actually, although we only got to see six.  I had to balance it out with breweries and brewpubs.  We stopped at six of those as well.  He got something from the deal and I got something too.  I think we both felt like we got the better end of the bargain.

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Zoos

We stopped at:

• Zoo Knoxville
• Nashville Zoo at Grassmere
• El Paso Zoo
• Phoenix Zoo
• Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park (Litchfield Park, AZ)
• San Diego Zoo

Admittedly, I don’t have a zoo obsession.  I can take them or leave them.  However a deal was a deal so I remained a good sport and let my son spend as much time as he liked at each stop.  He wanted to see every single animal and examine them all in excruciating detail.  After awhile the zoos began to blend into each other and I couldn’t recall which animals we saw where.  I knew that one of them (I think in Arizona) had an Eastern Gray Squirrel.  That amused me.  Although I guess it made sense because they don’t inhabit the Sonoran Desert and probably seemed “exotic.”

Also, it seemed like every zoo had a carousel.  It must be some kind of zoo rule.

Wintertime weather didn’t stop us either.  In fact, I rather preferred it.  A little chill didn’t bother the animals although it kept away the humans.  We could tour the parks as casually as we liked, get close to the animals, and never feel crowded.  The Phoenix and San Diego Zoos, by contrast, presented mild temperatures and way too many people.  We had a tough time getting anywhere near the exhibits particularly in San Diego on New Years Day.

One possibility escaped our grasp.  We wanted to stop  at the zoo in Abilene, Texas.  However a storm rolled over the Southern Plains and the skies opened up as we arrived at the entrance.  Then the lightning came.  We saw ducks floating on the flooded road outside of the zoo.  We figured that was our cue to get away from there.

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Brews

We stopped at some interesting breweries too:

• Balter Beerworks (Knoxville, TN)
• Frisky Brewing (Odessa, TX)
• The Beer Research Institute (Mesa, AZ)
• Saddle Mountain Brewing (Goodyear, AZ)
• Hillcrest Brewing (San Diego, CA)
• Prison Hill Brewing (Yuma, AZ)

Longtime readers might be wondering why I didn’t visit a lot more breweries.  After all, I’ve focused entire vacations around brewery tourism in renowned beer towns such as Bend, Asheville and Grand Rapids.  A number of things conspired against me this time.  First, we wanted to cover as much ground as quickly as we could and that didn’t always align with brewery locations.  Second, we drove through a prime location with multiple breweries (Dallas) on Christmas Day so nothing was open.  Finally, we traveled through large swaths of the southern Bible Belt  that simply didn’t have any breweries.  I did the best I could.

Honestly, I didn’t worry about it too much.  I enjoyed spending some quality time with my son even if that meant an endless parade of captive animals.

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Articles in the Cross-Country Series:

1. The Plot Thickens
2. Weatherford Art Thou?
3. County Counting
4. Zoos & Brews
5. The Eastern Half
6. The Western Half
7. A Week in Phoenix
8. Bonus!

See Also: The Complete Photo Album on Flickr