Last Friday, a friend and I went to the Chattanooga Zoo for their Holiday Lights at the Zoo event. It was a rainy night, which worried me slightly (who wants to juggle an umbrella and a camera?) but it turned out to be the best way to see it!
In the cool, dark evening rain, the animals were more visible than normal, the lights were beautiful, and the rain provided lots of great reflections in the wet pavement. It was perfect for photography. And best of all, there was hardly anyone else there! It was like having the place to ourselves. Always a plus in my book.
What follows are mostly pictures from our short visit. So let’s walk around a bit, decorate some cookies, and see what the animals are up to.
The most touching animal encounter of the evening was with the chimpanzees. One was sitting right by the window giving kisses and playing peek a boo with some kids and their adults.
Most of the event action is back at the Education Center, way at the back of the zoo. In here, you’ll find a photo op with an appropriately jovial Santa Claus. (At one point, with no one to take pictures with, he roamed the room and talked to kids while they colored or at their cookies.)
There were tables set up with coloring sheets and crayons, an assembly-line cookie decorating station, an animal artifact encounter, even a live organist playing Christmas tunes! It was well done, and where I saw the most people in one place during the evening.
There is one more weekend to visit the Holiday Lights at the Chattanooga Zoo this coming Friday and Saturday, the 21-22. The event lasts from 5:30-8:00 pm and costs $12 for adults, $8 for kids and half those prices for zoo members.
Maybe if you get lucky, it will have rained…
Everything was beautiful in the rain! It’s been ages since we’ve been to the zoo.