Mandy is never one to pass up a great deal so when she heard about the apparently infamous “Zoo DVD”, she just had to get her hands on it. But what is this “Zoo DVD”? Don’t worry – I asked the same thing. Each branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library has a copy of a DVD that tells information about Zoo Atlanta. When you check it out, watch it, and return it, they give you a pass for two adults and two children to get into the zoo for FREE! The trick is catching it while it’s at your local branch. Apparently, large groups of people team up and keep it circulating around their friends for a long time.

Lucky for us, Mandy watched the online inventory at the library like a hawk and happened to catch a break! We decided to take our free zoo pass and turn it into a date: be tourists in our own city!

Our plan was set – go early on a Sunday morning and work our way through the park backwards in order to avoid crowds. We also swung by Sublime Doughnuts on our way down for some A-Town creams and Orange Dream Stars! Mandy loved (and commiserated with) the kangaroos and their baby pouches.

We watched a goat try to eat her keeper’s ponytail, saw the panda cubs happily munching on bamboo, and even got an up-close-and-personal look a the tiger chillin’ in the shade.

When I was growing up, my Grandma Dot would take Melissa and I to the zoo almost weekly. We loved seeing the animals and I would even make my way into the snake house reluctantly. However, our favorite was always saying hello to our friend Willie B, the gorilla. We actually called him “Willie Butt” because he always stood on the hill and showed us his butt each time we would visit.

One of our last stops at the zoo was stopping by the “African Plains” area where they keep the rhinos, zebras, antelopes, and giraffes. The definite highlight of the day was feeding lettuce to the giraffes. Their tongues are so long!

Any good tourist visit to Atlanta would not be complete without a visit to The Varsity! We ended a great date with chili dogs, onion rings, and a Frosted Orange!