To round off my December travels to Washington state, I wanted to share one of my favorite ways to enjoy the cold and get into the holiday spirit: a visit to Zoolights at the Point Defiance Zoo!
The Point Defiance Zoo, in Tacoma, WA, was one of my favorite places to visit when I was younger. I loved coming face to face with beluga whales, seeing sharks, starfish and more in an open air aquarium, and seeing how tall I was compared with a polar bear. But my favorite thing was visiting around the holidays, when the whole park was transformed into a spectacle of twinkling lights and bright colors. Millions of Christmas lights were arranged throughout the zoo, and certain animal exhibits were still open after dark for any curious visitors. Some of the lights were arranged in the shape of the zoo’s most beloved animals, while thousands more were strung across trees and pathways, illuminating the zoo and inviting families to enjoy the show.
While visiting my sister Jen in Tacoma this December, she proposed a Zoolights visit to enjoy the holidays the way I remembered them growing up. Every year in Orlando I look forward to the holidays, but with the perpetually-warm weather and the rush of seasonal tourists, it’s not quite the cocoa and Christmas tunes winter wonderland I grew up with. So it was with a childlike excitement that I buttoned up my favorite trench coat, borrowed a scarf and gloves from Jen, and set out into the below-freezing air with Jen, her fiancé Gavyn, and our younger brother Jared. By the time we arrived at the Point Defiance Zoo, it had just started to snow. I could not believe our good luck! You might think that it snows all the time in Washington, but in our part of the state, snow is actually relatively rare, occurring once or twice in a season, if at all. All I needed now was a steamy cup of hot chocolate, and I’d be all set!
Here are a few photos from our snowy Zoolights visit!
Dates: Zoolights 2017 runs nightly from November 24-January 1, excepting Christmas Eve
Pricing: Tickets are $5 for Point Defiance Zoo members. For non-members, tickets can be purchased online for $8.50, or at the zoo ticket window for $10. Combo passes are also available for purchase, so you can see the animals during the day and come back in the evening to enjoy the lights.
For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit the official Point Defiance Zoo website.
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