Steve and I needed a day away, and after going back and forth on whether to head down to Naples or up to Orlando, we landed on simply heading over to Lowry Zoo, one of our favorite Florida destinations.Lowry Zoo probably gets overlooked by a lot of tourists in favor of Busch Gardens or Disney World, but it really is a lovely place with lots of interactive animal encounters--we also wound up watching preschool children feed crackers to the giraffes and spent time petting (yes, petting) the stingrays. There are plenty of exotic birds and critters in very "viewer friendly" environments. I can't ever remember being there when it was very crowded. Our favorite destination is the lorikeet house, where you can feed the little guys nectar out of a cup--they'll be your new best friends, for as long as you're feeding them. You can see whose husband has the "Doctor Doolittle effect" with the animals. One little bird hung out on Stephen's knee for a full ten minutes, where critter and hubby had quite a conversation going on. Afterwards we went up to Temple Terrace and had a Middle Eastern meal at Greenland Restaurant, a nondescript looking establishment in a strip mall which served the best Middle Eastern food we've had since coming to Florida, followed by a cup of Turkish coffee at the hookah joint next door. It was a simple--and relatively cheap--day out that rejuvenated our sagging spirits and reminded us of the healing qualities of nature--and winter!--in Florida.
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