St Louis Zoo is incredible- and (though you pay to park) free to enter. We had to go when we were all in town for mom’s 70th birthday as not only is it a great zoo, but they had the traveling exhibit Dinoraurous going on. My niece Jo (4) wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up, so this trip was a must.
The rest of the zoo is amazing and gardened where it feels more like a botanical garden with wild animals than a zoo.
The big bird aviary was built for the 1904 World’s Fair.
Cory surprised my mom with buying her a ticket to feed a giraffe. She said afterward how she couldn’t believe at 70 she was feeding giraffes! She was SO delighted.
In addition to the 1904 aviary, there is a bird house you walk through with the birds having wire to separate their enclosures and keep space from people getting too close. The wire lets you hear them and see them so much better than the glass. We all really enjoyed walking through this space.
If you are in the St Louis area and want something fun to do- try the zoo and the art museum. Both are at Forest Park and are free to enter. They are also large, so know going to both in the same day would be very difficult.