2010/08/28 - Racine Zoo (37 Photos)
Racine Zoo in Wisconsin (between Kenosha and Milwaukee) is very small, but considering how long it's been around it's not as run-down as one would guess. The admission is cheap ($6) and it's right on Lake Michigan. It has a decent amount of animals, including lions and tigers, but no polar bears. I recommend visiting at least once for a unique experience.

2010/06/18 - Milwaukee Zoo (29 Photos)
Milwaukee County Zoo has one of the best Big Cat exhibits of any zoo I've visited. You can get up close to these magnificant creatures as shown by the photo set here. Tigers are one of my favorite animals and I felt really lucky to see the tigress and her cubs interacting during my visit, resulting in the best tiger photos I've ever taken to date.

2010/06/06 - Shedd Aquarium (28 Photos)
I've been going to the Shedd Aquarium since I was a kid. This trip was to check out the newly renovated Oceanarium but I was a bit disappointed as the only changes I noticed were that it was more colorful and had a few play areas for the kids, as well as a snack bar. I was hoping for more exhibits but it seemed as if there were less.

2010/05/26 - Columbus, Ohio (19 Photos)
Newport Aquarium is located in Newport, Kentucky right on the Ohio River which divides Kentucky from Cincinnati, Ohio. The aquarium isn't huge, but it's laid out quite nicely. Plus it has one of the best jellyfish collections I've seen and I love jellyfish. I could spend hours just watching them swim around.

2010/05/25 - Columbus, Ohio (46 Photos)
First we visited COSI, Columbus' Science and Industry museum and in the afternoon we visited the Franklin Park Conservatory. The museum is more suited to children than adults so we didn't have a great time but the conservatory more than made up for it. Not only do they have a live butterfly section, but they also have the biggest Chihuly glass collection owned by any conservatory or botanical garden. The first eight photos are from the museum and the rest are from the conservatory.

2010/05/24 - Columbus Zoo (52 Photos)
Home of Jack Hanna, this zoo is technically known as the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium thanks to the addition of Manatees. Unfortunately I couldn't get a clear photo of them or the awesome sea turtle thanks to the highly reflective glass used on the exhibits. I loved the rainbow lorikeets, koalas, and penguins the most. I missed the fact that there's no zebras or giraffes at this zoo.

2010/04/25 - Lego Show (40 Photos)
Technically this was a Lego Train Show put together at the Geneva History Center by the Northern Illinois Lego Train Club, but I found the Lego scenes more interesting than the trains. They weren't easy to photograph with my P&S camera, though, which is why you'll see some noise from the high ISO I used.

2010/04/16 - Heritage Farm (27 Photos)
Volkening Heritage Farm is located at the Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg Illinois. It can be accessed from the nature center trails or directly off Plum Grove Rd a block South of Schaumburg Rd.

2010/04/10 - Cosley Zoo (51 Photos)
I'm very happy to have gotten some great photos of the animals I rarely ever get shots of at Cosley Zoo - the racoons and foxes. In all the years I've been visiting this zoo, I've never seen the racoons climb a tree before. There's also a great blue heron at the zoo now.

2010/03/28 - Milwaukee (66 Photos)
Photos from a day trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photos 1-32 were taken at Discovery World. Photos 33-66 were taken at the Mitchell Park Conservatory (The Domes). I'm very happy to have gotten some good shots of the jellyfish at the museum's aquarium.

2010/02/27 - GP Conservatory (67 Photos)
Photos from Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago, Illinois. I highly recommend visiting - admission and parking are free!