Day 29 - Hogle Zoo & This is the Place Heritage Park

Hubby only had to go into work for half the day, so we got to have him explore with us today. We are on day 2 of our Visit Salt Lake Connect Passes, so today we decided to go to the zoo, then across the street to This is the Place Heritage Park.

We hadn't been to the Hogle Zoo for about 4-years and there have been some major improvements in that time. We loved the additions of Rocky Shores, featuring seals, sea lions, polar bears, and grizzly bears. And the new male lions were Kid One's favorite. She must have snapped a million pictures of those brothers. The African Savanna area is way better than the enclosures where the giraffes and zebras were held previously. Here the giraffes actually have room to roam and the zebras are visible. They also had a "Zoorassic Park" event going on where there were cool animatronic dinosaurs throughout the grounds. Kid Two must have snapped a million pictures of those.

Today was our first time visiting This is the Place Heritage Park. I had low expectations, but I figured at least we could do the train and ride the ponies. Turns out, this was another place I was totally wrong about. I'm so excited to be finding all these great new places. There are pioneer houses from all over Utah that have been relocated here. They are all open to explore. That's the boring part. The cool part is that there are people dressed in period appropriate costumes that act like they are from the 1800's and let you join in to get a taste of what it was like living back then. Kid Three was feeling sick so we didn't get to explore as much as I would have liked, but Kids One & Two had a great time.

Hogle Zoo & This is the Place were both free for us using the Connect Passes given to me by Visit Salt Lake. BUT it's not too hard for you to save money to these places. If you are a member of an AZA-accredited zoo (like Phoenix Zoo), you can receive 50% off admission to Hogle Zoo (and Tracy Aviary). The maps at Hogle Zoo have coupons for $2 off admission to This Is The Place Heritage Park. The Entertainment Book App also has BOGO admission coupons for This Is The Place.

Day 28 - Tracy Aviary & The Leonardo

Today was supposed to be the hottest day of our week here in Salt Lake City, with temps reaching around 100 degrees. We had an outdoor activity planned for the morning and decided to keep things air conditioned for the afternoon.

Tracy Aviary is part of Liberty Park, which is Utah's much smaller equivalent of Central Park. The aviary is fairly small but pretty cool you can see a lot of rare birds close up. And the High Flyer show is a lot of fun, despite the fact that you are sitting in direct sunlight. To read my full review go here.

Today was our first time experiencing The Leonardo. I had been skeptical about going here in the past because they don't charge for ages 5 & younger. It sounded like maybe it would be more educational and less fun. Boy was I wrong. This plan was lots of fun. It's part science, part art, part combo. My kids are artists and scientists (as I think all kids are) so they thought a The Leonardo was fabulous. To read my full review go here.

The Leonardo is also part of the ASTC passport program. In case you haven't been keeping track, that's all the museums at Thanksgiving Point, Clark Planetseium Dome show, Discovery Gateway, and The Leonardo that I have received free admission at, thanks to my Arizona Science Center pass. 

Now I know you're wondering if I paid for the Tracy Aviary. Of course not. Unfortunately, you have to take up travel writing to get my discount. Since I write for Trekaroo, Visit Salt Lake hooked my family up with 3-day Connect Passes. These passes allow you to visit 13 venues, one-time-each, within a certain time period that you purchase. You can have the pass be active for 1,2, or 3 days, OR one year. The days of use have to be consecutive, which is why I didn't start using the Connect Pass until today. The Connect Pass also includes admission to all of the above mentioned ASTC passport participants, except you can only visit the Museum of Ancient Life and The Gardens at Thanksgiving Point AND you als get free admission to an IMAX 3D educational film at Clark Planetarium.