Jan 25, 2022

Scenes from the Audubon Zoo, New Orleans, La.

It doesn’t take a lot of browsing on this blog to realize how much I love the city of New Orleans.  There’s undoubtedly a lot to like, from the music to the food to the “anything goes” party atmosphere that makes New Orleans in a lot of ways a playground for adults.  Unfortunately, the city’s reputation also leads some people to believe New Orleans is not a family-friendly city.  I strongly disagree. 

Whenever I hear people planning vacations and want to exclude New Orleans out of concern there will be nothing to do with kids, I’m ready to list off several places to take them.  And at the top of that list is the Audubon Zoo.

The site of the Audubon Zoo is part of the even-larger Audubon Park in New Orleans’ Uptown area.  Its origins as a zoo go back to the mid-1880s with its first major expansion taking place during the Great Depression when most of the zoo’s oldest remaining displays were built. 


A commoner dines at Baumgartner’s Cheese Store and Tavern, Monroe, Wis.

I wasn’t sure a place existed that could be the perfect representation of Wisconsin life, but then I traveled through Monroe, Wis., one week...