We took a day trip to the National Zoo in Washington D.C., which is free.

As a child growing up in Baltimore, my parents would sometimes take us to the Smithsonian museums or zoo. We didn’t have a ton of money growing up, and the Smithsonian, because it was only an hour away by car, was free, we could go whenever we felt like we needed a special trip. We’d pack a lunch and have a picnic, too, if the weather was good enough.

So one day my mother was telling us that she hasn’t been to the Smithsonian Zoo in years, and that she wanted to go. I relayed the message to my older sister, and we decided that we were going to take a day trip one Sunday to go see what the zoo had to offer. I also had not been in years, since the seventh grade. I am now almost 24.

The day before leaving, we packed our lunches. My mom and sister packed sandwiches, and I packed an entire salad and pizza bread from Lidl. We tucked some sodas into our backpacks, then headed out at 8:30 AM the next day to beat the crowds. If you go on a weekend, you should probably head out early unless you don’t mind elbowing other people while looking at the red pandas.

We also reserved a $30 parking spot at the zoo, which is the few not-free parts of the entire complex. We didn’t want to have to find street parking in DC, even though it is free on Sunday (and there were plenty of spots when we drove down by the zoo because we went so early), so we just paid for the convenience. The lots are right by entrances of the zoo, and we walked a loop so we ended up where we started at the end.

Here’s how our trip went!

This early spring morning, the animals were very active.

Usually, whenever we go to zoos, the animals are pretty lethargic. The last time we were at the San Diego Zoo, where my cousin works at, the animals were all sleeping, taking naps, or hiding away from the people. Although we had comped tickets for there, it was still pretty disappointing. The animals don’t owe us anything, but a lot of zoos are not cheap at all.

But during this trip to the Smithsonian Zoo, the animals were out and living their best lives. The fishing cat was having a great moment in its cage climbing and then diving into the water, where there were fish, and the otters were sunbathing and swimming back and forth in the water section of their enclosure. The fennec fox was sleeping, but it was right up against the glass, so I had a moment cooing at it.

Another highlight for me was the gorilla enclosure. There was a little baby gorilla in a hammock that kept coming down to see us, then climbing back into its cute little bed. That little fella was so cute, especially when we noticed each gorilla had its own baby duck blanket.

All in all, we felt like we got to see almost everything the park had to offer. The only animals off-exhibit were the tigers and red tailed pandas, but we were fine with that. We did also miss the ring tailed lemurs, but we were tired after four hours of wandering the zoo. It took us that long with lunch to see everything, although we did not spend a lot of time dawdling in front of certain exhibits.

Snacking and picnicking in the zoo are always great times.

As I mentioned before, packing a lunch is something we always do when we head off to the zoo. We were especially inspired lately by my aunt, who we took to the San Diego Zoo and had entire lunch spreads packed into her backpack.

The good part about the Smithsonian Zoo is that there are quite a few sections where there are picnic tables, and I think they don’t expect you to solely be living off of their food. At the bag check at the entrance, the security guard noted my food and huge water bottle, but then waved me inside the zoo. I don’t think they care if you bring outside food, but they don’t serve plastic straws.

Be careful with any scraps and whatnot, because you don’t want your napkins and straws getting into the enclosures. That could end really badly. We found a picnic section off to the side, where we unpacked all of our lunch items and relaxed for about thirty minutes. If you’re here for a long time, you’re probably going to need some kind of food to sustain you from all of the walking.

We also grabbed some dessert, as my mother saw a Carvel stand and decided she wanted some ice cream. I got an Auntie Anne’s lemonade, and we relaxed for another ten minutes before heading down our final trail, which was the Asia Trail.

The Smithsonian Zoo largely consists of rescue animals.

We’re the kind of people who would feel really bad about going to a zoo if the animals were snatched out of their native habitats. I remember we went to a butterfly garden in Malaysia and I was kind of horrified seeing some of the state the animals in there were.

But halfway through wandering this zoo, when we stumbled upon the bald eagle enclosure, we learned that a lot of the animals were rescues. The bald eagle display explained that the the eagle was injured in the wild and was unable to fly, so the zoo provided his needs because he wasn’t very mobile anymore.

After that, we noticed more signage explaining the same things throughout the zoo, and we were relieved to see that. I would love to support zoos like the San Diego and Smithsonian if they’re doing this kind of preservation work. We can try to help nature as much as possible beyond spreading tree seeds and planting native flora wherever possible!

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