If you’ve never been to the Nights in June event at the Milwaukee County Zoo, you’re missing out! The member-only event takes place each year at the beginning of June and is a major perk of being a Zoo Pass member. The zoo invites local food trucks to the zoo and they 15% of the proceeds go back to the Zoological Society. There’s a TON of food options and they are all absolutely amazing.
The best part of a night of food trucks is getting small things from lots of different trucks. Noah got the mac & cheese and rice krispy from Gouda Girls and absolutely thrilled. Chris got the Marco Pollo truck. It might have been the best egg roll I’ve ever had. The Gua Bao was also to die for. I had Roll MKE. While the burger was good, the fries were the real star there.
It’s also the perfect time to walk around the zoo at night to see our favorite animals. Every time we go to the Zoo, we try and make sure we see a different animal than last time. We go so often that we don’t do the full walk-around and see everything. This visit Noah decided he wanted to see the Zebras in particular.
The other thing Noah really wanted to do on this visit was check out the dinosaurs. Each summer the Zoological Society hosts a special dinosaur exhibit called ‘Dinosaurs! A Jurassic Journey’ where you can walk around and see life-size dinosaur replicas as you enter the Jurassic period to learn about the fascinating world of dinosaurs. It’s pretty neat to learn about all of the different kinds of dinosaurs. There’s also a big dinosaur when you first walk in that the kids can climb to get their picture taken.
The next must-see on this visit was the new Bear Garden. This area was added this summer during the Zoo’s most recent expansion of the west side of the Zoo. The Bear Garden is a craft beer garden with a new patio with the traditional German-style vibe – hanging lights, picnic tables, etc. It’s very well done and a nice addition to welcome visitors to Milwaukee. Our favorite craft beer on the menu was the coconut porter – so tasty.
With the expansion in that area, they also added a little walking path in the grassy area by the lake. It’s the perfect spot to stop and enjoy a picnic. Noah and Chris has a lot of fun running around.
Finally, our trip was rounded out with a visit to the otters in the new Otter Passage. This exhibit just opened over Memorial Day. The otters have a significant amount more room to run around and play than they had in their old exhibit. They have new play equipment and slides into the water. There are two underwater viewing areas which makes it much more pleasant to watch them playing because it doesn’t feel overly crowded at all. Another well-done addition.
Overall, it was another successful event at the zoo. We had a blast and can’t wait to check out Sunset Zoofari later this month.