MOM REPORT: Nashville Zoo Stands Out

If you like being immersed in a tranquil jungle filled with animals (and dinosaurs!) you’ll like the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. Over the years, our family has enjoyed season passes to a variety of zoos including the Greenville Zoo; High Desert Museum; San Diego Zoo, as well as San Diego Zoo Safari Park. By comparison, the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere is a pretty great one. We appreciated all of the exhibits especially Asia; Andes/Peru; South America; the The Unseen New World; and the Bamboo Trail. Throughout the park the sounds and music create a serene setting for enjoying the many species of animals, birds and reptiles.

What stood out to us is that the Zoo is pristine and beautiful. There are also three attractions that are Nashville Zoo stand outs and three are favorites of my five children:
One, The Jungle Gym (they begged to go back and spent more than an hour there). This is one impressive playground! If you can manage, go ahead and attempt the tall, windy, dark tunnel slide — it’s pretty fun.

Second, is the Lorikeet Landing experience. The birds were all over us, landing on our shoulders, heads and even crawling in our pockets. We had to plead with a couple of our kids to leave because they wanted to stay and play!
Third, is the Kangaroo Kickabout. We’ve never petted a kangaroo before; they are very soft and muscular.
A little zoo pro tip! There is something special in the Peru: Trek of the Andean Bear exhibit. The area’s Women’s restroom (a must-see). It was voted a top restroom in 2019 by Cintas (sponsor of America’s Best Restroom).
Our family also got to experience the DinoTrek exhibit — now at the Zoo through July 30. If your children like dinosaurs, it is definitely worth the the extra cost ($4/person). Otherwise, you can walk through it in about 15 minutes. The wooded exhibit gives you the life-like experience of 20 + large creatures (including information cards relating to each Dino) which created a thought provoking experience.

Grab a Bite

We also enjoyed a meal at Quills Café & Grill (open daily from 9 a.m.), one of several dining options at the Zoo. Quills has such a neat atmosphere! Prices were good, considering being at a large, public park. The menu includes pub-style food from burgers & salads to quesadillas to chicken tenders and beer/wine.
As a homeschool family that absolutely considers this kind of outing a school day, we really enjoyed talking to the knowledgeable volunteers/staff about the different species. Did you know cats/tigers

have rough tongues, so they can lick off the fur, skin and muscle from their prey? I didn’t either. Overall a great day at the Zoo — even for my husband!