you want to ice skate outside but don’t like the cold
To help check off the last item, Hotel Solamar, a boutique Kimpton hotel in the city’s Gaslamp Quarter, is offering the Fall on Your Ice Skating package:
The St. Louis Zoo has some major expansion plans in store for the next several decades, including an open savannah, a gondola crossing the park, a formal restaurant and a boutique hotel. The Missouri zoo will be making big changes to their existing park and developing a new site, bringing the total campus to over 100 acres, and creating new animal habitats and attractions. Don’t get ready to book yet, the full strategic plan is not due until the end of 2014, and construction could still be well into the future.
Where else can you overnight with animals, even if you don’t have kids? Cincinnati Zoo has several after-hours options for families and kids, such as family camping outside the giraffe exhibit or inside the manatees building. You can even travel with the zoo on an African safari to Kenya.
Cleveland Zoo has a variety of fun overnight programs for children, but the adults have the option of a cash bar and make-your-own s’mores in the summer months. Costs are $90 to $300, depending on tent size.
The Houston Zoo Wild Winks program is primarily for children, but private events can be arranged. Want to sleep without the fishes? On November 1, adults can attend the annual Feast with the Beasts fundraiser event with 80 local restaurants providing food and drinks, animal appearances, and a performance by Smash Mouth. The zoo also hosts trips to Yellowstone, Alaska and Kenya.
San Diego Zoo Safari Park regularly offers “roar and snore” overnight camping excursions for children and families, and an “adults-only” option where you can learn animal facts for mature audiences only. Tickets range from $140-$264 per person, depending on age, membership, and tent size.
The Washington National Zoo hosts adults only for summer snore & roars including wine and cheese and an after-hours tour. Families and kids can choose their favorite animal or regional tour, from Amazonia to chimpanzees, but eat before you arrive, dinner is not on the menu.
Artist Michael Shainblum claims he felt it was time to “combine Timelapse photography and the simplicity of a kaleidoscope” when he created this stunning video. Covering five major American cities, Shainblum’s piece is a feast for the eyes.
We’d love to feature your photos and videos on Gadling, so please add them to our Flickr Pool (with Creative Commons licensing!), tag @GadlingTravel on Instagram or email us at OfTheDay@gadling.com.
Today is the hottest day yet in New York City’s latest heat wave, and the summer weather is no less forgiving in many other cities in the western hemisphere. To help beat the heat, car service app Uber is offering ice cream trucks on demand, today only from 11-5 p.m. in 33 cities worldwide. The stunt is to help promote the app’s expansion to new cities in the United States and in Australia, Europe and Singapore.
My pick for today’s Photo of the Day comes from California-based photographer Alexis Wiener. She enjoys exploring and photographing the coast of San Diego, which is fortunate for the rest of us because her photography is imaginative and captivating. I can’t say for sure, but the flowers in this photo appear to be a Salvia Sage of some sort. If you know the exact type of flowers these are, please let me know in the comments. Regardless, they are vibrant, sprawling, beautiful and part of what makes the California coast so entrancing.
