Milwaukee Zoo Stingray Reef

Okay, I think i've found my dream job! I want to be a sting ray in the Sting Ray Reef at the Milwaukee Zoo. Get to spend all day swimming in a warm tide pool; let people pet me, adore me and squeal with delight over my every move; then, get hand-fed crab and shrimp three times a day. Do an occasional belly flop & splash on some delighted people, or flick my wingtips above the waterline just for fun. What a life!

This afternoon I spent at the Milwaukee Zoo. It's been a dream of mine to visit Stingray City in Grand Cayman ever since I heard about it. I'm not sure when i'll make it there, so when I saw the stingray exhibit advertised here I knew I had to go. Seeing them in the touch tank was not quite as exciting as getting to swim with them, but damn near close! It is so entertaining watching them glide and chase each other all around the pool. They really are amazingly graceful swimmers, like angels underwater. I got to pet them many, many times--they feel soft and slippery, like a fish's belly. Their tails feel like long stiff cords. These were smaller, like dinner plate to snow shovel size, but in the wild they can get up to 300 lbs and 7 feet across. Wow! If you put your hand in the water they will come up & suck on it looking for food. Apparently you can actually get stingray "hickeys" from this. Sorry for the poor picture quality, all I had this week was my camera phone. I think my new goal is to win the Powerball lottery so I can have my own personal stingray park. I wished the kids were there to see it, I know they would have gone nuts--but, on the other hand, I know Bradley would have tried to sneak one home with us, & all the way home would be begging for one of his own.

Anyways, I bid farewell today to Milwaukee & am back home in OKC. It has been a fun week here, & on top of what i've already written about I enjoyed the downtown Milwaukee Riverwalk, Spice House, Public Market and Boerner Gardens (see Marsh walk below). Now, to begin the slow painful process of returning to real life. I'll leave you with this final picture from Boerner Gardens, that seems to capture the week nicely. I'm already looking forward to going again.

xoxo,
Layla