Exploring Ohio and the zoo

Doing a little work trip'n again, this time to Ohio.  The office is in Newark.  There's not much to do in Newark.  I'm staying in Columbus but just outside of Newark is a super cute little town called Granville.  This cute little town has some crazy expensive houses for sale.  Some were adorable and others just had me in awe.  Broadway is the main street which is home to a lot of shops and restaurants and tends to be the place to be on Friday nights.  

We decided to try out Brew's café per some local recommendations. 

The windows were lined with bottles, every window.  The atmosphere was really cool.

All that above...was my chicken sandwich with a side of mac & cheese.  A SIDE of mac & cheese.  What?  I definitely asked for a to-go box. 

Tim Horton's is a popular little chain here with some coffee, food, and donuts.  Timbits, or donut holes, are SO good. 

At work I found the Good Neighbear had grown a bit.  He even was sporting his badge. 

Columbus claims to have the number one zoo in the U.S.  So I decided to give it a go today.  It definitely was the best zoo I've been to.  It was pretty awesome.  The animals were great and a huge variety.  This guy seemed fascinated by all the people.  I guess we were all even more fascinating from an upward view.  Hilarious...he didn't move...just hung out there holding his feet and watching everyone. 

The Lorikeets were beautiful birds!  It's a species of parrot found in Australia.  Really, really pretty.

While in the Australian animals section I went to check out the kangaroos....and discovered many of them.  Most of them appeared to be sleeping with their heads up

So. many. flamingos. 

These guys were my favorite animals of the day.  The red panda.  The cutest little face that you just wanted to snuggle with.  If I ever wanted to buy a stuffed animal as an adult, I wanted a stuffed red panda today. 

One was just chillin up in the tree. 

The second one scurried up that tree after a bit and made himself comfortable on a branch.  I honestly wasn't sure the branch was sturdy enough but I guess red panda was quite comfortable with it.  I thought as a human it would require some great core strength to sleep on a branch not even half your own size and balance on your stomach while your limbs just lazily hang off both sides.  They were pretty cool to watch.

This is Shaggy.  Shaggy likes lettuce. 

And now Shaggy likes me.  Thanks to sharing my lettuce. 

The Cheetahs were in their area...with a dog!  I will have to put the picture of the dog up too.  I guess dogs help protect the cheetah by not letting the cheetahs attack livestock, therefore, not getting shot.  So even in a zoo setting the cheetah's are raised with a lab puppy.  They play and roam together.  So adorable. 

My attempt at a selfie with a giraffe.  Obviously he was not interested in having his picture taken. 

When you have long legs, I guess you have to be creative to really get something you want off the ground with your long neck!

I, of course, had to make a stop at the petting zoo along with all the other toddlers at the zoo. 

So cute I can't stand it. 

This guy really enjoyed having his neck scratched. 

After my trip to the zoo I wanted to hunt down a Target for a few things I needed.  I found one, in possibly the sketchiest area of Columbus.  But I found one.  And it wasn't even crowded.  Tomorrow morning I'm running a 5k here in town and I'm hoping for great weather for it!  It should be a really fun one!