something tells me it's all happenin' at the zoo

I went to Lincoln Park Zoo today

     Lincoln Park is free.  No admission.  Parking is expensive, but you can find free spaces on the street.
     Which is what we did.
     Chicago John went with.  The two of us went to the zoo because I wanted to see the new macaque monkey exhibit space .... but I'll get back to that.
     I used to go to LPZ (I get tired of typing Lincoln Park Zoo) when I was a kid.  I have fond memories of the place.
     There used to be a miniature train that ran around the zoo and into the park.  Brookfield also had one, and both are gone. (The BZ one is at a place in LaPorte, Indiana, which is on my list of places to go next year.)
     I was talking to a volunteer at LPZ.  She was telling us about the cats, their breeds and numbers, that are in the zoo.  I asked her if the lost children's area was still in the lion house.... but she said no, and looked at me like I was nuts.
     When I was a kid, there was a huge sign in front of the lion house that said "lost children here."  I do believe my father, or brothers, told me if I got lost at the zoo to go there and if I wasn't claimed by 4 p.m. they would feed me to the lions.
     I believed them.
     It has been 30 years since we took niece Tracy and my girls there.   Things have changed.
     Lots of trees and native plantings.
     There is a new big ape house, which opened in 1992.  There is also a new small ape house.  The old one, which was new last time I went, seems to be offices now.
     No elephants.  If you want to see elephants, go to Milwaukee, Indianapolis, St. Louis, or Coal City.... because the local zoos don't have any.  My understanding is, the group that evaluates zoos and sets standards has increased the space requirements for elephants.  Neither local zoo has the right amount of space, but BZ plans to bring them back someday.
     Didn't see polar bears or giraffes....I think their areas were closed for some expansion of displays.
     The macaque monkey area is new.  It is a $13 million plus exhibit that tries to mimic the monkeys' natural environment.  These are the snow monkeys, famous in Japan and were frequently shown during the last Olympics there.
     So I took the train, got to the zoo and headed for the display that is set to open in October.
     It's not done.
     They are still working on it.
     I know I had read a story about the display opening Oct. 4..... but evidently I did not read about the monkeys, but about the Lionel train that meanders through parts of the zoo.
     Unlike the one of my childhood, this runs on natural gas and does not have tracks.  Hard for me to even call it a train.
     And the zoo is a lot smaller than I remember.  Funny how time does that to a person.
     I will go back when the exhibit opens, and maybe hang around the Chicago History Museum for a couple of hours.
     After all, life isn't getting longer and there are a lot of things I want to do and see!!