Visit to the National Zoo
Enjoyed a week visiting our grandson and his parents. One highlight, among several, was a visit the National Zoo in Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC. We all climbed into Squirt (our trusty Suzuki) and headed off. I think we all had a good time but I was appalled at the cost. I don’t remember it being so expensive ($35 for lunch at their “grille” and $22 for five hours of parking) and can only wonder how often can a local area’s average family afford to visit this treat.
Apparently, the National Zoo is a branch of the Smithsonian Institute is part of the Park Service, a sub-agency of the Department of the Interior (DOI). If memory serves me, DOI has championed “privatization” or the use of concessionaires for decades.
Okay, I understand the benefits of using a concessionaire but wonder who is watching the concessionaire to ensure they aren’t taking advantage visitors? I mean, does $6.95 for a lunch of two over cooked deep fried chicken tenders and an apple and a 32 oz glass of iced tea for over $4 make you wonder if this concessionaire thing isn’t a matter of the fox is watching the hen house?
You have heard me complain about the prices concessionaire charge for national forest campsites but guess they aren’t as greedy as those at the National Zoo. The moral of this entry is – Taking your own lunch, snacks, and drinks and give using the Metro vice your car serious consideration .
This entry was posted on Monday, June 11th, 2012 at 4:02 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 18th, 2012 at 6:53 am
Sometimes it is always better to bring your snacks but then again there are other zoos that won’t allow you to bring food or drinks inside. Doing some research before going can be a good help though. Anyway, is the cute boy in the picture your grandson?