This Friday I was feeling decidedly low energy and unimaginative. Suddenly the huge Amish farmer’s market I had been planning to visit seemed too overwhelming and fraught with the potential for boredom and failure. I didn’t feel like going for a hike but I didn’t want to be indoors. What do to with my little animal lover? Suddenly it struck me; we would head for the Philadelphia Zoo.

What this zoo lacks in size, it makes up for in charm. It is located in Fairmount Park, a large greenbelt north and west of Center City Philadelphia. It bills itself as the oldest zoo in America and it has a genteel feel to it and a very walkable size that make it a perfect place to go with a preschooler. The grounds are much the same as they were when the zoo opened in 1874 and the entrance still sports the same brick Victorian gatehouse. It is very much a city zoo, with trains rumbling past, but it is also very pretty, full of lush landscaping and public art.

Driving to the zoo is a bit hairy, since you have to take the Schuylkill Expressway. I always think that kill the key part of this road’s name because it is the narrowest Interstate I’ve ever been on and is always full of traffic. And if that traffic isn’t nearly halted it is flying, baby, and you had better not do anything that might hold it up like change lanes when you realize your exit is coming. If you are visiting the city through the end of October and want to get out there you can take a two-dollar shuttle from downtown right to the zoo’s gates, something I definitely would recommend. You can also always take a bus or trolley using SEPTA, the city’s public transportation system.

Since I live in the area, I am a member of the zoo, which means I get free parking. But if I were going there on vacation I might join anyway. One thing I do when I travel is look to see whether an attraction or museum has reciprocal membership with other places I might want to visit (especially those around where I live or travel often). This means either free or discounted admission. It usually takes only a couple of visits during the course of a year for a membership to pay for itself, especially if parking is included in the membership fee.

Friday was a perfect early fall day with just a hint of briskness in the air. I assume that the animals sensed this too, since they were very alert. And one thing about the Philadelphia Zoo is that the living areas are not large, so if the animals are walking around you really can get a good view. The pumas, cheetahs, and tigers were all only a few feet away from us, which means that Little Chick got to really see and study them, the cogs in his mind clearly turning. In the cat exhibit, he studied one of the large tigers for a while before turning to me and saying, quite calmly, “I think he is thinking of eating me and my little chicks.” “Really sweetie?” “Yeah. But they’re OK because they traveled here in their own little bathtub. And I’m OK ‘cuz I’m here with you. Peep! “For outings like this I usually try to bring a lunch, because food options tend to be expensive and unhealthy. That was definitely the case here, but I hadn’t gotten my act together to pack anything more than a few snacks. And Teddy was thrilled with his corn dog and French fries, which made me happy too. When we’re on an adventure I usually try to offer one food treat (for example, either we bring lunch and buy an ice cream or have fried food and no dessert) and one additional treat that is not edible. Otherwise it’s easy to get sucked into riding the swan boat and the miniature train and the hot-air balloon (all of which cost extra) and all of a sudden an innocent trip to the zoo turns into an outing that costs as much as a day at Disneyland.

That being said, the unquestionable highlight of the day was Teddy’s chosen treat: visiting the face painting concession. It was really the best face painting I have ever seen. Instead of simply putting a few flowers or balloons on a child’s cheek, these face are artists and will transform a child into a butterfly, Spiderman, or, if you are Teddy, a purple tiger. He was so eager for the disguise that he sat perfectly. His delight with the results easily justified the six-dollar price tag. After much preening and fierce sticking out of his tongue for the mirror, he was ready to continue on. There were still lots of animals to see including the polar bears, giraffes, zebras, baby otters, and the entire children’s zoo. Here Teddy climbed on a huge tractor and carefully brushed and petted each and every goat in the barnyard.

Later, as we marveled at the three-ton hippos who lumbered out of the water in front of us, Teddy turned to me and said, “I don’t think anyone here knows who I am.” “Because of your face you mean?” I asked, and he nodded solemnly. Before we headed home, he posed for a picture in front of the statue of a mother and baby elephant. He slept most of the way home and the only unhappy moment of the day was when he learned that he couldn’t leave the face paint on forever. “But then no one will laugh at me!” he wailed.

The Philadelphia Zoo is definitely worth a visit if you are traveling in the area and have a child who likes animals. If your time is tight, you can probably see a lot of it in half a day. We covered most of it on Friday (although we did miss the flamingos as Teddy has pointed out to me repeatedly).