Okay. I expect a zoo trip will be in the offing at any rate there's info.

I just got a reply about the food and bev question, and whether or not the bartender comes out of it:

As far as needing a bartender for your cash bar, no problem. The bartender is not included in the F&B minimum. Only perishables go towards food & minimum.

Insent info to DCLocalistas, and I'll send to Jon in a sec.

I just want to go the zoo because one of my friends who recently moved to DC claims there is no way in. She said she circled the block and couldn't find the entrance.

Granted, this is the same woman who made me walk twenty blocks one visit because she was convinced the museum we were looking for was "just up ahead".

Also? I like the pwetties at the zoo.

one of my friends who recently moved to DC claims there is no way in. She said she circled the block and couldn't find the entrance.

She is on crack -- there are big gates at the entrance.

I have no idea how you get a car in, though.

Since the Zoo is part of the Smithsonian, is it free as well?

t trying to budget

She is on crack. When I say "circled the block", I mean on foot. I'm telling you, the girl could get lost in a hallway with no turns or doors.

Since the Zoo is part of the Smithsonian, is it free as well?

According to their website, yes, it's free. Good stuff.

Yes, the zoo is free.

I'm kind of worried about the expectations people seem to be building up over it -- it's a *nice* zoo, and you can't beat the admission fee, but the thing about "you get what you pay for" applies more for it than for the rest of the Smithsonian.

OTOH, Pandas!

I have space in Baltimore for 2 or so if anyone needs it for Thursday. Or any F2F night, really.

Given that other museum-ish expeditions at F2Fs haven't attracted a large crowd -- I think it was 6 or 7 at the Field Museum in Chicago -- I wouldn't worry about a big turnout for the Zoo.

Timelies!

The zoo is free. It's halfway between two Metro stops and there's a bus stop right at the pedestrian entrance. There are three entrances for cars - one on Connecticut Avenue, just north of the pedestrian entrance (and just south of the Kennedy-Warren (big apartment bldg) garage entrance; one entrance from Harvard Street; and one from Rock Creek Parkway.

It's a pretty good zoo, although there have been some problems. They do have two pandas (no baby panda, though), and they have (or used to have) overhead ropes strung between tall towers for the ourangoutangs to travel around on. And during the summer, they have golden lion tamarins running loose (they're being taught to fend for themselves so they can be returned to their native habitat).