Well, maybe not a long time ago, this morning in fact, we visited the
Knoxville Zoo, where a group of cosplayers were decked out in Star Wars attire allowed themselves to be photographed with zoo patrons. Here, Sherry and Sarah pose with Darth Vader, who must have been hot in the 80 degree heat, but then, I suppose he was much warmer after Obi Wan cut his legs off on the lava planet
Mustafar.
Sarah and I were taken into custody by a stormtrooper, but we managed to escape.
I felt a little sorry for the snowtrooper, who seemed rather out of place on a hot day.
We ran into this Tusken Raider and Jawa again later in the morning. Unfortunately, there were no Banthas on display at the zoo today.
Sherry and Sarah pose in the butterfly enclosure.
While Sarah and the other kid with her were in the plastic bubble, this prairie dog jumped up behind them. All of the adults outside tried to get their attention so they could see it, but we were unsuccessful.
We got to see zookeepers working with one of the elephants, which was enjoyable and interesting.
Sarah poses with a zebra in the background.
This jeep chassis makes for a good photo op every time.
We got up close and personal with this baboon. He climbed up into a hammock and hung upside down near the glass for us.
This was kind of sad. This little chimp had an injured left hand, and she was cradling it. A zookeeper said they were giving her pain medication.
The meerkats, as usual, were quite entertaining. After we left the zoo, we had pizza and onion rings at
Pizza Palace, which has been in business on Magnolia Avenue in Knoxville for 51 years. Sarah and I ate there during her fall break in 2010, but Sherry had never been. I asked one of the ladies who works there about the history of the restaurant, and she explained that the Peroulas brothers ran Pizza Palace, the Louis Inn (a competitor to the
Original Louis Drive-In, which is still in operation on Broadway in North Knoxville) and Pero's, a steakhouse in West Knoxville that was one of my dad's favorite restaurants when I was a lad. I just learned that there is a new
Pero's on the Hill in Rocky Hill, which we will have to try.