Zoo Night!

So, this summer, the Denver Zoo is hosting Date Nights.  Since B, his brother and sister-in-law are all members of the Zoo, we decided it would be fun to go to one together.  We selected "Guess Whoooo's Coming to Dinner?"

We picked it mostly because the date worked for everyone.  But, as Barb pointed out to me, the theme for the evening was a murder mystery!  She and I were pretty excited about that, but we knew the guys would not be so into it, so we failed to mention it.

One of the biggest perks of the evening was getting to walk around the Zoo before dinner--after the Zoo had closed.  And, since it was one of the hottest days (98, I think), as the sun was going down, the animals started coming out or waking up from their hot-day slumber.

Here, B, Barb and M are making a change with spare change to help preserve rainforests.  You're welcome, endangered species!

We met up with a docent in the Giraffe House who told us tall animals like giraffes tend to run into things in the dark, so they keep them inside at night.  It was pretty hot and musky in there.  There was a new baby giraffe and its mom kept doing this weird moonwalk-like thing where she'd go to one side of the cage, then very smoothly walk backwards to the other side.  It would have been amusing except she looked like a crazy caged animal in a too-small space.

So then it was time for dinner.

First, they served us apps like lobster mac n cheese and a turkey puff pastry and a tomato bisque with a grilled cheese wedge.  Delish!!  As soon as the server came to get us our drinks, he laid down a "bill" which contained our first clue.  Barb and I were totally into and had to finally tell the guys.  I wish I had gotten a picture of their faces--they looked like they were going to get up and leave.  But, they stayed.  The "bill" was a note from the cook saying there had been an accident in the kitchen and there wouldn't be dessert, but he was working on a plan...  Then it told us to look in our napkins.  Out fell a decoder-looking thing.  Barb and I tried to put it on the note from the cook, but it didn't highlight anything we could see.

M and Barb trying to figure out the clues.  (well, actually, this is them looking at the receipt for our tickets to see if it said anything about gratuity.) 

So then we picked out our entrees.  Barb and I kept our eyes and ears peeled and soon, 3 more decoders were found (one in the bread basket, one taped to the bottom of the table and one served with a plate).  We finally figured out how to stack them together and it told us where to find dessert (at Tropical Discovery).  It was fun and the guys were okay with it because it didn't involve play-acting.

After dinner, we walked over to Tropical Discovery for dessert, which was only so-so.  It being dusk then, we heard the wolves howling, so walked over to their enclosure.  None of us had seen much of the wolves on prior visits because the enclosure is so large, they can kind of stay in the back and avoid people (who wouldn't?).  They stopped howling as soon as we arrived.  But still--it was cool.