Zoominations

This year the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa is having Chinese Luminations.  Being our passes expire at the end of the month, we decided to take advantage of our discount and head out Saturday night to see them.  The event didn't start until 6:00pm.  We were wondering why a luminated event would be open 2 hours before sunset.  But in hindsight, it was neat to look at the transformation to see what the displays looked like in the daylight, and what they transformed into at nightfall.   Enjoy....



I'll post day then night of the same display so you can see the difference as you go along.
The nice thing is they had information kiosks that explained the different designs and their significance to the Chinese culture.



This palace was made completely of plates, saucers, and spoons.





















They even had Chinese acrobats.  I can't imagine spinning plates, and climbing up on someone, let alone having someone stand on your head!!!





The acrobat show was amazing, but it wasn't what Clif or I was expecting either.  There weren't too many "acrobatic moves" if you know what I mean.  They had a magician and jugglers as well.























And then just some additional shots of the magnificent displays.











Walking through this red tunnel messed with my eyes!









The displays were beautiful.  My only complaint is that they needed to limit the amount of people allowed into the park.  Only 1/4 of the park was open, and they were filled beyond capacity on a normal business day.  When we left at 9:45, we were stunned at the number of cars strewn about the picnic areas and any other space around the park because all the official parking spaces were taken.  We then realized why it was so difficult to navigate the crowds and get decent pictures.  We had to show a lot of patience to say the least!!!