10th Annual Animal Attractions at the Cleveland Zoo Rainforest

Ever wonder how Willy, the Cleveland Zoo’s 13,000-lb bull elephant, gets along with Kallie, Martika, Shenga and Moshi, the herd’s female elephants? Want to know more about mating behaviors of the Zoo’s other creatures big and small?

At last week’s Animal Attractions I got my fair share of answers to the birds and the bees at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Hosted by the Cleveland Zoological Society, Animal Attractions raises money to support the Cleveland Zoo and its various programs.

Although I was a bit squeamish, Scott persuaded me to get upclose to this Corn Snake at the Cleveland Zoo’s Animal Attractions

Last Thursday, Scott and I escaped into the Rainforest’s balmy oasis, where – surrounded by porcupines, capybaras and orangutans – we enjoyed an evening of delicious food, drinks and quality time with some of the zoo’s critters.

On the menu was a selection of food and drink from Cleveland restaurants:

After meeting up with Jen and Matt (read her recap here), we enjoyed jambalaya from House of Blues, grilled shrimp from Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and hummus and tabouli from Whole Foods Market. It was great seeing Lisa and her team after the Ohio Blogging meetup a few days before!

AMP 150’s braised short rib, goat cheese polenta and carrot salsa at Animal Attractions

The two dishes that really stood out to me, though, were the asiago chicken and potato pancakes from Creekside Restaurant and AMP 150‘s braised beef short rib. The contrasting tastes of creamy goat cheese polenta and crisp carrot salsa really elevated AMP 150’s tender short rib.

Mini-cupcakes from The Cleveland Cupcake Company lent a sweet note to the evening with a whimsical selection of flavors – my favorites being the jalapeno-topped orange cream and greek yogurt minis.

Cleveland Cupcake Company’s Mini-Cupcakes

As promised, we also got up close and personal with many of the Zoo’s creatures. Scott and I made new friends with an armadillo and corn snake. We marveled at a beautiful (and slightly scary) iridescent constrictor.

And we saw a few things we’ll never be able to unsee during Curator Andi Kornak’s 50 Shades of Gray presentation on elephant socialization and mating.

Cleveland Zoo Curator Andi Kornak

The Cleveland Zoological Society hosts a full schedule of events for young and old throughout the year.

Families can enjoy events like Fairytales and Frogs on Feb. 18 and Breakfast with the Easter Bunny in March.

And leave the kids at home for a peacock-themed ZippityZooDoo (June 7) and Twlight at the Zoo (Aug. 2) this summer.

Check out all upcoming events at clevelandzoosociety.org/events.

Disclosure: I was asked by the Cleveland Zoological Society to help promote Animal Attractions. In exchange, I received two complimentary tickets to the event. As always, all opinions are my own.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s Animal Attraction

Each year when October rolls around, I marvel at the number of birthdays that fall during the month.  And then I do a little math, count back 9 months, and it all makes sense to what people were doing a lot of the previous February.

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo understands that couples like to get close(r) this time of year. So escape the cold and cuddle up at the 10th annual Animal Attractions on Feb. 7.

From 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. in The RainForest, the Cleveland Zoological Society hosts a series of fun and educational presentations about what makes hearts go a-flutter at the Zoo.

A few of last year’s up-close animal encounters included The Mating Game, My Two Dads: Same-Sex Couples in the Animal Kingdom and Sex, Lies and Videotape.

Cleveland Cupcake Company at Animal Attractions

Because wine makes us all a bit more amorous, they’ll also have an open bar and wine tastings from Jacobs Creek along with tasty samples from Cleveland restaurants like:

• Great Lakes Brewing Company
• Duet Catering
• Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
• The Cleveland Cupcake Company
• Whole Foods Market (Cedar Road)
• Creekside Restaurant & Bar
• AMP 150
• House of Blues Cleveland

Tickets are $55 for Zoo members, $65 for non-members (get a group of 10 together for $550). They can be purchased at ClevelandZooSociety.org.

If you’re a fan of the Cleveland Zoological Society on Facebook, you can also enter to win free tickets at the “Animal Attractions Tab” under their Timeline cover photo. They’re giving away a pair of tickets on February 4th for you and your amour.

Disclosure: I was offered two media passes to Animal Attractions in return for sharing this information. The Zoo Society provided the photos for this post. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Win 2 tickets to the Cleveland Zoo’s newest event Date Night at the ZOOvies!

Last Friday night, Cleveland descended on the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo for Twilight at the Zoo. The sold-out crowd enjoyed drinks, food from restaurants like AMP150, hanging out with the Zoo’s animals and rocking out to 18 bands.

Best of all, the event – which was presented by Cleveland SCENE magazine and hosted by the Cleveland Zoological Society – raised $560,000 for one of Cleveland’s most-popular attractions!

If you missed Twilight at the Zoo or didn’t get your fill of the Zoo that evening, the Cleveland Zoological Society is giving us a second chance to party at the Zoo this August.

On Friday, August 24, the Cleveland Zoological Society is hosting its first-ever Date Night at the ZOOvies.

The Zoo’s newest event starts at 7pm and will feature an evening of animal encounters, networking, drinks, and a classic movie under the stars.

At the ZOOvies and other Zoo events, you can get up close and personal with some of the animals like this owl.

From 7-8:30 p.m., guests will be able to stroll through the Australian Adventure and African Savanna exhibits while enjoying Great Lakes beer, wine and light appetizers. Plus, many of the Zoo’s animals will be out and about to meet.

When the sun goes down at 8:30 p.m., guests are invited to bring a blanket or grab a seat in the Zoo’s outdoor ampitheater to enjoy a classic film.

For their first Date Night at the ZOOvies, the Cleveland Zoo Society took to their Facebook page and polled fans on which movie they wanted to see. The winner, as chosen by Facebook fan votes, was John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club.

Tickets are $30 for one person and $50 for 2 (which includes entry to the Zoo, plus drinks and the film).  Buy your Date Night at the ZOOvies tickets here.

And as promised a couple weeks ago, I’m also giving away a pair of tickets!

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s Australian Adventure – one of my favorite exhibits – will be open to guests during Date Night at the ZOOvies

There are 5 Easy Ways to Enter the Giveaway

**You must leave a separate comment on this post for each entry**

1) What’s your favorite movie from the 80s? I love everything John Hughes; however, my personal favorite 80s classic has to be Back to the Future. Leave a comment below with your pick for your favorite 80s film.

2) Like “Cleveland Zoological Society” and “Clue Into Cleveland” on Facebook and leave a comment letting me know you did both.

3) Follow @CleveZooSociety and @ADHicken on Twitter and leave me a comment letting me know you did both.

4) Twitter users can get an extra entry each day for tweeting: “Clue into @CleveZooSociety’s new Date Night at the ZOOvies! Win 2 tickets by entering @ADHicken’s giveaway: http://wp.me/pPIgG-1py”  (Each day you do this, you must leave a new comment.)

5) Subscribe to receive Clue Into Cleveland blog posts in your inbox or Google/blog reader and leave a comment letting me know you did. This can also include signing up to receive email notifications in the top-right “You’ve Got Mail” section of this page.

You have until Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 11:59PM to enter. On Thursday, Aug. 16, I will select a winner using Random.org and will announce the winner’s name on my blog.  Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry – good luck!

***Disclosure: I was provided 2 tickets by the Cleveland Zoo Society to give away to a reader.  I was also invited to attend Date Night at the ZOOvies; however, I’ll be out of town and unable to attend.  As always, the opinions I share are 100% my own. ZOOvies logo courtesy of the Cleveland Zoological Society.***

From ice skating in University Circle, to the Zoo, Metroparks and Progressive Field, there are plenty of ways to get outside and fight cabin fever this holiday season.

Cleveland winters get a bum rap. Although I know I’ll complain about it when we’re in the throws of February dealing with endless snow, during this time of year I’m not quite ready to hunker down indoors.

In fact, with my holiday shopping and errands nearly done, it’s time to enjoy the season, throw on my coat and head outside in the brisk December winds for some of these festivities:

The Frozen Diamond FaceOff is just one of the new features at this year's Indians Snow Days.

Cleveland Indians Snow Days

Cleveland Indians Snow Days was one of my favorite parts about last year’s winter (here’s last year’s recap). So as soon as tickets went on sale for this year’s return of Snow Days to Progressive Field, I bought mine.

I think it’s a perfect example of Cleveland’s ingenuity — transforming Progressive Field, which would sit mostly empty during the off-season, into a unique and fun wonderland.

Back again this year are The Batterhorn Snow Tubing hill (loved launching down the slick hills last year!) and the Frozen Mile ice skating track (the first non-symmetrical ice skating path in the U.S.).

The Cleveland Indians also added The Frozen Diamond, a regulation-sized ice skating rink covering home plate and stretching down the first base line. On January 15, The Frozen Diamond will host Ohio’s first-ever outdoor college hockey match when Ohio State and the University of Michigan play each other in The Frozen Diamond FaceOff.

I grew up watching the Philadelphia Flyers and hearing stories of the legendary Broad Street Bullies, so hockey’s been in my blood since I was a kid. I’ve never been to an outdoor game, so I bought the Snow Days Bundle Package, which gets you tickets to the January 15 game and a good-any-day combo pass for snow tubing and ice skating fun between now and the end of Snow Days on Jan. 16.

Thrillseekers can shoot down the Cleveland Metroparks' Tobogganing Chutes throughout the winter.

Take a Hike in the Cleveland Metroparks

Cleveland’s “Emerald Necklace” glimmers even more brightly this time of year with plenty of winter recreation opportunities.

Top of my list to try this season is tobogganing at the Chalet in Strongsville’s Mill Stream Run Reservation. If I thought snow tubing down the Indians’ Batterhorn was fast, I don’t know what to expect from the Chalet’s 1,000-foot ice chutes. And when the thrills get too much, I can head indoors and enjoy the warmth of their fireplaces.

For those who like to get some exercise while enjoying the great outdoors, the Cleveland Metroparks are also hosting a series of Holiday Hikes. The next two will explore CanalWay Center on Dec. 22 and Bacci Park on Dec. 29, both in the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation starting at 1pm.

Other upcoming hikes include this Saturday’s Candlelit Hike and Caroling through South Chagrin’s Look About Lodge, as well as this Sunday’s Winter Blues Hike with Naturalist Kelly McGinnis along Deer Lick Cave Trail.

The Cleveland Metroparks Calendar of Events lists the dates and locations for all of their programs.  And before you take a hike, check out these two Metroparks articles to learn a bit about winter birdwatching and the animals living under winter’s blanket.

During December Days, the Cleveland Zoo is offering discounted admission and plenty of holiday activities.

Cleveland Zoo December Days

I love visting the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, and after October I love it even more because I can save $3 when I want to visit my favorite exhibit: the tigers, bears and wolves in the Northern Trek.

Starting this coming Monday, Dec. 19 and running until Dec. 30, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is hosting December Days at the Zoo. Admission is discounted even further to $7 for adults, $4 for children 2-11.

In addition to all of the exhibits, the Zoo is hosting a number of festive activities during December Days. From cookie decorating and holiday crafts in the Welcome Plaza’s Exhibit Hall to live music and visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus, it’s another low-cost way to spend the holidays with your family, especially if you have children.

Wade Oval lights up with lanterns from the Cleveland Museum of Art and festive trees and gingerbread houses at the Cleveland Botanical Garden.

Find Yourself (and the Holidays) in University Circle

My final favorite winter spot is the eastside’s University Circle. From more ice skating to winter lights and holiday treats, there are plenty of things to enjoy in the museum neighborhood.

The Cleveland Botanical Garden WinterShow boasts gingerbread houses made by professionals, amateurs and local families. Other festival highlights include the beautiful WinterShow Tree, holiday plants, trees decorated in the themes of children’s tales and fables, and Christmas cacti. It runs through Dec. 31st.

After the Botanical Garden, head over to the Cleveland Museum of Art for their Winter Lights Lantern Displays. Even though I missed the Procession of Lights during Holiday CircleFest, the Environment of Lights installation in Wade Oval is on view through this Sunday, Dec. 18.  The 5 indoor lantern displays will continue inside of the Museum of Art until January 16.

And for those who haven’t gotten their fill of ice skating at Progressive Field or in the Metroparks, there’s always the Rink at Wade Oval Circle. It’s free if you bring your own skates, $3 for skate rentals.

***

As the season wraps up, I have to remind myself to relax and go out and enjoy these seasonal festivities. I hope you also find some free time this holiday – whether it’s enjoying the outdoors at one of these events or inside with a warming hot chocolate or glass of wine.

Check out Parts 1-3 of All I Want for Cleve-Mas 2011:

• OnStage in Cleveland This Holiday Season
• Shopping Local in Cleveland
• Lost in a Good (Cleveland) Book

Pictures from universitycircle.org, cleveland.indians.mlb.com, clemetzoo.com, clemetparks.com and clevelandart.org.