Feature

Getting the flavor of...

The San Diego Zoo; A hidden gem in Dunedin

The San Diego Zoo
Exotic animals are stars on YouTube, but there’s nothing like seeing them live, said Christopher Reynolds in the Los Angeles Times. At the San Diego Zoo (sandiegozoo.org), you don’t need a mouse or monitor to “lock gazes with a viper” or “coo at an adorable giant panda.” When I visited recently, “one of the giraffes stared me down for so long I thought it might demand to see my ID.” Now in its 97th year, the nation’s second-most-visited zoo houses a whopping 3,700 animals and can proudly trumpet its role in bringing back such threatened species as pandas and California condors. I spent one morning transfixed by a panda mother of six who was breakfasting on bamboo stalks. Later, I got “slimed by rhino spittle,” fed a squadron of flamingos, and communed with my old favorites, the same Galápagos tortoises that have lived at the zoo since 1928. Beat that, Internet.

A hidden gem in Dunedin
If you’re looking for a throwback Florida experience, consider Dunedin, said Virginia Linn in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A sleepy town of 37,000 on the Gulf Coast, Dunedin has plenty of quiet charms, including the waterfront Fish Market, which sells fresh catch until 10 each night, and a Donald Ross–designed golf course that was long the home course of the PGA championship. But Dunedin’s true gem exists just offshore. A 20-minute ferry ride through emerald blue waters gets you to Caladesi Island, home to “three miles of one of the most pristine beaches you’ll ever see.” Once crowned the best beach in America by coastal scientist Stephen Leatherman, aka “Dr. Beach,” this unadulterated, powdery white strip is completely unlike Florida’s cluttered mainland beaches. Stroll along beautiful Caladesi and instead of hot dog stands or “junky surf shops,” you’ll spy American oystercatchers, seagulls, and other wading birds. “This is the way Florida is supposed to be.”

Recommended

Global happiness has been 'remarkably resilient' over the past three years
cathedral in Finland.
it wasn't all bad

Global happiness has been 'remarkably resilient' over the past three years

Is France 'on the edge of civil unrest'?
Protests against Macron's pension overhaul
Today's big question

Is France 'on the edge of civil unrest'?

The extreme weather events of 2023
An illustration of a tornado and wind-swept palm trees
In depth

The extreme weather events of 2023

Russia's spring Ukraine offensive may be winding down amid heavy losses
Ukrainian tank fires near Bakhmut
Attrition

Russia's spring Ukraine offensive may be winding down amid heavy losses

Most Popular

The truth about alcohol
Alcohol being poured into a rocks glass.
Briefing

The truth about alcohol

North Korea claims 800,000 people volunteered to fight against the U.S.
North Korean soldiers march in a parade in 2018.
A Frightening Figure

North Korea claims 800,000 people volunteered to fight against the U.S.

Russia's spring Ukraine offensive may be winding down amid heavy losses
Ukrainian tank fires near Bakhmut
Attrition

Russia's spring Ukraine offensive may be winding down amid heavy losses