I loved being back at the Bronx Zoo. I was not hap...

I loved being back at the Bronx Zoo. I was not happy with the map layout, which I am an excellent navigator.

The glass between us and them was filthy, on our side. So taking pictures was difficult. The staff was RUDE. I think I met 3 out of 15 employees that were friendly. I get that it's a long shift and hot, etc. But this is a family place, put a smile on. You're on stage.

The architecture I remember from my childhood is still incredible. The animals for the most part seemed happy, except Happy the elephant who seemed bored and lonely. The giraffe, gorilla and tigers were our highlights. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the entire park because I'm a slow walker with my cane.

I spent $60 on lunch for my daughter and I and all we had were chicken tenders and a burger with a souvenir cup for her. Apparently we were supposed to have a wristband for refills and never received one. The people at the Crane Cafe didn't know what the heck was going on when we were there. Seemed very confused.

We went on the monorail and the guide, if that's what she was, stumbled over her whole tour with information about the animals. We couldn't get pictures because where they'd slow down was for the people up front or in the middle. They put us in car 7 towards the end. So they'd slow down or stop and we'd have a tree and couldn't see.

When it was time to leave at 5 PM, we tried to go to the gift shop. There were people there shopping. Doors were locked. A woman with long dark wavy hair came to the door and gave me an attitude about being closed. I've never been ANYWHERE where a gift shop and kids intertwined where they didn't extend their hours for more money. My daughter, who literally ONLY wanted to go to the Bronx Zoo (bucket list request for our trip to NY) was so upset that I couldn't get her something from the zoo. I told her I'll have to go online. Which, at this point I was so frustrated I don't even care if I do.

My childhood memories will have to stay happy. I enjoyed the trip to the zoo overall, but a lot of hiccups.