An Animal Filled Weekend on Long Island
My husband and I usually begin planning our weekends on Mondays. ”What do you want to do this weekend?” we ask each other daily until one of us either comes up with an idea or we just “Whatever” each other to death. Shockingly, this past weekend we actually had a game plan! We decided that in between food shopping, Target, and a few meals out, we would squeeze in a couple of outdoorsy, family-friendly activities.
So…off we went… to the Long Island Game Farm in Manorville and Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown!
Long Island Game Farm
Now I am not normally the animal-game-farm-petting-zoo-outdoorsy- type of Mom (sorry kids; you’ll see soon enough!) but I have to say that I truly enjoyed myself at the Game Farm. And, of course, my 3 and 1 ½ year old daughters loved every minute of it.
The drive on the LIE was pleasant; we arrived in Manorville around 10:30, just after the game farm opened and thankfully did not hit any major summer-east-bound- traffic-jams.
Doing some before-hand research on the Game Farm website helped; I knew my kids would enjoy “Bambiland”, “Old McDonalds Farm” and the baby chicks. My oldest daughter has seen kinkajous and lemurs on “Go Diego Go!” so I knew she would get a kick out of seeing these animals in real-life. Personally, I was looking forward to seeing the giraffe and camel close-up!
The moment we walked through the gates we were impressed; squirrel monkeys were jumping around in cages, a (loud!) cockatoo was squawking and just ahead, “Bambiland” was awaiting. My girls couldn’t run fast enough to see and feed the baby deer.
Our next stop was the “Nursery” where “baby animal bottles” could be purchased for $1. When we got in the pen, a Brownie troop was feeding them like it was their last meal!
We noticed that the baby goats didn’t seem to be too hungry, but agreed to buy two little bottles for my daughters to try to feed them, which they loved.
Walking through the game farm, we saw farm animals such as donkeys, chickens and pigs. The more “exotic” animals we saw included red kangaroos, an 18 foot tall giraffe, a zebra, kinkajous and lemurs. In fact, Long Island Game Farm is the only place where lemurs are born on Long Island. Giraffes, I learned, have tongues up to 21 inches long and make sounds unable to be heard by humans.
A little rest and snack in a shaded picnic area and a ride on the “teacups” rounded out a perfect afternoon at the game farm!!
Sweetbriar Nature Center
Next stop…Smithtown. Sweetbriar is a nature preserve boasting a Butterfly Vivarium, a Rainforest Room, 54 acres of hiking trails along the Nissequogue River, and nature camp programs for children aged 3 through 13. Birthday parties are also available.
The Butterfly House was a big hit with my family. Although we were told not to pick up the butterflies, I have to confess a few did land on my daughters’ fingers, which they went crazy over! Since the house just opened in June, we didn’t get the full effect; as the season progresses it is expected that over 250 butterflies will inhabit the house. But nevertheless, it was awesome to see all of the butterflies and moths fluttering around and feeding on beautiful flowering plants.
The Rainforest Room was also interesting; live macaws, a boa constrictor and an iguana were the highlights.
Long Island Game Farm and Sweetbriar Nature Center…two interesting and entertaining animal-filled places to visit!
Long Island Game Farm:
Chapman Blvd. (off LIE exit 70)
Manorville, New York
631-878-6644
www.longislandgamefarm.com
Sweetbriar:
62 Eckernkamp Drive (off LIE exit 57)
Smithtown, New York
631-979-6344
www.sweetbriarnc.org
