My family and I set out to do something fun this Saturday and so we settled on going to “Wit’s End Ranch” together. My wife and son had been before and loved it but I had never been. I called them up to see if they were open this Saturday but they now only do private parties.
The lady at Wit’s End Ranch was very nice and referred us to try East Texas Gator and Wildlife Farm. I had never heard of this place before. This sounded very exciting and something my 2 year old son would love so we did it.
We were nothing short of extremely impressed with this place! It has all the East Texas Charm you could expect. Besides watching an alligator wilderness guy feed live several hundred pound alligators you can also pet and see baby alligators and snakes, jump in the bouncy house, rock around in a beached boat, swing on a rope swing, and pet pot bellied pigs, goats, and chicks in the petting zoo.
They also have a restaurant that has a special offer to allow you free admission with the purchase of certain dinner menu meals. The East Texas Gator Farm is located in Grand Saline Texas and is very close to Canton Texas. We drove here from Tyler/Lindale area and found it to be a very nice scenic drive through Lindale and Van Texas.
You will see a sign next to the road to turn on to continue on to to East Texas Gator Farm. This is not a hard place to find and I now consider it one of the East Texas areas best attractions. Some of the adult alligators are over 700 lbs.
These gators are not necessarily tame friendly beasts as we saw evidence of missing fingers from one of the employees here. All the employees seem to truly love their jobs and the alligator tamer/feeder initiated allowing my son to pet some snakes and baby alligators.
This is one of those natural attractions in East Texas that is just real and beautiful and a place you rarely find among the many cookie cutter venues. Of course every attraction has it’s time and place even if it’s the typical amusement but this simply isn’t the norm and definitely worth bringing the whole fam.
The Tyler Zoo is a wonderful place to take your whole family on a nice sunny days. No matter the age all can enjoy going to the Zoo and walking around and looking at all the exotic animals they have. The cost is reasonable , around $8 for adults and less for children or you can obtain a year pass for less than $50 dollars and that way you can go anytime you want. Here in Tyler even, the winter is nice enough to where you could go visit and won’t freeze.
The animals are so beautiful and sometimes it is hard to believe that those animals are not the stuffed kind. They have a place where you can get food in case you get hungry. The zoo also has a store where you can by some gifts or souvenir’s before you leave or in case you are, at the zoo and forgot someones birthday. The gift shop is truly impressive on its own and offers a lot for the animal enthusiast as well as those looking for quality kid toys with an animal theme.
Besides looking around at all the animals you can get some awesome exercise while doing something fun. They have all kinds of animals, lions, tigers, elephants, monkeys, zebra, snakes, spiders, cougars, penguins, bob cats and many others. I can’t list all of them at this time because it will take the fun out of you going to check things out for yourself. The zoo has a petting area where you and your children can go and pet the goats. Usually most kids enjoy the petting zoo very much.
The Tyler zoo has an area that has sand and your children could stop by and play for a few minutes. Benches are all around the zoo just in case you need to take a break from walking around. They always have ice cream which in the summer time makes for a nice treat while making your rounds to the different animal cages. The zoo is also a nice place where you can meet with friends you haven’t seen for awhile. At one time the Tyler zoo was free to go to but the charitable fund eventually ran out of money to allow people to come for free. I think it is worth the $8 dollars that you have to pay and there is no time limit so you can go early afternoon and stay all day if you would like to.
You can also take a cooler and have lunch or a snack while you are there. With all this in mind I hope that I peeked your interest in going to the Tyler Zoo with your family and friends. I know that you will enjoy it and have a great time if you decide to take a trip there. These day’s everything costs you money so I figured for about $30 dollars or so you can go look around, have lunch and dessert and your entertainment is provided for you. You would pay about the same amount going out to eat or going to a movie theater. The name of the Tyler Texas zoo is the Caldwell Zoo and is remarkably large for a small town like Tyler.
The Tyler Bergfeld Park is right off Broadway past Fifth Street on your left it’s hard to miss if you are looking for it. The park is fairly large and it offers several cool things. It has a playground where your children can go and play. There is also lots of room where you can take your pets for a walk, while you are allowing your children to play in the park. You can have a picnic while you are there with your friends or family.
There is also a water fountain that shoots water from it at this Tyler park. The fountain is some type of animal but at this moment I can’t exactly remember if it is a dolphin or something different. The fountain area is a nice area in the summer time where you can take your children and let them run around and splash in the water while you read a book or visit with your friends. Bergfeld Park offers music and entertainment specials at times such as concerts, prayer meeting, Christmas programs, movies in the park and even some event where the governor speaks.
I have been to an arts and crafts show that comes to the park once a year. The booths are filled with all types of different crafts to buy like jewelry, purses, crosses and lot more than what you might find at a fair. If you are looking for a nice quiet place to rest or study, the park is a nice place to go to spend a little time whenever you are looking for something fun to do with your kids, friends or family and you do not have the money to spend on things for entertainment.
The park is free and has lots of space for people to be there and enjoy the nice weather. They have lots of charcoal grills and picnic tables to go grill out and enjoy a meal in the park. The next time you are out driving around Tyler you should go and look around the park and see for yourself what the park has to offer. The best thing about it is that it won’t cost you a dime and I forgot to mention that they do have public bathrooms available. The bathrooms are not horrendous looking for being public bathrooms. With all this in mind, I hope you enjoy your day at the Bergfeld Park.
Tyler Green Acres Bowling located in the Tyler Texas area is lots of fun and fairly cheap. If you are looking for something fun and clean to do with your friends, I would strongly encourage you to try bowling.
I went there with some of my friends. The shoes only cost a couple of dollars and the game was $2.00 per game. Besides being cheap, it is very entertaining and lots of fun. Also it is a clean, environment, smoke free.
In addition to bowling there are also lots of other games you can play if you don’t like bowling.
There is a small area for food at reasonable prices and the taste is not bad. Also for a bonus there is free coffee. You can’t beat that. For those who would like to have a drink while they play a game there is a small bar area where you can order some drinks. Of course, I think it might impair your game so it’s probably better not to. But like I said that is available for those who like to mix the two together.
Next time you are thinking of something fun to do, but do not have lots of money to spend, gather some of your friends together and go to Tyler Green Acres Bowing. You won’t be disappointed, just thrilled.
In addition to the fun of bowling it will be pretty comical, watching your friends bowl. If you are the type of person that likes to make new friends, there are a lot of other people there that are bowling. You never know who you might meet. You just might make a new friend, while you are at it. And if you don’t have money for that, it never costs anything to go watch your friends and hang out. It beats being alone on a Friday or Saturday night.
