For some Milwaukee area families, going to the zoo on Thanksgiving is a tradition.
The Milwaukee County Zoo offers free admission for Milwaukee County residents on Thanksgiving.
Whenever Judy Fitzgerald visits her family from Nebraska, her grandchildren Rocco and Chloe know that means a trip to the zoo.
"It's just our happy place," she said. "Everybody makes it to the zoo."
And while grandma's having fun at the zoo, "Grandpa's home doing the cooking," she said.
The O'Brien family says they've been coming to the zoo on Thanksgiving for more than 20 years.
"We've come here when there's been blizzards, we've come here when it's really cold and you just get bundled up," said Angela O'Brien.
Thanksgiving is one of three holidays where the zoo offers free admission to Milwaukee County Residents. You can also come on Christmas and New Year's Day.
The zoo is home to more than 370 different species.
"I've seen the tigers and the lions and the rhino," said Matteo Puricelli, who is visiting the zoo with his little sister and parents.
"We just wanted to have fun on Thanksgiving do fun things, instead spending all day cooking," said Andrea Puricelli. "So we just ordered up and we can have fun and play all day at the zoo."
Even though it's a holiday, the zoo is fully staffed on Thanksgiving.
