Top 5 Wild Zoos within Driving Distance from Ocean County, NJ

There is nothing more joyous than seeing someone light up when they come face to face with their favorite animals.

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I mean, that’s just the adults.

Could you imagine what the keeps are feeling?

Friday, April 8^th is National Zoo Lovers Day.

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This day is perfect, if one, you are a zoo lover, two, an animal lover, and three moved to a new location and haven’t explored your local zoo in a while.

Zoos are seriously the place you can go if you’re solo, with a significant other, or with your kids.

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If you are planning on celebrating National Zoo Lovers Day, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the number of zoos we have within driving distance.

On popular zoo is right here in Ocean County, New Jersey.

Another big popular destination is right over the Delaware River, in Pennsylvania is the Philadelphia Zoo.

Each zoo has its own unique way to support and care for its animals. Each zoo has its own approach to the types of animals for you to see, and in some places, like the Popcorn Zoo, feed.

We love bringing our daughter to the Popcorn Zoo right in Forked River.

She runs around, with her little group of friends, looking at all the animals and feeding the ones that figure out that she has food.

Another local favorite, and one I haven't had the chance to go to yet, is the Cape May Zoo. A quick trip down the Parkway and you have a full day ahead of fun with the family.

Top 5 of the Best Zoos within Driving Distance of Ocean County

As we celebrate National Zoo Lovers Day, here are a few Zoos in the tri-state area that are easy drives for you and the family.

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Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.