Reviewed by Margaret Thompson
One of the many great things about my job is the perks. Great benefits, 401k with employer match, and generous vacation? Well, not exactly. But, boy, has my family been invited to do some unique and fun things in Richmond and beyond! We closed out the summer with a VIP experience of Richmond’s beloved Maymont – can you imagine?!
Well guess what? You too can get the royal treatment at Maymont with this new program, and I’m telling you, you gotta do it! We started our experience at the Nature Center, where we were welcomed by Buz, VIP tour guide extraordinaire. He led us to our first stop, the most fun-to-watch creatures on the planet, the otters. The trainer taught us so much about these fascinating animals and the kids even got to train them through the glass. Who knew otters were so smart? From there, we hopped on our limo golf cart to begin our journey through the property. First stop, the bison. On a good day, guests might be able to help feed them, but they aren’t quite as responsive to food as the otters, so there’s no guarantee they’ll be up for it.
Next, we visited the Children’s Farm where we fed the animals, and as part of this tour, you can even join them in the pasture if you so desire (my crew passed on this). From there, we cruised over to visit Monty the bobcat, venturing into the employees-only gate and down into his area (but still several fences away). Buz was extra careful to keep us all far away from the fences, even though there were two fences and plenty of room between them. It was amazing to be so close to this animal, yet have no fear of him. The kids were amazed when we heard him purr! We continued around past the owls, and over to the Japanese Garden for some fun leaping across the stepping stones, and we scored this great photo opp in front of the waterfall on the bridge. 
We cruised back up past Midnight and Phoenix, the black bears who reside at Maymont, and we happened to get a really great view of Midnight – thanks for that, you big lug! We finished up back at the Nature Center where we got to go behind the aquariums to see the giant tanks and filters that keep them all running. We also got to see the animals that go out on tour to schools – owls, snakes, and more. Finally, Buz led the boys to the cute-and-furry-stuffed-animals-just-like-the-ones-we-saw-on-our-voyage-today case, where they each got to take home a cuddly souvenir from our time at Maymont. This, of course, really made their day complete!
As we cruised through Maymont, folks were looking at us and asking, “How are they getting to do that?” I felt myself wanting to shout to them, You too can have this experience! — but I refrained and held off to tell you this way.
Visit https://www.maymont.org/animal-experience to book your VIP Animal Experience today.
