WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — This week, I went back to the Palm Beach Zoo. Except this time, I was joined by a little bit of glitz and glam. Let me tell you about my incredible day meeting some very special visitors!
Miss America has officially taken over West Palm Beach! This week, all 52 contestants traded in their heels for a wildlife encounter at Palm Beach Zoo, and of course, I had to tag along. These amazing women got the VIP treatment, meeting animals up close and learning how they can become wildlife heroes.
There was so much excitement as we walked around, talked about the animals, took in the beautiful tropical surroundings, and enjoyed the incredible energy of having so many inspiring women together in one place.
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One of the highlights for me was getting to have a really nice, long conversation with Miss Hawaii. What made that conversation especially meaningful was that we have something very important in common: we're both television meteorologists. Naturally, once we started talking about the weather, the conversation really took off!
"My initiative is called Weather the Future. It's all about safety and emergency preparedness for disasters," Yoshida said. "So it goes hand in hand with our career."
As a fellow weather person, I had to ask the important question: "My favorite weather is wind. What's your favorite?"
"Oh, yeah, trade winds," she responded immediately. "You love the trade winds. It's typical Hawaii weather. Yeah. That is always good weather. So it's going to be nice and cool when we have some trade winds coming down from the mountains into the ocean side. So that keeps us nice and comfortable, especially when the daytime highs, kind of similar to Florida."
I was impressed – she definitely was dropping knowledge! It was so cool to meet someone in my same field who understands weather like we do here in Florida.
From weather talk to wildlife encounters, it was a day full of fun and a whole lot of personality, that's for sure. Watching these 52 contestnats interact with the animals and learn about conservation was really something special.
And now all eyes turn to Miss America's competition happening this weekend right here in West Palm Beach.
