Day 3 More Museums

Going into the Field Museum.

We started the day early once more and I was really looking forward to visiting two more museums. My sister and I had noticed that Lollapalooza was taking place at the same time we were there. To be honest, My sister would have preferred to go to Lollapalooza instead of visiting the museums. But she stuck it out for my mom and went. What a trooper.

We began with The Field Museum of Natural History. The Tut exhibit was being shown there but we didn't go to it. I had seen the original exhibit as a child, at the Field, and still remembered how spectacular it was. Every turn you took in the exhibit was spectacular, gold and artifacts everywhere! I had begged my mom to buy the accompanying book of the exhibit, she didn't. She thought that would be a waste of money. To this day, I wish she had bought that book. It was a once in a lifetime exhibit and I would have liked to re-visit it in book form. This is one of my childhood regrets, not badgering my mom enough about the book. Our plan was originally going to be to catch it again while we were here but my sister had seen it in Los Angeles and was not that impressed. Her assessment of it was that it was made of artifacts from people who knew someone who knew Tut. Plus it was kind of expensive for the tickets, so we skipped it.

A crappy picture of Sue the T-Rex. It was the best my camera could do.

As soon as we got there, I headed for the Lions of Tsavo. I had a request form a co-worker to take a pic of them, so I did:

Man eaters!

The one exhibit that I really enjoyed was the Evolving Planet. My stepdad spent the whole 3 hours there in that one exhibit! I think I spent an hour there.

One of the highlights for me was the Cambian Period. I love the animals in this period, Hallucigenia, Opabinia, Pikia, Wiwaxia etc. They had a great animation that showed these animals in action and I stared at it for quite some time. Phlesch Bubble did the animation, really something to see.

Some of the creatures in the exhibit. ( from website)

I followed the time line through the exhibit and did take one good picture of an archioprtrix. I think I did a good job with this one.

The thing that I enjoyed the most was the murals that were in the exhibit. They had been there since I was a kid and looking at them again, I fell in love! They were painted by Charles Knight. I was hoping that at the end of the exhibit, I could purchase a book of his paintings, but they are all out of print! :( There is a calendar, which I will get from Amazon for 2007. I did find a website that is about him though.

One of the murals in the exhibit.

After seeing Sue and Lucy and a waxworks Tut, I quickly ran through the rest of the museum. I saw all the gems and stuffed animals, I then hit the gift shop! I met up with my folks and then we were off to the Shedd!

Ed in front of the Shedd, and my sisters shoulder ;)

Inside the Shedd. There are sharks and sea turtles in the tank. I did not take the pic. Too dark.

I was very excited about the Shedd! That is my passion and I could spend the whole day there. My sister had other ideas. We had lunch there at Soundings and after lunch she split! She was done with museums and went off to do her own thing.

Unfortunately, I could not use a flash in the aquarium as it would stun the fish. The pictures I took inside did not come out except for one: ( from Wild Reef )

A photo of skates. I think it came out because it was well lit.

One of the things that I wanted to see was the new baby Beluga Whale! I was so excited! We saw the dolphin show and it was right next to the Belugas, after the show we rushed down there and it was closed! :( The baby was new and in seclusion for it's health. I could understand that, but I was still disappointed.

The exhibits that I liked the most was Wild Reef! There were sharks and the exhibit itself was very colourful, but darkly lit, very atmospheric. It was like I was underwater myself. I took lots of pics there, none with the flash, I was hoping that they would come out, the only one that did is above.

After we were done we went back to the hotel. My sister went to Lollapalooza. She didn't go in she just hung around the fringes and listened to the music, she got coffee and then went to the hotel. We had dinner and collapsed at the end of the day.