Windy City, Smoky Mountains ~ Day 2 - Field Museum & More

[wickesy]

I woke up a couple of times early morning but didn’t check the time and once I did check the time it was already 6:00 so I didn’t really do that badly at all! We were up at 6:40 and found that the coffee maker was only big enough to make us a couple of mouthfuls each - still that is enough for me anyway so no big problem.

We got ready and at 8:30 I phoned down to ask the valet to get our car out for us. We picked it up at 8:40 and after a short drive we were parked up by the Field Museum. We bought tickets for general admission and for the Real Pirates exhibition and Dad managed to get away with Senior rate even though it was for over 65 and he is only 62!



The main reason for going here was for the Real Pirates exhibition, which was all about the slave ship Wydah; a former slave ship that was seized by pirates and then sank in a storm with all but two of it’s crew and all their treasure. It was recovered two hundred years later and a lot of the artifacts have been put on display. It was a really interesting exhibition and, although no photography was allowed, there is a website all about it here.



After looking round the exhibition we went down to the bakery where I had a root beer, Dad had a cherry coke and we had a maple pecan bar each. Suitably refreshed I took a couple of photos of ‘Sue’, the world’s largest Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton. All of the bones are genuine, except for the skull which is a replica as the real one is too heavy for the display.




From there we had a look around the Ancient Americas exhibit and then went up to the 3D theatre for a film called ’Dinosaurs Alive’ all about how dinosaurs lived and died and how they have been preserved as fossils. After the film we went down to McDonalds for lunch where I had a third-pounder bacon and cheeseburger and Dad had a half-pounder with cheese and we had a coke each.

After lunch we went up to the ‘Evolving Planet’ exhibition which was all about how life has evolved on the planet all the way from its very beginnings up until today.





We then had a quick look around the museum store before making our way out at 1:35 and up to the Shedd Aquarium nearby.

Continued

[wickesy]

By now the aquarium was quite crowded so we made our way around a bit quicker than we normally would have done but we did sit and have a break while watching the penguins.



After watching the penguins we went up to the food court and got an apple juice for me and a coke for Dad which we took outside to drink while enjoying a view of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan.





We then had a quick look around the shop and bought some fridge magnets.




From there we made our way back to the car park. What we hadn’t realised was that Soldier Field (a stadium on the same site as the museum and aquarium) was the venue for a couple of football matches that evening so traffic was a bit heavy getting out and we also had to stop while the USA team bus made it’s way across in front of us to get into the stadium.

We were back at the suite by 4:30 where we had a break before going out for the evening. At 7:15 we went back out with no real idea of where we were going to eat. As we wandered we stumbled across Grand Lux Café which I remembered somebody had recommended to me and, after initially walking past it, we came back to it and asked how long the wait would be. We were told it would be 30 minutes and we were given a pager which went off after 20 minutes. We were shown to a table, which the greeter was surprised to see hadn’t been ‘bussed’ yet so we waited while a couple of places were laid and then sat down. Dad had the Polynesian salad with a beer and I had the South-Western Salad with a glass of House Chardonnay and we also ordered a box of baked to order cookies to take away with us. The total bill including tip was $67.

From the restaurant we went to the John Hancock Observatory where we bought Sun and Stars passes which would allow us to go up today and return any time within the next 48 hours so we could see the view in daylight as well. We had a wander around and listened to the audio tour and I got a few pictures.





We then made our way back down and we were back at the suite by 10:30 where we went straight to bed.

Today’s Disney reference is:



Day 3

[TrueBlue]

Another great day David, sounds like you and your dad are having a fab time.

I like all your little references to Disney lol

[Strommie]

Sounds like a brilliant day. The museum sounds really interesting.

[Sarah84]

Sounds like a good day, great photos

[Guest]

A busy first day. Sounds like a very interesting day too.

[Guest]

Another great report with lovely photos.

[DisneyMadAng]

Great photos. I like the sound of the museum and the observatory. Like the Disney reference too lol

[orlandosgr8]

A wonderful day, the museum sounds great.

[DIBBadmin]

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