Monica called the Chicago Bike and Roll this morning and discovered that the Navy Pier location isn't open when the temperature is below 55F (which my phone tells me is 12C). Maybe because it's too cold to bike? I thought Chicago was used to cold weather. Maybe they think the tourists are not used to cold weather? Who knows? The Bike and Roll people do have a location in Millennium Park that's always open, but as our hotel is much nearer to Navy Pier, it isn't really convenient to have to travel elsewhere to both get and return our bikes.
It's definitely sunnier this morning, although colder than yesterday, and at 7C, it is much too frosty for my bike rental friends at Navy Pier. So, we walked on over to the train station. Today, we wanted to visit the Field Museum and the Adler Planetarium. We weren't quite sure which train to take, and the maps posted on the walls of the station lack detail. Fortunately, the friendly Chicago Transit employee gave us a much more detailed set of transit maps, and we were off, this time on the Orange Loop train.
When we got off at our stop, we needed to walk a few blocks. At first, we went the wrong direction, but discovered the Target Museum (now sadly extinct in Canada). Then I recognized the domed roof of the Shedd Aquarium behind us, so we turned around and were back on track to the Field Museum.
On the way, we came across a cool art display - a permanent sculpture of many walking feet (oddly appropriate for us) - with a new not-so-permanent addition of knitted bunny slippers. The bunny slippers were knitted by people from across the country, and it's called "Good Night Agora."
A little ways further, a statue which Monica thought might be Shakespeare (he was from Chicago, you know). As it turns out, it's a statue of Columbus, who discovered Chicago and Al Capone, and was subsequently killed in the St. Valentine's Massacre. This is an entirely true story, and you should tell all your friends what you know about Chicago.
Anyway, no time for Shakespeare. Plastered all over the Field Museum, there are posters about Vikings. VIKINGS! VIKINGS! I am looking forward to those Vikings!
We wait in line to be checked in, and Monica airs her daily grievance about people who are slow, and how the aforementioned slow people are always situated in front of us in line. In spite of their best efforts to delay us, we eventually get into the museum. We get our general admission, and oh, we get to go to the Underground exhibit - NOT the Vikings. Dammit. DAMMIT. I want the Vikings. But I don't get the Vikings. Monica and I briefly discuss the feasibility of rushing past the security guard and seeing things while we run, defending ourselves with Viking artifacts, if necessary. But this might end up being extreme cardio, and it is probably not worth the international incident.
Oh well, onward and upward for our Viking-free visit. We start out with exhibits from Africa, because I'm looking for those lions. (Which lions? The lions from The Ghost and The Darkness.) I can't find the lions. I'm finding lots of stuffed animals. And not the kind Mom likes, either - there's no "Hello Kitty" in the mix - we're talking taxidermy. The displays are actually really well done, and it's quite interesting. We wander hither and yon, and I have to check my map and backtrack, and finally we find our two man-eating lions from the Tsavo.
They're stuffed and mounted, so they aren't eating anyone any more and - unlike in the film - they are maneless. Museum people aren't sure if that's a genetic quirk of those lions, or if the long hair of their manes were essentially plucked by the thick brush they were hunting through.
There are a lot of animals on display, including some extinct varieties, such as passenger pigeons. Sadness. Oh, and they had the skeleton of a whale suspended from the ceiling, above the skeleton of an elephant. The elephant looked so tiny!
We also went through some exhibits on Africa, went through a room filled with gems (so sparkly!) and jade (less sparkly, more green). They had a big exhibit on Ancient Egypt, complete with mummies - because no Egyptian exhibit is complete without mummies. Unfortunately, there were a million screaming schoolchildren. Fortunately, their teacher reigned them in and gave them a talking to. "Who told you that you could behave like this? You're running and screaming. If you behave like this again, you will not get to go on another field trip. You are all bad and rotten and have rotten parents." (I may have added that last line in my head.) While the hordes of roaming children remained, at least she managed to turn the volume down on them.
We had time for a quick lunch at the museum, and then went to see the dinosaur exhibit. Yes, once you've seem Drumheller, you've probably seen the king of dinosaur exhibits; however, this was a pretty interesting exhibit. The resident T-Rex for the museum is named "Sue". She's got big teeth.
Eventually, we ventured back outside, and the Adler Planetarium is just a short walk past the Shedd Aquarium. It's a triumvirate of touristy museum destinations. Oh, hey, there are more screaming children in the Planetarium - what a surprise! (Deep Question of the Day: If there are so many screaming children in museums, why are there also so many screaming children out in the world? Shouldn't the museum actually be showcasing the rare and elusive well-behaved children?)
There was an exhibit on the moon landings, including the not-quite-moon-landing of Apollo 13. They actually had a real moon capsule on site - and it is freaking claustrophobic crowded. Can't believe two astronauts spent about four days in that thing. I'll bet they had major muscle cramps when they got out. I also can't believe they ever went to the moon with 1960s technology. Crazy.
There are numerous scientific exhibits with thinky thoughts on the Big Bang theory, and space phenomenons such as quasars, dark matter, and other things that hurt my brain. I feel like the museum is trying to transfer knowledge to me, but all the nuggets of information they are throwing at me are just bouncing off the dense atmosphere of my brain and spiralling off into space, still mostly misunderstood. Museum: Think about this! Me: Huh?
We get a movie with our admission - Cosmic Something Or Other. It's another giant screen movie, this one in front and overhead, so you have to lean back in your chair. It features lots of imagery from the Hubble telescope projected onto the ceiling. I'm leaning back in my chair, in a dark room with stars, while a woman with a soothing voice tells me all about the vast and endless universe. I mean, what do you think is going to happen? It's really hard to keep my eyes open. The museum tries to educate me while I'm half-asleep, and every now and again I snort awake - "Huh?! Wha--?!" - and the information bounces harmlessly off my brain.
I am destined to never ever be an astronomer. It seems too much like math.
Our puny brains are full, so we leave the Planetarium.
Outside, the sun is shining and it's beautiful. Whenever we spend time indoors, the Chicago sun comes out. (You're welcome, people of Chicago.) Another tourist is looking at the sky. "What's that? The sun! I should take a picture!" Tourists are a snarky bunch.
We catch the S.Lakeshore bus because we believe it might be heading in the right direction. Success! We get when we see an El station, and on the spur of the moment, we decide to go to Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), where I want to do the Skydeck ledge thing. Up on the 103rd floor, there are these glass boxes that stick out from the building. You can go in there and see how scared you get. Sounds great, right?
The good thing about the Chicago Go Pass is that Monica would have refused to pay to go up there - but since it was included in our pass, it's free for her to come on up with me. I have told Monica all week that she has to come up, because it may be the last picture she ever takes of me (that's actually the draw for her).
The security lineup is a bit crazy. We have to pass through a metal detector, and it takes forever because there's people with strollers, and there's just a million people in general. We get onto a high speed elevator that has a computer display showing how we're taller than a giraffe, then a sequoia tree, then a pyramid, the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State, etc. (Monica doesn't care for the reminder.) At 103, the doors open. Like the John Hancock Center, there are floor to ceiling windows. However, unlike the John Hancock Center, there are five exterior observation decks jutting out that are made entirely of glass.
Monica is annoyed at the slow people in front of us. (It's true - some of them do spend way too much time hogging the spots there.) As the line inches forward, she is not yet certain whether or not she wants to try to step out. The line is slow, so she has a lot of time to think about it.
I go out, without looking down, and sit down on the floor so that she can take a picture. Then I look down. "Eep!" I take a picture of my feet.
Monica says, "Take a picture of me - I'm gonna do it!" She takes a step forward, and turns back. "No! I'm not going to do it!" So close. But no go.
After leaving the Willis Tower (riding the elevator all the way down down down, back to street level), we stop in at Macy's and visit The Walnut, which is one of the first restaurants in a department store. So named because everything on the menu has walnuts in it - even the chicken soup! - and the waiters have to dress like walnuts! Actually, none of that is true. It's an upscale looking place, and it's called The Walnut because all of the woodwork is made of... yes, you guessed it - walnut!
We came to this restaurant because our Go Pass entitles us to a free dessert if we buy a meal. (We are really making use of this Go Pass.) I choose an Frango Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Pie. It is fabulous.
After eating, we are on the hunt for The Bean. The elusive Bean. How hard can it be to find a giant mirrored bean in Chicago? The last time we were here, we found it by accident. Now, the giant bean has been avoiding us. It is irksome.
We get to Grant Park, walk towards the weird metal stage thing, and look to the side, and hello! There's The Bean. The Bean is awesome. The Bean makes people happy. It's like it's a happy little bean-shaped mirror universe, with little bean people inside who make you smile.
Anyway, the Bean. We've been there. Been to the Bean? If only you could have been with us when we'd seen the Bean, you'd know what I mean. :-P
Because we haven't walked enough today, we walk hither and yon, through the Lurie Garden where there are blackbirds singing. They are quite lovely. We walk through an awesome children's park, where the city has foreseen my thoughts, and there is a sign specifically prohibiting people over certain ages from playing on the slides. Dammit.
The park also has climbing walls for adults, but alas, we have not brought any climbing equipment. We wander over a winding bridge through the park and across traffic, taking us back to Michigan Avenue.
Michigan Avenue is pretty much a beeline back to our hotel, so we walk back across the river, all the way back. Oh wait, there's an Under Armour store. Okay, so we briefly detour inside, buy some stuff, and we head back. All the way back -- oh wait, there's Macy's.
Sometimes it's hard to get home before midnight.
It's definitely sunnier this morning, although colder than yesterday, and at 7C, it is much too frosty for my bike rental friends at Navy Pier. So, we walked on over to the train station. Today, we wanted to visit the Field Museum and the Adler Planetarium. We weren't quite sure which train to take, and the maps posted on the walls of the station lack detail. Fortunately, the friendly Chicago Transit employee gave us a much more detailed set of transit maps, and we were off, this time on the Orange Loop train.
When we got off at our stop, we needed to walk a few blocks. At first, we went the wrong direction, but discovered the Target Museum (now sadly extinct in Canada). Then I recognized the domed roof of the Shedd Aquarium behind us, so we turned around and were back on track to the Field Museum.
 |
| Good Night Agora! |
A little ways further, a statue which Monica thought might be Shakespeare (he was from Chicago, you know). As it turns out, it's a statue of Columbus, who discovered Chicago and Al Capone, and was subsequently killed in the St. Valentine's Massacre. This is an entirely true story, and you should tell all your friends what you know about Chicago.
 |
| VIKINGS! Except, No Vikings for YOU. |
We wait in line to be checked in, and Monica airs her daily grievance about people who are slow, and how the aforementioned slow people are always situated in front of us in line. In spite of their best efforts to delay us, we eventually get into the museum. We get our general admission, and oh, we get to go to the Underground exhibit - NOT the Vikings. Dammit. DAMMIT. I want the Vikings. But I don't get the Vikings. Monica and I briefly discuss the feasibility of rushing past the security guard and seeing things while we run, defending ourselves with Viking artifacts, if necessary. But this might end up being extreme cardio, and it is probably not worth the international incident.
Oh well, onward and upward for our Viking-free visit. We start out with exhibits from Africa, because I'm looking for those lions. (Which lions? The lions from The Ghost and The Darkness.) I can't find the lions. I'm finding lots of stuffed animals. And not the kind Mom likes, either - there's no "Hello Kitty" in the mix - we're talking taxidermy. The displays are actually really well done, and it's quite interesting. We wander hither and yon, and I have to check my map and backtrack, and finally we find our two man-eating lions from the Tsavo.
 |
| The Ghost & The Darkness |
There are a lot of animals on display, including some extinct varieties, such as passenger pigeons. Sadness. Oh, and they had the skeleton of a whale suspended from the ceiling, above the skeleton of an elephant. The elephant looked so tiny!
We also went through some exhibits on Africa, went through a room filled with gems (so sparkly!) and jade (less sparkly, more green). They had a big exhibit on Ancient Egypt, complete with mummies - because no Egyptian exhibit is complete without mummies. Unfortunately, there were a million screaming schoolchildren. Fortunately, their teacher reigned them in and gave them a talking to. "Who told you that you could behave like this? You're running and screaming. If you behave like this again, you will not get to go on another field trip. You are all bad and rotten and have rotten parents." (I may have added that last line in my head.) While the hordes of roaming children remained, at least she managed to turn the volume down on them.
We had time for a quick lunch at the museum, and then went to see the dinosaur exhibit. Yes, once you've seem Drumheller, you've probably seen the king of dinosaur exhibits; however, this was a pretty interesting exhibit. The resident T-Rex for the museum is named "Sue". She's got big teeth.
Eventually, we ventured back outside, and the Adler Planetarium is just a short walk past the Shedd Aquarium. It's a triumvirate of touristy museum destinations. Oh, hey, there are more screaming children in the Planetarium - what a surprise! (Deep Question of the Day: If there are so many screaming children in museums, why are there also so many screaming children out in the world? Shouldn't the museum actually be showcasing the rare and elusive well-behaved children?)
 |
| Planets are pretty! |
There are numerous scientific exhibits with thinky thoughts on the Big Bang theory, and space phenomenons such as quasars, dark matter, and other things that hurt my brain. I feel like the museum is trying to transfer knowledge to me, but all the nuggets of information they are throwing at me are just bouncing off the dense atmosphere of my brain and spiralling off into space, still mostly misunderstood. Museum: Think about this! Me: Huh?
We get a movie with our admission - Cosmic Something Or Other. It's another giant screen movie, this one in front and overhead, so you have to lean back in your chair. It features lots of imagery from the Hubble telescope projected onto the ceiling. I'm leaning back in my chair, in a dark room with stars, while a woman with a soothing voice tells me all about the vast and endless universe. I mean, what do you think is going to happen? It's really hard to keep my eyes open. The museum tries to educate me while I'm half-asleep, and every now and again I snort awake - "Huh?! Wha--?!" - and the information bounces harmlessly off my brain.
I am destined to never ever be an astronomer. It seems too much like math.
Our puny brains are full, so we leave the Planetarium.
Outside, the sun is shining and it's beautiful. Whenever we spend time indoors, the Chicago sun comes out. (You're welcome, people of Chicago.) Another tourist is looking at the sky. "What's that? The sun! I should take a picture!" Tourists are a snarky bunch.
We catch the S.Lakeshore bus because we believe it might be heading in the right direction. Success! We get when we see an El station, and on the spur of the moment, we decide to go to Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), where I want to do the Skydeck ledge thing. Up on the 103rd floor, there are these glass boxes that stick out from the building. You can go in there and see how scared you get. Sounds great, right?
The good thing about the Chicago Go Pass is that Monica would have refused to pay to go up there - but since it was included in our pass, it's free for her to come on up with me. I have told Monica all week that she has to come up, because it may be the last picture she ever takes of me (that's actually the draw for her).
The security lineup is a bit crazy. We have to pass through a metal detector, and it takes forever because there's people with strollers, and there's just a million people in general. We get onto a high speed elevator that has a computer display showing how we're taller than a giraffe, then a sequoia tree, then a pyramid, the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State, etc. (Monica doesn't care for the reminder.) At 103, the doors open. Like the John Hancock Center, there are floor to ceiling windows. However, unlike the John Hancock Center, there are five exterior observation decks jutting out that are made entirely of glass.
Monica is annoyed at the slow people in front of us. (It's true - some of them do spend way too much time hogging the spots there.) As the line inches forward, she is not yet certain whether or not she wants to try to step out. The line is slow, so she has a lot of time to think about it.
 |
| I'm standing on glass on the 103rd floor! |
Monica says, "Take a picture of me - I'm gonna do it!" She takes a step forward, and turns back. "No! I'm not going to do it!" So close. But no go.
After leaving the Willis Tower (riding the elevator all the way down down down, back to street level), we stop in at Macy's and visit The Walnut, which is one of the first restaurants in a department store. So named because everything on the menu has walnuts in it - even the chicken soup! - and the waiters have to dress like walnuts! Actually, none of that is true. It's an upscale looking place, and it's called The Walnut because all of the woodwork is made of... yes, you guessed it - walnut!
We came to this restaurant because our Go Pass entitles us to a free dessert if we buy a meal. (We are really making use of this Go Pass.) I choose an Frango Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Pie. It is fabulous.
After eating, we are on the hunt for The Bean. The elusive Bean. How hard can it be to find a giant mirrored bean in Chicago? The last time we were here, we found it by accident. Now, the giant bean has been avoiding us. It is irksome.
We get to Grant Park, walk towards the weird metal stage thing, and look to the side, and hello! There's The Bean. The Bean is awesome. The Bean makes people happy. It's like it's a happy little bean-shaped mirror universe, with little bean people inside who make you smile.
Anyway, the Bean. We've been there. Been to the Bean? If only you could have been with us when we'd seen the Bean, you'd know what I mean. :-P
The park also has climbing walls for adults, but alas, we have not brought any climbing equipment. We wander over a winding bridge through the park and across traffic, taking us back to Michigan Avenue.
Michigan Avenue is pretty much a beeline back to our hotel, so we walk back across the river, all the way back. Oh wait, there's an Under Armour store. Okay, so we briefly detour inside, buy some stuff, and we head back. All the way back -- oh wait, there's Macy's.
Sometimes it's hard to get home before midnight.
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