Chicago, Illinois Museum of Science & Industry
July 9th, 2010 by Nearly The Bionic Woman
Tonight is when I leave for Chicago, working of course. *wink wink* What else is a girl to do in Chicago for 36 hours when she has her family in tow?
Go to the Museum of Science & Technology of course! I would love to see Jen Lancaster but she doesn’t even follow me on Twitter although I totally follow her! JK. I love her books because she is downright sarcastic and funny. Like, pee your pants funny. One day, I will make it to a book signing. For now, I will have to concentrate on the museum and the 7 year old.
Truth be told, I am really very excited myself. Quite a few passengers recommended this museum and my own research shows that all of us will love it! On top of lots of hands on activities, a U-505 USNavy captured German Sub, Trains and Omnimax movies, I hope that one day is even enough time to see it all. If not, I think that Chicago is like a 5 hour drive or something.
More on this later! Do you have any suggestions for a family friendly dinner that won’t cost a body part?? Thanks!
Well, the first thing that I learned is that if you would like to have a ONE day pass on the train and bus system, do not have the hotel drop you off at the train station! Online or at the airport is where you can get that. And, secondly, never trust the people at the train station fully because either he didn’t understand us (and yes, he spoke English) or the prices changed 5 hours later.
It was really, really easy to get to the museum from the O’hare airport. Take the BLUE LINE to the Loop (Jackson) and the number 6 or 10 bus to the museum. The #10 bus will drop you off right in front of the Museum itself, while the #6 is just short of it and allows for some lovely shots of the Museum and the grounds. All in all, I think it was less than $10 for the three of us. As soon as I can get my photos uploaded, I will add them. The outside of these building reminded me of something I would see in Italy. Roman style arches and statues of Goddesses line the outsides of each building. Walking even from a block away, green grassy parks cover the landscape as beautiful awe inspiring bold colored flowers dot the deep shades of green beckoning to be run through.
The building inside is nothing but modern and so wide open that I immediately get the impression we will not be able to get through the entire museum in one day. I was right. After four hours, we could have used another couple more if only our feet and the day would allow for more.
To your left as you first walk in to the museum itself, the U-505 Submarine, the Green House and the Omnimax theater are located. To the right, the entrance to the rest of the first floor. We walked through pictures of different planets, automobiles from different eras, including Mercedes Benz first car ever brought to the US for mass production and hands on activities for the kids. During our day, we saw aircraft hanging from the ceiling over top of model and replica trains. We saw lightening and a tornado in the Storm Center. Space crafts from days past and how to milk a cow the modern way.
I will definitely have to bring my son back to this particular museum another time. Everyone that left no matter the age, was impressed by their visit and plans to return.
Of course, I couldn’t come all this way and not walk across the street to at least see the shores of Lake Michigan. My friend used to call it the beach and being from Florida, I just laughed. She really was right. There were kids making sand castles and people swimming in the water just like at the beaches back home. A life guard walked back and forth making sure no one was hurt. The only thing missing were the waves. This was not necessarily a bad thing though since I could at least go in up to my knees without fear of being knocked down. I won’t lie and tell you that it was warm although the life guard says it was. I learned it was warm by their standards however, it was anything but warm. I shrieked as I walking in. This did not stop people from frolicking like children fully draped in the wet relief from the heat of the day. We didn’t want to leave so I will definitely bid for it again.
- View Comments
- Posted in Travel Stories, Work Life



![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=83f28ad3-a9c4-410a-ac27-120fad502860)
