Tuesday, October 9, 2007

On crazy runners and The Field Museum

So, Sunday we went into the city. We took the train and walked from Union Station down towards the waterfront to go to the Field Museum. It also happened to be the day of the Chicago Marathon, which we'd had no idea was going on.

Okay, so we can be a little oblivious sometimes.

While we were wading through the thousands of runners and their families around the Buckingham fountain, they actually announced that the race was canceled (though a fair amount of people had finished it already) due to the high temperature. One runner died and a large number of others fainted and/or passed out and/or required medical attention.

Yet another reason not to be a runner, as far as I'm concerned. More power to 'em, but it just ain't for me.


We did finally make it through the crowd of really sweaty people (not that I blame them; hey, they just ran a marathon) and got to the Field Museum.

We've actually been there before, but it's been years. The Field is HUGE. It is a ginormous museum, full of ancient dinosaur bones (including the famous Sue) and lots of stuffed endangered and extinct animals. There are plants too, and lots of special exhibits.

If you go, wear comfortable shoes. Trust me.

And don't expect to see everything, unless you plan on going more than one full day. It really is a monster big museum. It has an impressive amount of collections, though the big draw (especially for the younger set) are the dinosaur rooms and the exhibit with the man-eaters of Tsavo (remember that movie with Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas? The Ghost and the Darkness?). They've got the real deal at the Field -- the stuffed maneless man-eaters immortalized in that movie (and in the fear they gave to hundreds of railway workers). There's even another man-eating lion down in the lower level that's even bigger than the team from Tsavo.

The Field is also in a great location -- just off the waterfront. Here's a pick of Pam and Mike right outside the field, looking towards the city.

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