The long accordion bus on CTA route 146, was full of people who, I could only assume were heading to Museum Campus like me. It was a free day for Illinois residents at the Field Museum and I had strategically planned my day to arrive there no later than noon. The idea was to go during lunch just after the early morning go-getters (of which I am not) were on their way out but to still beat the afternoon rush. The crowded ‘taped’ together bus had given me doubts as I felt my plan starting to fall apart.
Once I got off the bus, I sped up the steps of the Museum and went inside, hoping to beat the bus rush. I knew I’d get a photo (ok Selfie) of the outside of the beautiful building on the way out.
The lobby of the Field Museum is honestly breathtaking. It’s like walking into a grand hall of a palace. There are Neo-classical Ionic Pillars holding up the second floor that seems to visually function as one large balcony. The room is light, bright and airy, and everything is painted white. The floors were a checkerboard of light gray tiles giving contrast to the brightness above. In the middle of the great hall area stands Maximo the Titanosaur accompanied by the statue of two large elephants. Above suspended from the ceiling way up are a few flying dinosaurs.
Luckily, the line wasn’t nearly as long as I had expected. What line there was moved quickly as the groups of people in front of me obtained tickets. I proceeded easily to the check-out desk where I was provided a free general admission ticket and a map after showing my ID.
Ticket in hand I began to wander around the busy, but not overly packed, museum somewhat aimlessly.
As I seamlessly fell into stories of history through immersive displays. I quickly realized that most exhibits were not just a display of old expensive relics in a glass case, but an immersive story that took me back in time.
In A Tomb with Mummies
On the main level I happened to stumble into the “Mastaba” Exhibit. As someone who has problems with dead things, I was unsure of the dark and cramped looking structure. After reading the information on the wall introducing the exhibit, I became even more skeptical. I was about to enter a recreation of an Ancient Egyptian Tomb. The exhibit seemed to be fairly empty for a busy museum. After I saw a group ahead of me disappear further into the ‘building’ I decided to quickly follow. Safety in numbers and all that.
I walked through the entrance which brought me two options. Option 1: I could enter a larger room that felt like it was as big as a den room in a house. Option 2: I could go into a long but narrow dark room that seemed as big or if not smaller than a Chicago Studio apartment’s galley kitchen! Obviously, I chose the big room, which was eerily empty.
Undeterred, I kept going and the roofless structure led me to stairs leading upwards. After ascending I found myself on a platform with an interesting view. I could tell that the purpose was to give you a bird’s eye view of the tomb. Such as the archeologists uncovering a tomb may have seen. However, the structure also gave a new perspective to the museum. I was obviously somewhere between the main level and the upper level and could see other exhibits and groups of people meandering between them.
Exiting the platform on the other side I took a staircase that wound down, down, down into the dark abyss below. After a while I felt like I had missed the exit as I was sure I hadn’t gone that far up. The stairs seemed endless but finally spit me out in a new section of the exhibit. The ‘walls’ were still in that ancient mud/brick texture and the lighting still dim. I had been to this portion of the museum before, and quickly realized the main level exhibit had connected me to its ground level portion.
As I followed the route filled with mummies, ancient pots, masks and other artifacts from a long time ago I had to be careful to not bump into people as this part of my journey was a bit crowded. The corridors of objects, luckily tucked away behind glass, opened to a larger room that encouraged everyone to explore what life might have been like in Ancient Egypt.
“Hi Sue! Can I take a Selfie?”
After exiting ancient Egypt, it was time to visit the Field Musuem’s most renowned guest. I am talking, of course about “Sue the T. rex” and her Dino pals. The exhibit, located on the upper level, is a masterclass in building anticipation. As you enter, the exhibit opens with the birth of Earth. As you venture deeper you walk through time towards the present. I felt a bit bad as I rushed past time periods I haven’t seen since high school history. I know someone worked hard putting them together but with that being said, I was there to see Dinosaurs.
Along my journey to the Jurassic period, I was almost sucked off the path by dimly lit interactive stop-offs but was deterred by the hordes of children. I scurried past the big buttons seeing families both ahead and behind who needed entertainment value for their children that far outweighed more than my want to push a button. Although who doesn’t want to touch a button?!
The dark hallway leads you out to a large room filled with dinosaurs. Roars fill the room courteous of the sound tape playing throughout. The rooms sound system taking you back to a time where these massive beasts roamed the Earth.
This room also happens to have one of the best views from the museum. From the upper level you can see out to Museum Campus and Lake Michigan!
Large skeletons forming the dinosaurs are standing in the space, giving the chance for me and other museum guests to see and appreciate them from all angles. Some of them were quite large and would have definitely munched on me had they been alive!
I snagged a couple of selfies with the dinos before leaving the area and coming face to face with the star of the show. Sue! She has an entire gallery dedicated to herself and the history of the paleontology that led to her unearthing. Standing more than ten feet tall I was certainly intimidated. I still made sure to stare her down for a photo though!
Meteorites and Toothpaste
On September 29th, 1938, a meteorite struck an unlucky Pontiac Coupe in Benld, Illinois. On display at the museum behind glass were the remains of that car. The dark, brown-colored cushioned seat had a generous sized hole, left from where the space rock has pummeled through it. A metal piece looked struck and was wanky from the hit. Years after I believed I had found my last irrational fear, it turns out I had been wrong. Maybe Hollywood had done its research for those ‘end of the world’ movies after all.
I know it’s a weird piece of information to get hung up on, but it was such a fascinating story that landed a little too close to home for comfort. The whole exhibit about meteorites and minerals and rocks really pulled me in. The exhibit gave me a new perspective and appreciation for something that had I not gone I would have never given second thought.
The meteorite’s impact on the car (and apparently me) wouldn’t be the only thing pasted to me by the exhibit.
In a glass case next to what looked like a rock was a Colgate toothpaste box. It’s marketing advertisement classic and in clear and large print boasted one of their ingredients, fluoride. Wait… there is rock (ok fine, a mineral) in my toothpaste?! Who knew?!
After 3 hours and about 4 miles, I was exhausted but well educated and slightly amused as I left the Field Museum of Natural History. With the crowds I deftly avoided on my way in no longer in sight, I took that selfie of myself, by myself, on the steps of the iconic building. The crowds were not far away, as I would soon find out as I headed to the bus shelter. There a small horde of people crowded around, waiting to board a bus which thankfully arrived mostly empty at one of its first stops on its route. We piled on and soon enough we were off, the bus navigating the traffic filled, rush hour, ‘Loop’ roads.
