Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1300 S. Lake Shore Dr.
&
312/922-STAR.
www.adlerplanetarium.org. Admission
$10 adults, $8 seniors, $6 children 4-17, free for children 3 and under; admission
including 1 show and audiotour $19 adults, $17 seniors, $15 children. Free admis-
sion Mon-Tues Oct-Nov and Jan-Feb. Memorial Day-Labor Day daily 9:30am-6pm;
early Sept-late May daily 9:30am-4:30pm; 1st Fri of every month until 10pm. Star-
Rider Theater and Sky Shows run throughout the day; call main number for current
times. Bus: 12 or 146.
Field Museum of Natural History
Is it any wonder
that Steven Spielberg thought the Field Museum of Natural History
was a suitable home turf for the intrepid archaeologist and adven-
turer hero of his Indiana Jones movies? Spread over the museum's
9 acres of floor space are scores of permanent and temporary exhibi-
tions—some interactive but most requiring the old-fashion skills of
observation and imagination.
Navigating all the disparate exhibits can be daunting, so start out
in the grand Stanley Field Hall, which you enter from the north or
south end. Standing proudly at the north side is the largest, most
complete
Tyrannosaurus rex
fossil ever unearthed. The museum
acquired the specimen—named
Sue
for the paleontologist
who discovered it in South Dakota in 1990—for a cool $8.4 million
after a high-stakes bidding war. The real skull is so heavy that a
lighter copy had to be mounted on the skeleton; the actual one is on
display nearby.
Families should head downstairs for two of the most popular kid-
friendly exhibits. The pieces on display in
Inside Ancient Egypt
came to the museum in the early 1900s, after researchers in Saqqara,
Egypt, excavated two of the original chambers from the tomb of
Unis-ankh, son of the Fifth Dynasty ruler Pharaoh Unis. The
mastaba (tomb) of Unis-ankh forms the core of a spellbinding
exhibit that realistically depicts scenes from Egyptian funeral, reli-
gious, and other social practices.
Next to the Egypt exhibit, you'll find
Underground Adventure
,
a “total immersion environment” populated by giant robotic earwigs,
centipedes, wolf spiders, and other subterranean critters. The Dis-
neyesque exhibit is a big hit with kids, but—annoyingly—carries an
extra admission charge ($7 on top of regular admission).
You might be tempted to skip the “peoples of the world” exhibits,
but trust me, some are not only mind-opening but also great fun.
Traveling the Pacific
, hidden up on the second floor, is definitely
worth a stop. Hundreds of artifacts from the museum's oceanic
collection re-create scenes of island life in the South Pacific (there's
Kids
