Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
233 S. Wacker Dr. (enter on Jackson Blv d.).
&
312/875-9696.
www.the-skydeck.com. Admission $13
adults, $9.50 seniors and children 3-12, free for children 2 and under. Apr-Sept daily 10am-10pm; Oct-
Apr daily 10am-8pm. Subway/El: Brown, Purple, or Orange Line t o Quincy; Red or Blue Line t o Jackson;
then walk a few blocks west. Bus: 1, 7, 126, 146, 151, or 156.
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MORE CHICAGO MUSEUMS
Chicago has plenty of museums that make ev ery effor t to turn a bor ed child into a
stimulated one. Many of the city's museums are leaders in the “please touch me” school
of interactive exhibitions, with buttons and lights and lev ers and sounds and bright col-
ors, and activities for kids at special exhibitions.
Art Institute of Chicago
All ages.
Chicago's pride and jo y is a warm, w el-
coming museum—one that 's nev er too stuffy to embrace kids. You kno w this is a
museum with a winning sense of whimsy when at the holidays, the famous lion sculp-
tures that guard its entrance sport Santa hats. As this topic goes to pr ess, the museum is
undergoing a historic addition, the M odern Wing, which will open in M ay 2009. The
map (p. 161) shows the new addition, and exciting changes are planned at the museum
that will make it ev en more welcoming to families (first and for emost, children 11 and
under get in to the museum for fr ee). With the addition of the M odern Wing, the size
of the family/education center will double. The new Ryan Education Center will be an
impressive 20,000 squar e feet, and use the entir e first floor of the East pavilion of the
Modern Wing. The light-filled, beautiful space will include studio space, classr ooms,
library (with computers), teacher r esources, and its o wn galleries, and—best of all—
families can enter the space without paying admission to the museum (as they do no w).
The museum will also be incr easing its kids programming.
In other par ts of the museum, kids will be entranced b y the
Thorne M iniature
Rooms,
filled with tiny reproductions of furnished interiors from European and Ameri-
can history (heaven for a dollhouse fanatic). Another popular attraction is the original
Trading Room of the old Chicago S tock Exchange,
salvaged when the Adler and Sul-
livan Stock Exchange building was demolished in 1972. O ne parent says her bo ys love
the great hall of
European arms and armor
dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries.
Composed of more than 1,500 objects, including armor, horse equipment, swords, dag-
gers, pole arms, and maces, it's one of the most important assemblages of its kind in the
country. (If you do head do wn here, don't miss M arc Chagall's stunning stained-glass
windows at the end of the galler y.)
If you have older kids, y ou'll find an array of wor ks to satiate any inter est: Japanese
ukiyo-e
prints, ancient E gyptian bronzes and Greek vases, 19th-century British photog-
raphy, masterpieces by most of the greatest names in 20th-century sculpture, or modern
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Moments
Photo Op
For a great photo op, walk on Randolph Street toward the lake in the morning.
That's when the sun, rising in the east o ver the lake, hits the string of high-rises
that line South Michigan Avenue—giving you the perfect backdrop for an only-
in-Chicago picture.
