Chicago's Field Museum

After singing at church, we drove to Kasia's and then downtown to the Field Museum. For about 10 years, I took my sophomore class on a cultural field trip at the museum and then to Chinatown, but haven't been there for eight years -- and as I imagined, much is the same and much has changed.

The main hall is impressive as ever, with its 2 huge elephants...



... and "Sue," the largest, most complete, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil, which stands 13 feet tall at the hips and 42 feet long and consists of over 200 fossilized bones. Her estimated weight was 7 tons! She is named for Sue Hendrickson who discovered her in South Dakota in 1990. She was purchased by the museum at auction in 1997 at a record cost of 8.2 million dollars.. complete, and best preserved




Much of our 3 hours there involved touring the special exhibit "Nature Unleashed: Inside Natural Disasters" which comprehensively covered hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, and earthquakes. After that, we hit the jade and gem collections, Ancient Americans, North American Indians, Arctic Peoples, and Pacific Islanders.

Then it was time for a late lunch, which we enjoyed at Butterfly Sushi Bar and Thai Cuisine on Grand Avenue...