Day 4: Chi-Mex and T-Rex

It was snowing when we woke up this morning, but luckily it didn't last too long. We'd wanted snow and cold when we headed north a few days ago, and we definitely got it.

We started the day with 1:00 lunch reservations at Frontera Grill, the restaurant of Top Chef Master Rick Bayless. We'd rooted for him when he'd competed a few years ago and we're excited to finally try his Mexican-inspired dishes. It was awesome! Definitely a cut above your typical Mexican restaurant dishes.

We had planned to go to Field Museum afterwards, but realized we didn't time it very well. We would only have two hours at best. We looked at other things to do, but nothing else really fit our schedule or was any cheaper. And it was too cold to just explore. 

We decided to go anyway and just make the best of it. We took the subway, which was actually our first time riding it. On our previous trips, we'd just walked everywhere since it's all in the same general area.

When we got to the Field Museum, we were pleasantly surprised to find out it was actually open until 6:00, which was perfect. Good thing we'd stuck to the plan!

The first thing you see when you enter is Dinosaur Sue, the most complete T-Rex skeleton anywhere and the museum's most famous exhibit. Madison was fascinated when she was little and we bought the book, t-shirt, etc.

This time she was more interested in the special exhibit on Greece, billed as "from Agamemnon to Alexander." Luckily, unlike our day at MSI, this was not sold out, so we made it our very first stop.

The exhibit tells the history of Greece through numerous treasures, including helmets, swords, pottery, and statues. Especially the latter two. It's been a while since I studied Greek history in college, so I was surprised to learn that when it comes to early Greek history, such as Agammemnon, historians aren't sure what is fact and what is fiction. The gold mask once thought belonging to him, probably didn't, and he may have been a myth.

Many of the pieces were from real, but non-historical figures, who lived normal lives, but were buried with all sorts of objects that told stories about their daily lives. Two of these were women with jewelry, pottery, and figurines.

There were also busts of a two very famous Greek figures: Spartan King Leonidis (from 300, who didn't really look like Gerard Butler), and Alexander the Great himself, who conquered most of the known world at a very young age.

The museum's largest and permanent collection is of studied (meaning taxidermy) animals, some of which have since gone extinct. Many are over 120 years old and were first displayed in the 1893 Columbian Exposition (see yesterday's post), while many more are from the 1930s.

Quite a few items in the museum are actually from the 1893 Expo. The contents of the Palace of Fine Arts were rehoused in this new location in the 1920s thanks to department store tycoon Marshall Field. Going there really gives you a feeling of stepping back in time.

While viewing these exhibits, which include baby lions and polar bears in addition to all the adults, the question naturally arises of from where they came (Marsha asks it every time). There are a few small signs that explain that the modern specimens died of natural causes. The subtle message is that the older ones, not so much.

One of the primary exhibits here is the man-eating Lions of Tsavo that killed 120 railroad workers in 1898 (depicted in the movie The Ghost and the Darkness). Despite the lack of manes, they are both male (a trait specific to that area). After they were finally killed and the bridge completed, they were made into rugs for a time. They lost some of their size when they were mounted for display.

FInally, we toured the sections on ancient Egypt and several islands of Polynesia. These are fascinating areas full of amazing artifacts and reconstructions, but we had to rush through since the museum was getting ready to close.

We'd thought about taking the bus or subway to Millenium Park, where we had dinner reservations at the Park Grill. The food was excellent and there's a skating rink out front, so we got to watch the skaters as we ate.

Finally, it was back to our warm hotel room again, where we watched The Walk, about Phillipe Petit and his famous enough high wire walk across the Twin Towers. Even on our small TV screen it made us nervous, but gave me fond memories of standing on top of the tower.