My first visit to Chicago was in 2000 after the birth of my first grandchild. Next to seeing her, the thing I wanted to see the most was the Field Museum. I’ve made several trips to it since that first one but it has become my favorite. My interest was first sparked by a story about Sue, the Tyrannosaurus Rex on display there. She is the first thing you see as you enter the museum and the first completely intact Tyrannosaurus found and on display. How she got to the Field Museum is a very interesting story that is worth learning. The museum complex also contains the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. They are all located on a beautiful stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline and within walking distance of each other.
The next trip was a baseball trip to see the “Cubbies” in 2004. Out of all the stadiums we visited, this was the best experience. Of course, this was before they finally broke “the curse”. What we realized is that the Cubs fans are loyal to the core. Not having a world series win in 96 years didn’t seem to be an issue. The fans went to support their “Lovable Losers” and for the party, which started hours before the game and continued on after the game.
The icing on the cake was that they won that day! Another trip to the Field Museum to see an exhibit on China-The Forbidden City. This was a great opportunity to see exquisite treasures from Chinese emperors and royalty on display for the very first time. And of course, once again, there’s Sue. I’m sure from childhood on, I share a dinosaur fascination with many of you. She’s the real deal.
2005 and we’re back again. My husband had family in the Chicago suburbs and on this trip we were travelling with cousins and friends. We had fun people to travel with, more that we were meeting there and tickets for all 8 of us to see a White Sox Game. Another home team win. The White Sox went on to win the World Series that year for the first time in 88 years.
We took a boat tour on the Chicago River which afforded spectacular views of the city.
And of course, the now required trip to the Field Museum. This time, in the midst of some absolutely beautiful life size bronze figures of South Seas Islanders, I found a statue of a fisherman from Sicily who looked exactly like my father-in-law who was half Sicilian and wore a lot more clothes. There are so many things to do in Chicago, you would be hard pressed to find yourself with free time. It’s all there whether you favor sports, culture, music, theater, sailing or just sight seeing and there’s that tower.
We made one more trip to Chicago in 2006 to see the King Tut Exhibit at, you guessed it, the Field Museum. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed so I have no photos but it was breathtaking.
After my husbands diagnosis in 2007, he was treated in a Chicago area cancer hospital and for a time we commuted monthly for his treatment. There were complications at home from the treatments and it became clear that we needed to be close to the hospital since everything that he could possibly need was under the same roof. We decided to move there and lived in a Chicago suburb for two years. In spite of the reason for being there, they turned out to be very good years.
We moved to Illinois in 2008 and settled into a nice rental house. Since I work from home, my routine was pretty well set. I wasn’t too sure how my husband was going to adjust but in the beginning he was very busy with medical appointments. We soon discovered there were countless things to do and see. We were located midway between Chicago and Milwaukee which decided the next baseball excursion.
Milwaukee turned out to be another one of those places that was a most pleasant surprise. They also have a wonderful museum, the Public Museum.
The reason I used this photo is the elephant. This was part of an exhibit on the history of Asia. The items in this photo were from the early 20th century. Apparently, I have an artifact. The elephant is a teapot and I have the exact one that I inherited from my grandmother. This museum is definitely a must see with a lot of fascinating exhibits. We saw Titanic artifacts and the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are a number of really great restaurants in Milwaukee also. Definitely worth a trip. Oh, and the Brewers won.
The two years in Illinois brought remission, and some wonderful adventures. More trips to Chicago. If you didn’t know, you can see the same Broadway shows there. It’s called Broadway in Chicago. We saw Rent and Jersey Boys which, due to circumstance, we had missed.
There’s much more to tell about our time in the midwest but I’ll save that for a future post.