Field Museum!

September 26, 2023

September 10, 2023 – Oak Terrace (Chicago)

Down for breakfast. Somewhat better than the past few hotels but not much different – except this one was not complementary!

The plan for the day is to drive to the Field Museum, especially to see a special exhibition “The First Kings”, based on archaeology from (what is now) Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and other eastern European countries; something like eight countries and 14 museums in all.

Being Sunday, the Eisenhower Expressway was a clear run into the city and we reached the Museum with no trouble; then we started looking for parking.

As luck would have it, the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers were scheduled to play at Soldier Field at 3:25 in the afternoon, so all the parking lots were closed in anticipation of the football game – at 8:00 in the morning! But M had the brilliant idea of parking at the Hilton Hotel on Michigan Avenue, about 5 minutes away, and taking Uber to the Museum. As it turned out, even their parking lot was full, but for the lovely sum of $60 for 0-6 hours, we could “valet” park, which we decided to do. Left the car parked behind a rolls Rolls-Royce, entered the Hilton, and walked through a very crowded lobby and out the front entrance to catch an Uber for the museum, arriving a few minutes before the 9:00 Museum opening.

Once inside (first ones in, naturally), we went straight to the exhibit. The focus began with the early copper and bronze ages, when the societies seemed to be basically agricultural, peaceful and more-or-less egalitarian. It was wonderful, with artifacts from about 5,000 BC up to the Roman times. And, for the most part, we had the entire exhibit to ourselves – and, a true added bonus, we could take all the photos we wanted!! Yeah!! This happens never in European museums, especially with special exhibits!

Eastern Europe seems to have been rich in minerals, especially copper and tin (to make bronze), gold and magnetite (iron) and the artifacts were just lovely. One special feature of the exhibit was the reunification a prehistoric treasure trove that was split between Hungary and Bulgaria when discovered in 1847. It was amazing to see the pieces actually together again! At any rate, this has really gotten us enthusiastic to at least plan some travel to Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania … hmmm…

Then came from the east new peoples who brought horses and wars. The thrust of the exhibit is that this migration transformed the cultures by introducing concentration of power and stratified societies – Kings!

The only other sight we really wanted to see at the Museum was Sue, the T Rex that joined the collection a few years ago. This complete skeleton, discovered in South Dakota, is largest T Rex fossil known and a very impressive sight. It is a good thing T Rex are extinct!

Finished at the Museum, we took Uber back to the Hilton to recover our car. Being only around noon, we decided to drive north along the lake but traffic was very heavy. First, we had to dodge the traffic heading for the football game, then the traffic headed for the “Taste of Chicago” event in Grant Park, then the traffic on Lake Shore Drive headed for the Cubs game. Along the way, we decided we needed to hit an ATM and found a Wells Fargo outlet near Evanston. Then to an Arby’s for a quick snack, at which point we decided playtime was over and headed back to our hotel, avoiding the freeways along the way.

Safely back in our room and watching the Bears vs. Packers on TV.

Dinner was easy: Leftovers from Lou Malnati’s. Yum!