olivia_sutton | Entries tagged with museum of science and industry

Well, today is Saturday - so I didn't have class and I got to explore downtown. I'm staying in Roselle, IL, near Schaumburg, which is way, way west of downtown. And I sure as heck didn't want to drive downtown (esp. in the Loop). I had printed out maps and schedules from Metra (Chicago Suburban Commuter Rail), and I've used Metra before, tho' it was about a year ago - so, I was all set there. Also, they had a special weekend pass rate - $5.00 for unlimited Sat/Sun rides. Now, considering that a one-way fare from Schaumburg to Downtown (Union Station) is $4.95 -- this was quite a deal. And I love Metra -- it's so easy, you just get on the train and go - nice and relaxing. I even read a book while I was on the train. (Not one of my textbooks -- those are way too heavy to lug around). I arrived in Union Station -- and yep, just as BIG and confusing as I remembered. Chicago Union Station is huge -- and both Metra and Amtrak trains go into there. And, a bit of trivia, part of the movie "The Untouchables" (Sean Connery, and I think Kevin Costner) was filmed there -- the gorgeous marble grand hall is still there and still really impressive. And I actually was in it today when I went to catch my return train. But I'm getting ahead of myself. So I get to this big confusing place and I'm actually trying to find info how how to get to the Museum of Science and Industry. I ended-up leaving the station, walking across the street to the CVS Pharmacy to buy a 1-day CTA pass ($5.95 -- so MORE than Metra). From there it was a little confusing (complicated by my inability to figure out basic directions in downtown Chicago). I ended-up taking TWO buses to get to the museum, with a 45-minute wait for the one (#10 - I wouldn't recommend it). On the return trip, I took a different bus downtown, had to wait about 20 minutes for my transfer and took the same E-W bus I has started out on earlier. I have now used the CTA on my own without any major disasters. Yeah!
At the Museum of Science and Industry I bought my CityPass ($69.00 for 5 attractions - MSI, The Field, The Shedd Aquarium, The Adler Planetarium, and either the Hancock or the Sears Tower -- plus discounts, coupons, VIP extras, very nice -- and basically if you go to two or more attractions - it's paid for itself). But, I was very disappointed -- I wasn't able to go to the Harry Potter Exhibit -- it was sold out. I still really enjoyed the Museum. I saw the Lego Architecture Exhibit, the Space Center -- with lots of collection pieces on loan from the Smithsonian -- including an actual Apollo space capsule. Plus the exhibit explored the entire history of the space race -- the Gemini, Mercury, Apollo and shuttle/international space station missions. It also talked about planned future missions including an return to the moon and a manned mission to Mars. I saw the model train set of Chicago -- that includes "The Train Story" -- trains going all the way to Seattle -- with model buildings, boats, etc. It was the most awesome thing! They also had a miniature circus - with moving parts. And I saw this thing that was amazing -- it was actually a giant pinpall machine -- and was made as an advertisement of Swizerland Tourism. It was called "A Tour of Switzerland" and was probably 10 or 12 feet wide and 8 to 10 feet tall. There was a large ball-bearing that went through the whole maze -- up a cable car, across trains, up and down ramps, on a boat trip, it was just cool! I saw the Tech Agriculture Exhibit - which was highly interactive and kinda' set-up for kids. My included OmniMax (Dome) Theatre show at no extra cost with the CityPass was "Mysteries of the Great Lakes". It was a Canadian-made film that touched on a lot of topics but mostly focused on Sturgeon (a hugh pre-historic fish) that they are trying to protect and re-introduce to the lakes. Many environmental topics were covered -- from Bald Eagles to Invasive Species. They also mentioned Great Lakes Ship wrecks (including the famous Edmund Fitzgerald). The flying shots were cool - and as always in Omnimax shows it felt like you were really flying in an helicopter. The film began with a brief explanation of how the Fresh Water Lakes were left behind at the end of the Ice Age. Ontario Hydro power was also mentioned as well as the large number of people living near the Lakes. (My user pic for this journal entry is of our first Newfoundland dog, Simon, sitting in the water of Lake Huron -- it's a small bay though, called St. Martin's Bay.)
Getting back was another CTA adventure (tho' not as bad as the morning). I got off the second bus right at Union Station, walked through the Grand Hall (on the old side of Union Station at Canal and Adams), walked up to the Metra ticket people to find out where my train was (I already had my ticket). The Metra guy was very nice, but he told me "Track 11 it leaves in 6 minutes". I BOOKED -- I went (after a bit of directions) right around the corner, walked, quickly to the track, which was towards the other end, walked into the platform area (the train was already there), and finally made it onto the train. But I made it.
Overall, I had a great day -- and the Museum was great! I'm a bit disappointed that I missed Harry Potter tho.
Anyway, it was fun. Tomorrow the Shedd!
--Olivia

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Chicago
Current Music: The Proclaimers