The Magurans: Dozin' with the Dinos

Monday, January 27, 2020

Dozin' with the Dinos

We had an amazing time camping out at the Field Museum Friday night. We drove into the city at parked at Soldier Field before heading to check-in at 5:30. Then we were able to select our "campsite" with the dinosaurs. Then we had our first look at Sue. It was very impressive! There was a brief orientation and then we had a behind the scenes tour with one of the scientists that works at the museum. We saw the mammal labs and were able to see a lot of preserved specimens (flying squirrels, giraffe bones, and bats in pickle jars) and learn a bit more about the museum. Then we were free to explore on our own. We started with the Egyptian tomb which was very cool. We actually went through that a few times. At 8pm, we had our snack in one of the cafeterias: half a sandwich, cookie, fruit and juice. Then we walked through the Underground Adventure, the Hall of Gems (Alex liked seeing larger versions of the rocks/gems he has at home), and plants of the world. While we were in the taxidermy area, they turned the exhibit lights off so we got to explore by flashlight. At 11pm, there was story time and then we changed into our PJs to head to bed. We are all pretty tired by that point. In the morning, we packed up our stuff and went downstairs for breakfast (muffins, bagels, cereal, juice and coffee) and then walked through the dinosaur exhibit. We had to leave the museum by 8:30am. We loaded our stuff in the car and then found a parking spot so we could head into the city for a while. We took the El, got coffee in Water Tower, and then had lunch at Eataly before heading home.