The Field Museum

The Field Museum Review

More than 6 acres of exhibits fill this gigantic world-class museum, which explores cultures and environments from around the world. Interactive exhibits examine such topics as the secrets of Egyptian mummies, the people of Africa and the Pacific Northwest, and the living creatures in the soil. Originally funded by Chicago retailer Marshall Field, the museum was founded in 1893 to hold material gathered for the World's Columbian Exposition; its current neoclassical home opened in 1921.

Highlights

Shrink to the size of a bug to burrow beneath the surface of the soil in the Underground Adventure exhibit (special exhibit fee applies). You'll come face-to-face with a giant, animatronic wolf spider twice your size and listen to the sounds of gnawing insects.

Spend a couple of hours taking in contemporary and ancient Africa. Dioramas reproduce the homes and lives of Africans from Senegal, Cameroon, and the Sahara, while the remarkable Inside Ancient Egypt complex includes a working canal, a living marsh where papyrus is grown, a shrine to the cat goddess Bastet, burial-ceremony artifacts, and 23 mummies.

The Field's dinosaur collection is one of the world's best. You can't miss 65-million-year-old "Sue," the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossil ever found—it's on permanent exhibit in the lobby. Also visit the McDonald's Fossil Preparation Laboratory, where you can watch paleontologists cleaning up bones. Another favorite is the Evolving Planet, which uses video technology to explain the dawn of single-cell organisms and the advent of dinosaurs.

Nature sparkles in the Grainger Hall of Gems, a recently renovated permanent exhibition featuring 60 gemstones, gems, and 150 pieces of magnificent jewelry.

Tips

Don't hesitate to take toddlers to the Field; the new Crown Family PlayLab, designed for kids 2-6 years old, is where they play house in a faux pueblo and compare their footprints to a dinosaur's.

It's impossible to see the entire museum in one visit. Try to get tickets to the special exhibit of the season and then choose a couple of subjects you'd like to explore, like North American birds or Chinese jade.

The Sue Store sells a mind-boggling assortment of dinosaur-related merchandise.

Bring young ones to 20-minute story times, when staff and volunteers read a dinosaur-themed book and direct an art project (weekends year-round and daily July and August).

The lobby of the museum includes the Corner Bakery. The dining room tucked in the back has sparkling views of the lake and the Museum Campus.