Field Trip

Took a trip to Chicago yesterday (Boxing Day in Canada, of course) to see the King Tut exhibit at the Field Museum. It was well worth the trip, but December 31 is the last day in Chicago and only limited tickets remain. Tut is headed for Philadelphia next and then London before returning to Egypt. Like other mega-exhibits, entry is by timed tickets to try and limit the crush of the crowd, but of course, they are always more crowded than you'd prefer.


I hadn't been to downtown Chicago for a while, so I had not seen the Millennium Park , another incredible jewel and one more reason to get your cheese-butt down to the Windy City (Q: Why is it also called a "toddlin' town"?). The Cloud Gate (or giant mercury-filled jelly bean) is a giant kidney-shaped sculpture bends and reflects the Chicago skyline, but for a mind-bender, walk underneath it and get squirted into an alternate universe.

For transport, we drove to Crystal Lake, about 95 miles south of Madison, boarded Metra and rode the Northwest Line straight to downtown for about $11 roundtrip. On weekends the cost is $5 for the entire weekend. You can also pick up the train at Harvard, about 75 miles south, but trains run less frequently. Riding Metra you avoid traffic, the parking gouge, and do something a little different that makes a trip to the big city a little more special.