Chicago’s Field Museum

An epic day in Chicago was about to get even better. We had just enjoyed an Architecture River Tour (which I blogged about a few days ago), and now we were headed to the Field Museum. While doing research for this trip, the Field Museum was always right up at the top of every list that I came across of things to do in the Windy City. Unanimous recommendations should always be taken seriously.

I must say that this place sure didn’t disappoint (even though the authentic Chicago Dog that we overpaid for at a food truck in front of this fine establishment most definitely did.) The Field Museum was established 129 years ago, and its current building has a total of 480,000 square feet of exhibition space on three levels, making it one of the largest natural history museums in the world. It even has a 3D movie theater which is a great way to rest your feet and lower back while enjoying the show.

We spent several hours at the museum looking at everything from fossils to dioramas to dinosaur skeletons to beetles galore. Dear Husband and I were embracing our inner nerds in high style, indeed. You’ll find photos below.

But before that, I have to tell you about Sue. DH was on a mission, as per usual. He was dying to meet her. If I had attempted to stop the man in his quest for Sue, I probably would not be here to write this post. (But in truth, I wanted to meet Sue, too.)

Sue, you see, is the most famous fossil in the world, according to a blog post on the Field Museum’s website. The post goes on to provide a lot of fascinating facts. For example:

67 million years ago, Sue lived to the ripe old age of 28.
The Field Museum paid 8.4 million dollars for her, which is the most money ever paid for a fossil at auction.
At over 40 feet long, she is the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex specimen in the world.
Sue’s skull alone weighs 600 pounds.
Sue most likely died due to a very extensive infection in her jaw, and you can see the holes in the bone to prove it. She probably starved to death because it became too painful for her to eat. (Ouch!)
I keep using she/her pronouns, but in truth, scientists don’t know what gender Sue was.

The museum has Sue displayed to perfection, and as the video below shows, they even have a interesting way of highlighting various bones by using perfectly aimed lighting, so they can discuss the many fascinating things scientists have learned about this skeleton over time. Sue was definitely worth hunting for within this enormous museum.

Having finally made Sue’s acquaintance, we were free to explore other parts of the museum. While doing so, we stumbled upon something that I thought was even better than Sue. I didn’t realize I’d get to see my third coelacanth to date. I am obsessed with these fish, which have been on the planet for 65 million years and bear live pups. The species is still alive today, but of course these creatures are endangered.

I blogged about the other coelacanths I’ve seen as well. The first one I saw was at the Royal Ontario Museum, and the second was at, of all places, the Vancouver Aquarium. And now I was looking at the third. Interestingly enough, all three were different colors, and of course they were all very much not alive. The odds of you seeing one alive with your own eyes are very slim. They live so deep down that they don’t survive being raised to the surface of the ocean, unfortunately.

Gazing at this coelacanth, shunted off to the edge of a room in the Field Museum, made me a little sad. It was almost put there as an afterthought, just as the other two were. These things are the oldest unmodified creatures still living on earth! They are the epitome of survival! And yet very few people have ever heard of them. They aren’t gigantic or pretty or charismatic, but I still think they should be more emphasized in those museums that are lucky enough to have them.

We also got to see the actual Lions of Tsavo. For nine long months in 1898, according to the information placard, “these two lions preyed on the construction workers of the British Ugandan Railway in what is now Kenya. By the time the head railway engineer J.H. Patterson stopped the lions, they had halted work on the railway for three months, caused hundreds of people to flee for their lives, and killed at least 28 of the railroad workers.”

After many hours wandering, DH and I felt quite satisfied and edified and enlightened, so we said goodbye to the dinosaurs and all their friends and headed out the door and back into the much tamer Chicago of the modern era.

Enjoy the pictures below, dear reader, but I hope you get to see these things for yourself someday.