Day Three: The Field Museum, Mariano's

The day before, at the Museum of Science and Industry, I had started to have trouble with my back. (I have a good back!) While I was standing around looking at the exhibits, it started to get twinge-y in a way that made me think it was threatening to go out on me. I didn't really want that to happen, so we tried to take it easy on all the walking and standing around exhibits on day three.

We went back to Wildberry for breakfast, for more pancakes and omelets. I had the exact same thing I had the first time we went (a Rutherford omelet and strawberry pancakes), but Dave mixed it up with an "Espanola" omelet (chorizo, jalapenos, avocados, cilantro, onions, mushrooms and Chihuahua cheese) and "Berry Bliss" pancakes (blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, mascarpone, and creme Anglaise). I had a big cafe latte with my breakfast. Gotta have the caffeine kick to start off my day.

It was drizzling that day, but we decided against buying umbrellas. (Maybe it's my dry, desert upbringing, but I don't consider umbrellas to be a necessary thing. The first umbrella I ever purchased was when I was in my late '20s and traveling in Australia. Of course, I had one in Japan, but I almost never used it unless I was on my way into work and needed to keep my hair and makeup in decent shape. I also brought home an umbrella from Japan that belonged to my co-worker Ben. He gave it to me before he left and I brought it home mostly as a memento, along with one of his spare ties that he had left behind at The Kaisha.) We braved the rain anyway, even though it meant standing in a drizzle while waiting 20 minutes for the bus to The Field Museum. 

The Field Museum is totally worth it, by the way. They have some pretty amazing holdings, including the most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeletons ever found. (They call her Sue.)

(This is not Sue. I did not get a picture of Sue.)

We actually went to the museum because Dave wanted to see the traveling exhibit about bioluminescence ("Creatures of Light"), but that turned out to be only ok. We saw that and another temporary exhibit about the cave painting of Lascaux, which was slightly more interesting.

We had a caffeine break--a shared caramel mocha--in the museum's small cafe (There's also a McDonald's in the basement, which, yeah, don't get me started.)

We spent several hours at the museum, most of it in the permanent collection of Pacific Northwest Native American art and artifacts. (Don't get me wrong, I definitely find it sad in that "Oh look at this collection of things white people stole from Indians" way, but the things themselves are so incredibly beautiful and I know I would never have seen them without those acts of cultural imperialism/appropriation. It doesn't make it right or any less problematic for me though.)

Anyway, I got one photo of some mannequins dressed as Indians and one dark photo of these incredible totem poles before I just turned my camera off so that I could focus on looking at things in the exhibit.

And I really wish my back (I have a good back!) had been more cooperative that day, because I would have loved to stay for hours just looking at all the amazing carved masks and knives and boxes and such in the Native American exhibit. The range of artifacts was mind numbing. (We see a lot of beautiful pottery here in the southwest, but we don't see carved wooden objects--lack of trees in the desert and all that--so I was enthralled by the depth of the beauty of the carved pieces.) I ended up limping from room to room, dragging my uncooperative back along and trying to sit down whenever possible, just to see as much as I could.

Of all the places we visited, I would put The Field Museum at the top of my list of places to return to should I ever return to Chicago.

We took the bus back into The Loop and made a quick foray into Ulta (face masks and mascara) and Blick (paper cutting tools) and Wow Bao (bao and ginger sodas) before going back to the hotel. While The Back (I have a good back! Really!) and I took a nap, Dave went out to Mariano's for things to round out another cheese and bread dinner.  (He came home with a big salad, strawberries, peaches, Asian pears, a slice of chocolate cake and a Napoleon.)

After dinner, dessert, and an ibuprofen chaser for the back, we turned in for the night.

(I really do have a good back! Yes, it does occasionally get twinge-y if I throw on the wheel a bunch without periodic stretching breaks, but most of the time it's really good! I think what got to me in Chicago was the soft, unfamiliar hotel bed and leaning over to look at exhibits that are meant for more average height folk. (Both Dave and I are taller than average, I think.) And, yes, though I am loathe to admit it, all the hours we spent sitting on the train didn't help.)