Shedd Aquarium &
The Natural History Museum
Chicago, Illinois
January 29th &
30th, 2005
Past Trip
Report
The Shedd is one of the coolest aquariums in the country and known as "The Worlds Aquarium." This place is fantastic. Opened in 1929, it is one of the oldest public aquariums in the world. The Shedd has a rich history that spans decades, and it was created by people like you, who continue to drive World's aquarium into the 21st century.
This weekend's adventure was fantastic. It had been a few years since I had been there and the changes were incredible. The new Wild Reef and Shark exhibit was amazing, and the story of
it's creation is a
testament to the
ingenuity of the people running the Shedd.
When they wanted to expand, the aquarium asked for a permit to build another wing onto the
aquarium. Since it was a nationally registered historic landmark, they were told that anything they built had to match the surrounding architecture. Since they couldn't exactly afford to build the way they did in1929, they built the whole new wing underground, much like the law library at U of M. The construction was amazing. When you exited the elevator, it was like taking a dive into a coral cathedral. The fish
and soft corals were amazing and very healthy. The whole trip was worth it just to see this amazing
new exhibit. But the Shedd offered more. They had an Amazon rain forest, great lakes, seahorses and leafy Sea dragons, and the pacific
northwest pool that seemed to extend on for miles. The Beluga Whale exhibit
it was fantastic, as was the dolphins and sea otters. They even had paddle fish and sturgeons actively swimming in the Great lakes exhibit. In the Caribbean Reef exhibit, a
diver in a full face mask was interacting with the crowd and answering questions while swimming in the tank feeding the fish. It was really a fun time.
Right across the street from the aquarium is the Field Natural History Museum. Featured in the scary movie "Relic" this place was truly larger than life. There was so much to
see, you could take a whole weekend just for this museum and not see it all. As you walk in you are greeted by SUE, an almost complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and the exhibits seem to stretch on for miles. Since we were limited in our time, we chose to visit the Machu Pichu exhibit. We were not allowed to take pictures, but the exhibit was well worth the time. For you archaeological buffs it was really
something to see the work of 14th and 15th century artisans unearthed almost a decade ago.
We also wanted to see the Lions known as the Man-Eaters of Tsavo. In the late 1800's the British wanted to build a train bridge over the Tsavo River in Africa. These Two Maneless Lions went on a rampage and killed 146
people before they were killed. Their story was made into a movie called the "Ghost and the Darkness" and the story of how they came to the museum was really cool. (You will just have to visit their next year with us to read it for yourself). The last exhibit we had time for was Ancient Egypt. This was a fascinating exhibit with a number of mummies and artifacts laid out in a vast exhibit. You could spend
hours here and not see it all, it was really worth the time.
We had a lot of fun and hope to visit the Shedd and the Field Museum again next winter and we hope you will join us!
