Chicago: Wander, Learn, Explore at The Museum Campus

Chicago’s Museum Campus is a 57 acre lakefront area that links the Field Museum of Natural History, the Adler Planetarium, and the John G. Shedd Aquarium, 10 acres of which is still a green and flourishing Lake Michigan park.  The campus opened in 1998 following a $110 million relocation of Lake Shore Dr.  The campus is a successful partnership between the three museums, the park district, and the city, making it a beautiful and culture filled addition to the city.

To see an overview of the Museum Campus you can check out a  Google View of the area, or a 360º view and video of the Campus and park.

The Field Museum of Natural history currently has many great exhibits for everyone.  Until January 1st, you can still check out the famous King Tutankhamun: The Golden Age of Pharaohs exhibit.  The exhibit features over 130 artifacts excavated from the tomb of Tut himself, along with many of his ancient relatives.  The exhibit has grown nearly twice it’s size since the exhibit was first released in 1977.  Many of the relics have never before been out of Egypt until the conception of this new exhibit.  You can also explore the mysteries surrounding the death of King Tut with the marvels of CT Scanning technology.

The Field Museum is also the home of Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil.  Sue is a permanent exhibition of the museum and can be seen at any visit to the museum and there is no extra charge to go and see Sue, other than the museums entry fee. 

The Field museum has many other permanent collections, public learning exhibits and is a research facility for Geology, Biology, Anthropology, and Zoology.   The general admission pricing for the Field museum is $12 for adults, $7 for children ages 4-11, students (with ID), and Seniors (ages 65+).  There are often various discount days and free days to the Field Museum and many other Chicago museums.  Check  The Field Museum of Natural History’s website for more information on exhibits, hours, and ticket pricing.

Next stop at Chicago’s Museum Campus is The Adler Planetarium.  Far Out Fridays are always a fun Friday night activity from 4:30-10:00 PM.  The first Friday of each month The Adler presents a new science fiction film at 8:15 in the Universe Theater.  Far Out Fridays have many educational activities, telecope viewing of the sky, and sometimes feature lectures by Adler astronomers.

Currently at Adler they are featuring their new exhibit, Shoot for the Moon, highlighting stories of space exploration and also future plans of retugning to the moon.  There are two galleries in the the exhibit and many thrilling hands on exhibits as well.  The exhibit is state-of-the-art and is a sure fire way to feel as close to a lunar landing as possible while maintaining both feet on the ground.

You can check out more about The Adler Planetarium at Adlerplanetarium.org.   You can also find out more information on future exhibits, pricing information, and featured films on their site.

Last, but in no way least, on the Museum Campus is the John G. Shedd Aquarium.  The aquarium itself has an amazing Lake Michigan view and is a great place to catch the sunrise view of Lake Michigan and the city skyline.  The aquarium itself is the largest indoor aquarium in the world and boasts of its over 8000 aquatic animals.

The aquarium offers many ongoing exhibits and displays.  Recently I was alerted to a set of programming which they also offer.  A bit on the pricey side, but seemingly interesting beyond belief, the aquarium offers adult programs that allow you to be a trainer for a day, teaches you underwater photography and coral diving, and also feature many college sponsored programs as well.

For a mere $350 you can shadow one of the Shedd’s trainers for a day.  The “Trainer for a day” program takes the participant behind-the-scenes for a day to follow in the foot steps of a Shedd trainer and work with the sea lions, dolphins, and whales, while learning more about training, feeding, and maintaining the aquariums vast animal population.  The group size of each session is limited to three participants and can only be scheduled by appointmet. 

Of course there are exhibits that will take you into the aquatic world that are far less than $350.  Being the largest aquarium in the world there is a species bound to strike an aquatic interest for just about anyone.  From sharks to penguins, dolphins to amazon frogs and turtles, the Shedd has enough exhibits to keep you occupied for hours while exploring more of the under water world that tends to go unnoticed in our daily routine.

You can find out more about any of the Shedd’s programs, classes, exhibits, and pricing at the  Shedd Aquariums website.

Chicago’s Museum Campus offers a little bit of something for everyone of nearly any interest all surrounded by a beautiful location with beautiful views.  There are also discount passes that can be gotten through the  Chicago City pass website for a mere $49 dollars.  The passes allow you entrance into five attractions throughout the city and gives you nine days to visit all five places.  With the amount of exhibits at each museum, this is a highly recommended way to keep the cost down and allow you enough time to fully enjoy each one!  Just remember that some exhibits, like King Tut at the Field for example, are still extra, but are discounted at times and based on availability.