(07/25/12) Jelly Belly and The Field Museum, Chicago

Yesterday, we had seen a sign for "Jelly Belly" on the highway and I KNEW it was for factory tours. So, George obligingly took the exit ramp and we went to go check it out. Turns it, they had closed an hour before. My kind husband, just announced that he would bring me back in the morning. I was very squeal-y. I do not love Jelly Belly beans because I never know what they are and invariably end up eating the ones flavored like shoe leather, calamari or earwax. But they are still candy, and THAT, I love.

So, we got up this morning and headed to the factory. To my surprise, I learned it is not the actual factory. It is a shipping and receiving plant. I was still happy to be in candyland, real factory or not, and happily rode around the outside perimeter of the warehouse in a giant electric train/ tram watching videos of how the beans are made. I do not think George was as happy as I...

 After our tour, we got a free sample bag of beans. And then we were led into the store where candy was flying hand over fist and I had to get mine, so I started grabbing and loading up George's arms. Twenty minutes and more dollars than that later, we were done and back outside. Before we left, we found a cache outside the plant in the woods. I have been happily munching on beans since then and have found only 4 flavors that I cannot stand: grapefruit, mint chocolate, cake batter and licorice. Shudder.

And now, we were on to Chicago. Man, the roads are bad! Potholes everywhere and uneven surfaces. Both of us remarked that we were glad we were not driving the convertible, as it would have been swallowed up whole. We were concerned about where we were going to park because we were towing the Joey and traditional parking decks in cities were not going to be an option. As we wove our way through the Museum Campus area, George was reading signage and I was using the Google area maps on the iPad. I had a hunch, so we tried it. We pulled up to the Marina parking lot for Burnham Harbors and it worked! There were more than a few cars towing empty boat trailers and parked in long, bus-sized spaces. Perfect! I knew there had to be a day-use boat launch and somewhere for those people to leave their cars and trailers while out on their boats!

Happily, we exited our vehicle and began the long haul all the way back to the museum. And on the way, we passed... Soldier Field. Oh, no. Now we have seen two stadiums, but George still swears it is not going to become a "thing". I don't know if I believe him: 

We finally made it to the Field Museum. And I got to see her. Sue. What is it about a formerly carnivorous, Jurassic skeleton that makes every little girl's heart skip a beat? Named for the archeologist (Sue Hendrickson) who uncovered her, Sue is not only the largest T-Rex skeleton ever found, but it is also the most complete. Bones from this skeleton have not been found as part of other skeletons, leaving our understanding of a Tyrannosaur's anatomy and mobility incomplete. One of the missing bones was the furcula (wish bone) -- I'd love to battle my sister at Thanksgiving with that! She sets the record for length at 40 1/2 feet. Her bones alone weigh almost 4,000 pounds and are preserved so well that scientists can see where tendons and ligaments used to be attached.

Sue was not the only reason we came to the Field Museum, but she certainly started the idea. The Field Museum was one part of the World's Fair that was held in Chicago in 1893. Back then, many people donated things for display or donated money to help the growing collection. The Museum is known for its specimens, some of which were curated for the World's Fair. These items are still in the collection and we had fun looking at each item's accession number to see if was from that time. (Hint: 000-350 and 15,500-15,700 are the magic numbers!) We saw some very weird critters. Do you know what these are?

(Answers: top -- Aye Aye, middle --Siaga, bottom -- Indian Gray Mongoose) While I disagree with the practice of killing animals to study them, I do recognize that zoos simply cannot house a pair of specimens of every creature on this Earth. The Field Museum preserves million of specimens from around the world in dry storage from insects shells, to fluids, to tissue, to bones and feathers. And, it does not get its specimens by hunting animals that are alive and well, but by recovering animals that have already died from zoos, state wildlife groups and nature centers. They re-use their specimens, remounting them if necessary. Most specimens in their collection have been dead for more than 50 years, and some for more than 100 years. We also got to see the Tsavo Lions and learn about the story behind them. We had a great time and stayed almost until closing.