MOSI was huge. We got there at 11 and we left at 4. It has 3 floors filled with stuff and an extension that houses the Omnimax theatre and Space exhibit.
We toured a full size submarine, airplane and train just to give an idea of the size of this place. I gotta say when you have this volume of stuff and space. It should be laid out more organically but instead it was set up like a giant cross.
There was a play area for little ones called the Idea Factory which was great for Vivi. Lydia also liked this part but she was sort of caught between being too big for the baby area and too little for the children's factory part.
There were some great exhibits at MOSI one of my favorites was the interactive periodic table. I joked with Eliot that he's the scientist with the heart of a teacher and I'm the teacher with the heart of a scientist. The Last Reef movie was impressionably terrific but overall there wasn't anything that stood out that much. It did have a full size cafeteria and an ice cream shop. You can spend all day there easily but it will be unlikely that it would make the top of our list to visit again within the next 10 years.
We hopped a cab to Grant Park which houses the Art Institute of Chicago.
Eliot was looking at the Monets while I showed Lydia this George O'Keefe. I told her that when she was in my belly I fell in love with O'Keefe in New Mexico when we went to her museum.
Up until now every place we have been to has been interactive. People touch everything whether the children's museums or the aquarium or MOSI. It hadn't occurred to us to explain that things are a little different in here. I did mention that apparently this museum was a little quieter than others. She was okay with that whereas Vivian thought it was the perfect time to chat. Lydia had been to other art museums but she was a little younger.
We had just walked through the impressionists into contemporary art when Lydia jumped up and just poked a Jackson Polluck. Bypassed the protective wire and just poked it. Now I have to admit I have almost done such a thing once or twice with great art specifically in Europe, when I've just wanted to eat it up the magnificence. We explained to Lydia that we don't touch and explained to her why. Telling her that the art was one or kind and precious and can not be changed in any way or it wouldn't be quite so special any more. She was embarrassed and hide in her stroller.
Eliot and I chuckled later that Lydia had just touched a painting valued over 50 million dollars without even a hesitation.
We moved into another contemporary art room and it was a bit more progressive. We walked into a dark room with only a small desk and a laptop playing a short scheme of a student studying. Once again Lydia leaped up and went to touch it but we interceded this time. The guard laughed out loud as we explained to Lydia that it was art but she looked at us like we were nuts. Surely thinking we have a laptop at home, why is this art?
As we walked around I asked her what pictures she likes and which she doesn't. Explaining art is different for everyone. We arrived at the design and architecture area and things are on platforms. We saw a funky chair. I said "look Lydia that's a chair and add quickly but we don't sit on it." She looked at me and says "that's not a chair it's a clam"(Pictured below)
By the end she was taking notes on the audio tour. We saw some famous classics like the American Gothic by Wood, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Serat and Wheatstacks by Monet.
After 8 hours of museums we were exhausted. We skipped the Taste of Chicago headed back to the hotel to regroup. We rested for about 30 minutes and then took a short stroll to Jack Melricks for the Chicago's Best Wings voted 3 years in a row. Our second visit there this week but definitely awesome taste of Chicago.
Tomorrow Milwaukee!
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