by Lonye Scott
Chicago has beautiful museums across the city — it’s one of the best museum cities in the world. Today I’ll introduce to you five of my favorites. You can’t go wrong on a rainy weekend with any of these.
One of the most popular museums is the Art Institute Of Chicago. With the iconic lions on the front side of the building, this museum has a lot to offer. Inside, you will find yourself looking at over 300,000 types of art from different cultures. The basement of this museum is my favorite. There are tiny miniature rooms, meticulously constructed. These include mini tables and chairs that are only about an inch width and height.
Second, I would like to introduce to you the Museum of Science and Industry. This was one of my childhood favorites. This museum consists of thousands of wonderful scientific facts and a lot of hands-on visuals and activities to really get the full space effect. It includes artifacts from Apollo 8, coal mine replicas, and a World War II submarine. If you know anybody that wants to be an astronaut, this would hands-down be the best thing they could experience before being on the moon itself.
Next, there’s the National Museum of Mexican Art. This amazing museum features Mexican, Latino, and Chicano art and culture. I remember going on a field trip to this museum and seeing a lot of art I’d never seen before. The artwork inside this museum had great use of color, and I could feel the story behind each and every piece. The National Museum of Mexican Art holds a lot of value to Chicago, considering that it is the only Latino museum accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
Then, there’s the Shedd Aquarium. This is another really popular museum. Aside from the beautiful location of it being right beside the lake, there are over 32,000 different types of sea animals inside. The Shedd Aquarium was the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection. It’s always wonderful to see animals from all over the world together in one building. This aquarium is “Finding Nemo” in real life!
Finally, I would like to introduce you all to my number one childhood favorite museum: The Children’s Museum of Chicago. If you have a kid, know a kid or are simply a kid at heart this, museum is the perfect place for you. It’s basically a huge playground, and who doesn’t love parks! It includes a huge zip-line, super sized slides, and ball pits. I went here a couple times growing up and I swore it felt like my birthday each time.
As we come to the end of this list, I hope you will at least consider visiting these wonderful museums. You’ll be amazed and educated on many new things by the end of the night. And who knows? Maybe you will see me there and thank me for making your Saturday special.
