Wednesday in Chicago
Our second (and last) full day of vacation in Chicago ended well but began with a disappointment.
We slogged off to the Museum of Science and Industry. Despite its Stalinist name, it’s actually one of those interactive science places that seems to be the offspring of a museum that got lusty with an amusement park during shore leave. You’re always just a twist or a yank or a pop away from learning something. Unfortunately, the science seems aimed squarely at the Square Pants set. Why, did you know that DNA is all helixy, that friction generates heat, and that baby chicks are ooooh so cute? If so, please proceed directly to Don’t Go.
An Ode to an Interactive Science Museum
If it does not turn
you will not learn.
If it does not blare
you will not care.
If it does not bleep
you will go to sleep.
If it does not entertain
it will not enter your brain.
Not whore-ish?
It’s bore-ish.
Not fun?
Run run run.
Not a game?
Same old same.
Not TV?
Flee flee flee.We just can’t decide which is true:
That science is dull or is it you?
Since the Museum is near the University of Chicago, we wandered around for a while and had deep dish pizzi at a local joint we stumbled across, Florian’s. Good food, very friendly service. (People do seem friendlier here than in Boston. And seeming friendly correlates to seeming happy.)
We decided to go to the nearby Smart art museum, an eclectic mix that contained some pieces we really liked by people we’d never heard of. (The front room was filled with kindergarteners making their own creative works out of scraps of colored paper and paste. Being grinchy from the science museum, I wanted to shake the teacher by her shoulders and say: “No, dammit! You teach kids about art by teaching them to see, not by telling them that they’re artists too because they can paste paper.” But, while that sounds sort of good, I suspect it’s wrong.)
By the time we got back to the hotel, it was just about time to leave for Second City. It was a beautiful 35 minute walk north. Man, are the streets lively here! The outdoor cafes were full and the weather was perfect.
Second City was great. The show consisted of three acts. The first two were sketches, with one improvised bit in each. The third was “long form” improvisation. Funny and likable, and definitely not coasting on their fame.
This morning we leave, sniff sniff. We didn’t accomplish most of what we set out to do. We particularly failed at eating through our list of restaurants…I don’t think we ate in a single place that we’d planned to, because we were always (enjoyably) off schedule. But no complaints on that score. We also saw way too little of the city and barely made a dent in our List of Attractions. Again no complaints. We’re sorry to be departing Chicago’s broad shoulders.
