Tag: Field Museum

Free February at the Field

Free February at the Field

When it’s below 20-degrees outside Chicago adventures don’t sound all that appealing. Unless of course, the Chicago activity involves something indoors…and free.

For the entire month of February, the Field Museum is opening its doors for free to Illinois residents. This Saturday was the perfect time to take advantage of this (warm) museum because my brother came to visit and we hadn’t been to the museum since grade school. We certainly weren’t the only ones who decided to take advantage of the free admission, so we spent the day shoulder to shoulder with other museum goers.

We opted to skip the special exhibitions that cost a little extra, but still had plenty to see. First things first, we had to greet Sue, Chicago’s famous T-Rex, who looked charming as ever. Then, we worked our way through the Ancient Americas exhibit. This started with the first people groups known in the Americas and progressed to the history of Native American and Arctic Peoples. My favorite part was taking a pow wow in the Pawnee Earth Lodge, the buffalo fur covered benches made for a perfect mid-museum break.

Our next stop was Ancient Egypt. Even though looking at actual mummies freaks me out a bit, I still enjoyed the exhibit. I always find myself amazed by the technology and innovation the ancient Egyptians used. We also made sure to go through the Evolving Planet exhibit, which had all kinds of animal fossils. My favorite creature from this section was definitely the giant sloth. Yeah, it looks exactly how it sounds.

By this point we had already spent nearly three hours in the museum and decided that Giordano’s was calling our name. I’ve always loved museums so I was glad to get the chance to come and visit the Field again. If you’ve never been or are in need of something warm and free to do, I would highly recommend paying the Field Museum a visit this February!

Until next time, Sue.

Sweet Home CHICAGO

Sweet Home CHICAGO

 

There is no better place on earth than Chicago and let me tell  you why…

  • Explore: Get to know the city through the CTA (Chicago’s public trains and buses). Students get U-Passes which provide unlimited access and serves as your passport to the city. This is a great way to explore different neighborhoods all over the city.
  • Cheer on Your Team: 24 hours after the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup for the 3rd time in 6 years, Chelsea Dagger is still playing in my head. Now Chicagoans are tracking the cup (AKA Lord Stanley) as it travels all around the city and prepare to continue the celebration during the parade and Rally at Soldier Field on Friday. Chicago is not only a hockey dynasty but also home to the Chicago Bears,  the Bulls, and crosstown rivals – White Sox and Cubs. Even if you’re not a die-hard Chicago sports fan, you can likely cheer for your hometown team with they compete in town (and Loyola students often have access to tickets ranging from $2-20 to check out these events)! This year not only did the Bulls make the playoffs, the Blackhawks win the championship, and the NFL held the draft in Millennium Park, but our own Loyola Ramblers won the Division 1 Men’s National Volleyball Championship for the second year in a row, but the Men’s Basketball Team also won the CBI tournament this spring. There really is no better place to cheer on both your collegiate and professional teams
  • Enjoy the Waves: Have you ever sailed before? Kayaked down the Chicago River? Or is the beach more of your scene? Or hop on an architectural boat tour of the city from Navy Pier. Either way, there are countless ways to enjoy Lake Michigan.
  • Get Fit: Work out at Halas, Loyola’s awesome new fitness center (complete with a new pool and rock climbing wall) that hosts several club, recreational and intramural sporting events and teams throughout the year. Or join a beach volleyball team, do yoga in Grant Park, run along the lake, or rent a bike from Chain Links or Divvy.
  • Bon appetit: Chicago has some amazing places to eat from Portillo’s  to Lou Malnatti’s to Taste of Chicago where you can try all of Chicago’s tastiest items (may we recommend a Chicago style hotdog, italian beef, and deep dish pizza). This is another time to hop onto the CTA and go to Little Italy, Chinatown, or any other cultural neighbordhood in the city to try some of the best ethnic food.
  • Appreciate the Arts: World-class artists & performers swarm the city throughout the year so catch a Broadway Show, the Joffrey Ballet, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony, a late night show at The Green Mill, or concerts at venues all over the city. Looking to see an inexpensive show on campus, learn what Colossus means at Loyola (it’s one of my favorite Loyola events)!
  • See the Sights: It’s never too late to play tourist and find out why everyone takes selfies at “The Bean” or see why everyone loves Sue at the Field Museum. Don’t forget to check out the view of the skyline from the Adler Planetarium, the SkyDeck in the Sears Tower, or from the Signature Room in the John Hancock Building. While you’re at it, just hit up the rest of the museum campus – The Shedd Aquarium, and The Museum of Science & Industry (thought some of the smaller, more niche museums are among my favorites).

Really though, the only way to fall in love with Chicago is visit and explore it yourself!

Night at the Museum

Night at the Museum

As I’ve mention before, my friend Natalie is a member of the Field Museum. And in being a member she has the total hook-up! Tonight we were able to explore and participate in special activities just for Members’ Night!  This is sort of the behind the scenes look at some of the items in storage, offices, library, laboratories and parts of the museum you don’t get to see every day.  It is a super popular event as a lot of people were there.

There was even live Mongolian dance and music performers to celebrate the new Genghis Khan exhibit.

Highlights of the night include holding a very poisonous live tarantula… Just kidding! Not poisonous at all and in fact very friendly!

Seeing unique artifacts in storage that have not been seen by human eyes in decades! Well, that’s not true, but they are not part of the main current exhibits.

And taking home a real dinosaur bone souvenir! Or the cast replica, but it still looks pretty convincing!

Free Days!

Free Days!

Being that I am a poor college student I prefer to do everything at little to no cost. Due to my economic status, I have become very good at LEGALLY spending little to no money on basically everything in Chicago. From food discounts to just knowing where and when to go places, I have learned it all. Oh, although I am not the biggest fan of Apple’s products, there is totally an app, FREEvents Chicago, for finding cheap things to do in the city.

Here are the free days for all of the best Museums in Chicago:

Museum of Science and Industry

Shedd Aquarium

Adler Planetarium

Field Museum

Art Institute

5 of the Best Unlikely Places to Study

5 of the Best Unlikely Places to Study

As a nursing major, I study a lot. It’s vital for me to have plenty of different options of places to study at, or I get sick of my surroundings and can’t focus. Here are a few of my favorite (and less commonly used) study spots:

5. Millennium Park – This is not the place to go when it’s rainy or cold out, but Millennium Park is just a quick train ride away. It’s huge, so you have plenty of options for places to sprawl out and work. And there’s the added bonus of great people watching and great restaurants downtown when you need a study break.

4. The Mundelein Greenhouse – Located in Mundelein, Loyola’s center for the Fine and Performing Arts, the greenhouse is awesome if you want some quiet studying, but don’t want the crowds of the library and Information Commons (IC) or you don’t want to go to far from your dorm. Because of the panoramic view, I recommend going there in the early hours of the night or when it’s storming or snowing.

3. The beach – We’re lucky enough to have a beach within a few blocks of campus, so why not take advantage of it? If the weather is mild and you have homework that doesn’t require a computer, nothing is more pleasant than reading on a beach towel while getting some sun and watching Lake Michigan.

2. A coffee or tea shop…downtown – Most students know just how awesome it is to study in the multitude of great coffee shops that surround our campus (The Daily Cup, Metropolis, etc), so if you want to go to a place that isn’t swarming with students, I recommend going downtown. Personally, I highly recommend Argo Tea off of the Lake stop of the Red Line.

1. The Field Museum – It’s a bit of a hike (you take the Red Line to Roosevelt and then walk about 15 minutes), but when I have a particularly bad case of cabin fever, this is my favorite spot to go.  I know it seems a bit out there, but the Field is notorious for discount or free days, and there is something about reading your Nietzche, Anatomy/Physiology or other college reading on the couches in the World of Mammals section that makes you feel very much like a boss.