Well that was disappointing

Awhile ago we read "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America" for our bookclub. A fascinating book in which author Erik Larson writes of incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. It read like fiction, but is the nonfictional story of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor. So, when the Hart Park Senior Center put out a flyer for a day trip to the Chicago Field Museum to see the special exhibition "Wonders of the 1893 Worlds Fair" my friend Chris and I anxiously signed up.

The flyer indicated we would see a movie first about the exhibition, then we would enter the museum and be on our own. Well, we did see a movie, but it was about "Sue" the largest Tyrannosaurus Rex ever found. Sue is on display in the main lobby of the museum and is impressive, but we were disappointed that the film wasn't about the World's Fair.

After the movie, us "seniors" were directed into the "Wonders of the 1893 Worlds Fair" exhibition. We saw objects on display like a meteorite (yawn) and saw how Field Museum scientists continue to conduct ground-breaking research and how the fair lives on even today, at The Field Museum (double/triple yawn). There were samples of other country's artifacts that had been on display at the fair, like from Java. (more yawns)  We did see some clever large photographs that had been altered to include animation making it look like a few seconds of video.

The trip was disappointing, but hopefully we'll have an opportunity to see a movie based on the book.  It is in the works as the rights were purchased by Leonardo DiCaprio, staring Leonardo and Nicholas Cage. Click to watch a short video about the movie.

One of the photo's on display

Sue