Yesterday I went with my brother and my boyfriend to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. This was my second time going since 2007 when my mother took me and both my brothers on a Chicago trip. This second time around was fun, but I figured I should make a list of what and what not to do when you make one of these trips.
1. Buy all tickets in advance. There are ticketed exhibits and special traveling exhibits, and unfortunately many of them are timed-entry with no-reentry afterwards, not to mention that the prices are very high. So you either get tickets for the special exhibit or for the timed-tour, but not both.
2. Use the parking garage instead of the outside parking lot. The parking lot outside has a parking meter that puts you on a time-limit. The parking garage fee rates increase for every hour you're at the museum, but at the same time it's not on a time limit like the parking meter. Alternatively you can park at one of the L stations and take the subway and buses.
3. Plan on having lunch either before or after the 12:00 hour, because everyone wants to have lunch at noon, and so the lines are very long. And we all know how annoying it is to stand for fifteen to twenty minutes in line to get lunch when you don't have much time. So wait until crowd thins out before grabbing lunch. Also, be mindful of portion sizes (and any preexisting jaw problems* that you or someone in your group may have, but I digress).
4. Make sure that you and your buddies are all on the same page. Before you even leave on your trip, make sure you all agree on what you want to see. Don't be in a hurry as it affects not only your enjoyment but the enjoyment of everyone in your group.
5. Go during the spring and fall. I generally recommend going on a weekday when the museums aren't so busy, but with people's schedule this is often easier said than done. So if you have go on a weekend, that's fine. However, avoid going to the museums in Chicago during the summer as everyone and his kid brother will want to do the same thing and you will be thus unable to get in. You can go in winter, but that will greatly depend on how much snow there is.
6. Keep track of your possessions so that you don't lose anything or leave stuff behind.
Effectively what it all boils down to is good planning and organization.
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*I had a double root canal the day before our trip and didn't take the Ibuprofen soon enough when I had lunch. So eating was a chore.
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Monday, October 1, 2018
Reenactments in the Rain
It was making down like a drizzle on and off yesterday at the Wade House. The 10:30 cavalry skirmish was canceled, but they were able to recreate part of the Battle of South Mountain. I haven't studied South Mountain that much, but it was one of the events leading up to Antietam in 1862.
One of the highlights of yesterday's fight was the one brown horse was actually being obedient this year. In the past that horse would panic at sound of a gunshot. This year, he was listening to his master a lot more, for which I am glad. When I saw the horse's nervousness the first year, it was mildly understandable. But it got annoying in the following years.
The Medical Demonstrations are always as must. One reenactress is actually descended from the very first woman doctor Rebecca Chisholm. She even has some of her ancestress' original medical tools! The stories of Civil War hospitals being complete hellholes were exaggerated to varying degrees, but then again a lot of these guys are in searing agony and doctors still didn't know much of what we do now. But the piles of dead arms and legs were blown out of proportion after the Battle of Gettysburg (the weather had been very hot that time and there was a shortage of water for the field hospitals).
The reenactors show how surgeons did their jobs back in the 1860s. Among other things they showed was an early version of the stethoscope. Apparently it was invented because doctors had to press their ear against the patient's chest to listen to the heartbeat, and you can imagine how awkward it must have been for male doctors when they had to do it with a woman patient. So someone made a little trumpet-like tool press against the patient's chest so as to make hearing the heartbeat easier with minimal physical contact.
The doctor's performed a simulated operation on a dummy whereby they try to remove a bullet from a patient's wounded leg. If the bullet does not appear to have broken the bone, they can save the limb. If the bone is broken, they may have to amputate the limb to save the person's life. Sometimes they might try "sectioning", carefully removing an inch of the broken bone, which would render the limb slightly shorter than before. The doctor's desk had an array of medical books and little bottles of medicines.
[During the surgery simulator one little boy kept hiding his face in his mother's shirt. No surprise there, the concept of cutting someone open is very disturbing to the majority of people.]
Because of the drizzle it was muddy out. It was also chilly and we had to get my boyfriend a pair of mittens because his hands got cold quickly. It also meant that we were pressing close together to keep warm. He and I tend to do that anyway, but the cold weather made it all the more necessary because sweaters and cardigans aren't quite enough when the temperature is less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
One of the stalls was selling smoking hats. I was a little surprised because they looked exactly like the hats worn by people in Qing Dynasty China. At the time, partly thanks to the two Opium Wars, people in China took to smoking in certain rooms. This also took off in the U.S. and Europe, and Chinese-style smoking jackets and smoking hats were popular. Men wore them over their regular clothes so that the tobacco did not stick to them. I have been in a house where people were smoking all the time, and the smell of tobacco never leaves the place.
We got turned around several time going to the Kettle Moraine Visitor's Center and we got there twenty minutes before closing time. But were able to enjoy ten minutes of the little museum and getting my boyfriend a mammoth T-Shirt. It was too wet and chilly to go out on the observation deck, though.
One of the highlights of yesterday's fight was the one brown horse was actually being obedient this year. In the past that horse would panic at sound of a gunshot. This year, he was listening to his master a lot more, for which I am glad. When I saw the horse's nervousness the first year, it was mildly understandable. But it got annoying in the following years.
The Medical Demonstrations are always as must. One reenactress is actually descended from the very first woman doctor Rebecca Chisholm. She even has some of her ancestress' original medical tools! The stories of Civil War hospitals being complete hellholes were exaggerated to varying degrees, but then again a lot of these guys are in searing agony and doctors still didn't know much of what we do now. But the piles of dead arms and legs were blown out of proportion after the Battle of Gettysburg (the weather had been very hot that time and there was a shortage of water for the field hospitals).
The reenactors show how surgeons did their jobs back in the 1860s. Among other things they showed was an early version of the stethoscope. Apparently it was invented because doctors had to press their ear against the patient's chest to listen to the heartbeat, and you can imagine how awkward it must have been for male doctors when they had to do it with a woman patient. So someone made a little trumpet-like tool press against the patient's chest so as to make hearing the heartbeat easier with minimal physical contact.
The doctor's performed a simulated operation on a dummy whereby they try to remove a bullet from a patient's wounded leg. If the bullet does not appear to have broken the bone, they can save the limb. If the bone is broken, they may have to amputate the limb to save the person's life. Sometimes they might try "sectioning", carefully removing an inch of the broken bone, which would render the limb slightly shorter than before. The doctor's desk had an array of medical books and little bottles of medicines.
[During the surgery simulator one little boy kept hiding his face in his mother's shirt. No surprise there, the concept of cutting someone open is very disturbing to the majority of people.]
Because of the drizzle it was muddy out. It was also chilly and we had to get my boyfriend a pair of mittens because his hands got cold quickly. It also meant that we were pressing close together to keep warm. He and I tend to do that anyway, but the cold weather made it all the more necessary because sweaters and cardigans aren't quite enough when the temperature is less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
One of the stalls was selling smoking hats. I was a little surprised because they looked exactly like the hats worn by people in Qing Dynasty China. At the time, partly thanks to the two Opium Wars, people in China took to smoking in certain rooms. This also took off in the U.S. and Europe, and Chinese-style smoking jackets and smoking hats were popular. Men wore them over their regular clothes so that the tobacco did not stick to them. I have been in a house where people were smoking all the time, and the smell of tobacco never leaves the place.
We got turned around several time going to the Kettle Moraine Visitor's Center and we got there twenty minutes before closing time. But were able to enjoy ten minutes of the little museum and getting my boyfriend a mammoth T-Shirt. It was too wet and chilly to go out on the observation deck, though.
Correction
Three years ago, I made a list of my Top 12 Favorite Male Opera Singers. Juan Diego Florez was at the top with Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Kyle Ketelsen coming in second and third respectively. This has become largely inaccurate. While I still like JDF, it was Dima and Mr. Ketelsen who were tied for first place all along. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy all the singers on my list. But when it comes to which one I get excited over the most, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Kyle Ketelsen both come out on top.
Dmitri Hvorostivsky was the one I gushed over the most even before I realized it, and I still do almost a year after his death. I bought more of his recordings than of any other singer. It was through Dima that I fell in love with opera back in 2007, and he still remains one of my biggest influences to this day. However, as much as I loved seeing him Live in HD, I only had the pleasure of seeing him live onstage once.
Kyle. Ketelsen is the singer whom I have seen perform live the most. This man lives in my hometown, in fact, I've even met him in person. I have seen him perform in two operas, three recitals, and he even did a master class at my high school during my senior year. I may have only heard him perform over the radio once, but it doesn't matter when he gets perform IN MADISON!
Sorting favorites as means of just keeping track of them doesn't always work in the long run. Sometimes the one you thought was your absolute favorite may not have been at all. Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Kyle Ketelsen were tied from the beginning, and I only recognized that this past month.
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