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Every summer for the past three summers I’ve taken a trip to see my older brother, who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.  I go the week of the Fourth of July, when everything slows down and we can enjoy some quality time together.

As part of my visits, we always spend a day or two in Chicago.  We will drive a couple of hours north from Indy to Hammond, Indiana, where we catch the South Shore Line train to Chicago’s Millennium Station.

Every visit is different, as Chicago contains multitudes of everything:  museums, restaurants, public artworks, parks, libraries, theatres—and a Dunkin’ Donuts on every block.  It is also a wonderland of architecture, as various Gilded Age magnates competed with one another following the Great Chicago Fire to build the biggest, tallest, most ornate buildings in the world.  I love how every nook and cranny of Chicago seems to possess some beautiful architectural flourish and Gothic ornamentation.

This trip, we decided to spend the morning of our second day to visit the legendary Field Museum of Natural History.  The Field Museum is most notable for Sue, the massive Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil, a replica of which is on display deep in the bowels of the museum.  Her actual skull is displayed nearby, as well as this impressive Triceratops skull:

I love museums, and while I love art and historical museums, I think natural history museums are my favorites by far.  There is something mind-blowing and humbling about witnessing the breadth and depth of God’s Creation, from ancient beasts to exquisite gemstones to human artifacts (the last of which, really, is an extension of God’s Creative Power, that small sliver with which he endowed us humans, made in His Image).

The Field Museum had all of that—and more!—in glorious abundance.

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