CHICAGO! Day 5

After the dud of an activity the day before, when we woke up on Saturday we wanted to do something fun!  In our case, fun = nerdy!  So we chose the Museum of Science and Industry.

Included in the cost of our GoChicago card was the admission to the museum plus an Omnimax movie - we could choose Tornado Alley, narrated by the fabulous Bill Paxton, or Born to be Wild, which was sure to be the pull-at-your-heartstrings-and-make-you-cry type. Twister wins!  It was really good - storm chasers never get old, in my book.

After the movie we walked around the ships, cars, and aviation exhibits:

We quickly passed through a creepy circus exhibit:

Then saw a model of the Mars Rover:

They had a farm exhibit where nearly every artifact was interactive.  The coolest was the soybean exhibit - they had a house set up and you could go through each room and try to identify all the products/groceries had soy in them.  It was in pretty much everything - allergic to soy protein?  You're SCREWED IN LIFE. Also, cute chicks!

Dave about wet himself when he saw the U-505 submarine exhibit.  This is the bully, German sub that terrorized the Atlantic and was captured by the US Navy in 1944.  It is HUGE.  You can go inside it for an additional fee that we didn't pay, but they had plenty of information and pictures to get the idea of how cozy it would be in there with 200 of your closest friends.

What huge torpedoes!  Why, sank you!

This is why I called the U-505 a bully - here's how many ships it destroyed during each year of  WWII.

The best exhibit was MythBusters - for which we did pay extra!  

It was very interactive like the farming exhibit - so we dug in and did some experimenting!  First up - build a house out of brick, insulation, and/or wood, and see if it can withstand hurricane-force winds.

Lost 1 piece of insulation, but it stayed put!  I win!

Next, do you get wetter running or walking in the rain?  Dave ran, I walked - you be the judge:

The black light didn't pick up much rain on my sweater, so it appears that running gets you wetter!

Lastly, pull the tablecloth out from underneath a table set for dinner:

#fail.  I didn't pull hard enough and it only came halfway off.  

Second try - all the dishes stayed on the table!

Dave didn't tug hard enough either...

...but got it on the 2nd try, just like me.

The final part of the exhibit was a live demonstration using audience volunteers to test a person's ability to dodge a bullet.  The hosts were tres annoying, but it was cool to see the scientific method at work!  #NERD. Surprise, it's easier to dodge a bullet when you have a 2 second warning.  Duh.

Back into the main museum, we got to create a tornado:

I'm not ashamed - this next part makes me look stupid.  A few weeks ago, Nate posted a link from the Oatmeal about a petition to build a Tesla museum.  I thought OMG why does the 80's hair band, Tesla, deserve a museum?  And why would stupid people sign such a stupid petition?  

Had I actually clicked on the link I would have learned that it was not referring to the 80's hair band, Tesla, but Nikola Tesla, inventor, physicist, and engineer.  lol@kristen.  But I didn't click the link, so when Dave looked up at the ceiling and yelled "A TESLA COIL," I responded WTF is a Tesla coil? 

Then I saw it:

Well duh.

Nerded out, we went to Gene and Georgetti for dinner. The restaurant was like a scene out of every mob movie ever made, from the location under the L to the booth in the corner that gives a clear view of everyone who enters and exits. 

The airport shuttle driver had recommended it as the best place to get a steak, and we probably should have taken his advice. We went with traditional Italian, with me ordering ravioli and Dave the lasagna. We swapped halfway through since the ravioli was made with bleu cheese which I didn’t like. But the experience was great and we got to eat at a place frequented by the Rat Pack.