The second attempt

As I mentioned, last week L. and I tried to take advantage of the Adler Planetarium's free Wednesday night deal, but after four plus hours of driving the best we could do was to see the outside of the museum before heading back home. Last night we made our second attempt.

We did things a little differently this time. First, before getting tickets, I checked the Soldier Field schedule to double check there weren't any more huge events. Second, we parked at my sister-in-law's house in the South loop. (No, I don't know either why we didn't do this the first time. In fact somewhere along Michigan Avenue last week I was realizing the magnitude of that missed opportunity.) These two things made for a much different... and significantly more enjoyable... outing. 

The walk from my sister-in-law's is about twenty-five minutes to the Adler. It's a lovely walk along the south side of Grant Park and then along the museum campus.


After you go around the Shed Aquarium, you get a lovely view of the planetarium.


We had plenty of time for L. to look at all the things as well as grabbing some dinner and checking out the museum shop. I don't think there was an inch of the museum we didn't cover. We ended by seeing the star show about the possible existence of a ninth planet. No, not Pluto which is part of the Kuiper Belt, but a much, much bigger one. This was all old news to L., but all new to me. 

L. standing below her favorite planet, Saturn. 


After the start show, it was about 8:45, so we decided to call it a night and head back. I have never realized this, but when you exit the planetarium, you are met by a fantastic view of the Chicago skyline, which is pretty spectacular when lit up at night.


We even caught some of the fire works being shot off of Navy Pier.


It was a great trip and far, far better than it would've been in the condensed time we would of had if I had paid the extortionist parking fee. But I'm done with driving into the city for a bit. This was my third time in seven days. (We also drove into the city on Saturday to help D. get his stuff moved into his apartment.) And yes, seeing how much L. enjoyed the museum made it all worth it. 

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