Travel updates for Chicago park and Galena ice cream and National Civil Rights Museum

Now is a good time to plan a visit close to home, a day’s drive out or a little further away because lots of travel destinations are beginning to open and gas is still in the budget range.

"Coud Gate" (The Bean) reflects people and skyline in Millennium Park. (J Jacobs photo)
“Cloud Gate” (The Bean) reflects people and skyline in Millennium Park. (J Jacobs photo)

Chicago

Restaurants and bars have opened their outdoor seating areas. Among them is The Loyalist at 177 N. Ada Street near Randolph Row. It has had walk-ins but will likely be taking reservations beginning Wednesday, June 24,2020. If you go: expect more French style choices.

Millennium Park and Lakefront

Yes, you can visit Cloud Gate (The Bean). If you go: take selfies and don’t touch it. Most of Millennium Park is open but masks are encouraged as is social distancing.

The same goes for the lakefront which isopen as of today, June 22, 2020 to movers, not sitters. that means walkers, joggers, cyclists.

 

The historic town of Galena, IL has yummy shops and good festivals. (J Jacobs photo)
The historic town of Galena, IL has yummy shops and good festivals. (J Jacobs photo)

Galena

Tucked into northwestern Illinois near the Wisconsin and Iowa borders is the charming town of Galena. There are lots of good B&B and restaurant choices because rolling hills, historic homes and fun shops make the town a popular summer (and fall) destination.

If you go:  stop at the American Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor, the Fried Green Tomatoes  restaurant and Galena Cellars.

Lorraine Hotel site of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. (J Jacobs photo)
Lorraine Hotel site of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. (J Jacobs photo)

National Civil Rights Museum

Memphis, TN has a lot to offer as vacation destination. However, if interested in understanding more about the global Black Lives Matter movement  then  visit to the famed museum based at the Lorraine Motel, 450 Mulberry St, where Martin Luther King Jr was shot. The museum plans to reopen July 1, 2020.

If you go: you will need a timed ticket and have to wear a face covering. For tickets and other information visit National Civil Rights Museum.

 

 

Thoughts on Memorial Day

Chicago Memorial Day Parade on State Street. (City of Chicago photo)
Chicago Memorial Day Parade on State Street. (City of Chicago photo)

With so many events canceled and people staying home to be safe, we may barely note that Memorial Day Weekend is upon us. But some places such as Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon have procedures in place to again allow visitors and other destinations are planning to reopen. So with that in mind think of where you might want to go to recognize the meaning of Memorial Day.

The following article is a reprint of one I did for the Chicago Tribune when I was a regular contributor to Features and Travel. It is “Military Museums: Fit one into a long weekend or summer destination.”

Heads up vacationers, you know that Memorial Day, May 25 (in 2015), and not the Summer Solstice, June 21, marks the start of summer vacations. But Memorial Day really is a time to honor people who lost their life while serving in the United States armed forces.

As a long weekend or the start of a summer journey it’s a perfect time to visit military museums to find out more about wars in which the US was engaged, their eras, battle conditions, leaders and places. And it’s simpler than you may guess because military museums dot the US from California to Florida. They range from huge displays of lifelike dioramas to small gems of plane and vehicle-filled hangers. And they often are near vacation destinations. Here are just some of the places to put on your do now list.

 

Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, FL

If you have watched in wonder as the Navy’s Blue Angels have zoomed overhead during the Chicago Air and Water Show, you can see them up close inside a hanger at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL and practicing outside.

But that wouldn’t be the only or even main reason to go there. Walk under and around a combat F-14D Tomkcat or a rare SBD Dauntless Bureau No. 2106 from the Battle of Midway. Glimpse the Western Front in a World War I diorama. Or see the replica of the WW II USS Cabot aircraft carrier’s Island and flight deck and go to its main deck to try the ship’s anti-aircraft gun battery. Memorial Day is also about people so look for vintage uniforms and memorabilia such as flight logs.

But don’t miss the Cubi Bar Café. Way more than a place to relax while touring the museum, the café replicates the mid-twentieth-century Cubi Point Officers’ Club that was in the Philippines. Known for its bar lined with squadron plaques started during the Vietnam War, the plaques here are the real ones sent to the museum when the Officers’ Club closed.

You will want a place to rest tired feet. The museum has 350,000 square feet of exhibits and covers 37 acres. NAS, as the base is known, dates from 1914. It handles Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard flight personnel. As museum historian Hill Goodspeed pointed out during a recent phone interview, it is an aviation museum but the people who serve are important. “You will see more than flying machines. Look beyond the machines and focus on the individuals in the cockpit. We have memorabilia, but really it’s about those who served of various ages, including those in their teens, who were and are willing to fly into a dangerous situation and serve in the military to protect our freedom,” Goodspeed said.

Lyon Air Museum, Santa Ana, CA

In contrast, the Lyon Air Museum, tucked into the Martin Aviation corner of John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, CA is tiny. At a mere 30,000 square feet, its planes, jeeps and memorabilia, mostly from WWII, are easy to slip in a sightseeing jaunt when visiting Orange County, CA’s Irvine area.

“Visitors who come here don’t feel rushed. They see how small we are so they feel they can take their time to really see what’s here,” said Museum President Mark Foster.

However, finding the museum is a challenge on the airport’s winding back roads unless you are persistent and the GPS is working. But once there you find a gem.

It’s not hard to find the B-17 Flying fortress used in the Pacific, a Douglas A-26 “Invader” or the B-25 “Mitchell,” named for General “Billy” Mitchell. The museum isn’t just a good place to visit for its machines and memorabilia, it’s the docents. Many of them are military retirees

“We get letters from visitors who say they spoke to someone who served in the same squadron or area as a grandfather,” Foster said. He added, “Talking with our docents is like finding old letters from a family member. You hear their stories.”

Retired USAF Major General William Lyon who flew during WWII and Korea founded the museum so current generations would have some idea of WWII era vehicles and battles and stories. lyonairmuseum.org/

National Museum of the Pacific War, Fredricksburg, TX

Tourists coming to Fredericksburg, Texas for its very western look and shops, its nearby wine region and its abundant flower and peach fields will arguably be surprised to find a museum dedicated to the Pacific War and its veterans while walking down Main Street.

But Fredericksburg was where Admiral Chester Nimitz was born in 1885 and the congressional district that appointed him to the U.S. Naval Academy. A career naval officer, Nimitz was Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet and of the Pacific Ocean Areas for U.S. and Allied sea, land and air forces during WW II.

The background is important because it was the Admiral Nimitz Foundation that set up a museum in the former Nimitz Hotel in Fredericksburg in 1971.

Today, that museum is one of several stunning places to visit on the National Museum of the Pacific War’s six acres. Stop in the Nimitz Museum to learn of the Admiral’s career and see the historic hotel.

Iin the 33,000 square foot George H. W. Bush Gallery, follow the battles and America’s involvement on the Pacific Front beginning with Japan’s mindset that led to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Walk outside to the Japanese Garden of Peace, a gift from the Japanese military to the U.S. in honor of Nimitz. Also outside, see plaques honoring Pacific War heroes that line the Memorial Courtyard’s limestone walls.

Be sure to visit the Plaza of Presidents made up of stone and bronze monuments to the 10 U.S. presidents who served during WWII. A separate program, the Pacific Combat Zone, re-enacts engagements in a field two blocks east of the museum campus.

National WW2 Museum, New Orleans, LA

When looking for a fascinating way to work off at least some of New Orleans’ famed cuisine, check out the National WW2 Museum, a 220,500 square foot campus in the former Warehouse District known now as the Arts District.

Opened on the 56th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 2000 and affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, the building was called the D-Day Museum until the U.S. Congress officially designated it America’s National World War II Museum in 2003.

As with the Lyon Air Museum, the volunteers you encounter are likely to be war veterans. But you will need a good half day to experience this museum. Its galleries and movies cover all the fronts, from Home to Europe to the Pacific Islands in several pavilions and theaters.

The feeling of awe starts in the museum’ s multi-level atrium where you see a Douglas C-47 Skytrain and SBD Dauntless, a Supermarine Spitfire and Messerschmitt BF 109 hanging from the ceiling.

You are in the US Freedom Center: The Boeing Pavilion. While exploring the Boeing Pavilion do the “Final Mission: The USS Tang Submarine Experience.” Similarly to major Titanic exhibits, it assigns participants an actual name of someone on board. Learn at the end if your person was lost or captured by the Japanese.

You can see the planes from an observation deck on the third floor of the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion. The original museum, the Louisiana Pavilion is the place to learn about Normandy and other beach landings.

Be sure to go to the new Campaigns of Courage Pavilion. Its “Road to Berlin: European Theater Galleries” opened early 2015 with fantastic dioramas such as a blown-out German bunker and the forested “Battle of the Bulge” in the “Breaching the German Frontier” section.

Also look for a village and other scenes as the armed forces marched up the Italian boot. They are battle sites that have been recreated with bombed out roofs backed by the sounds of war and newsreels.

The remaining Courage Pavilion build out, “Road to Tokyo: Pacific Theater Galleries,” opens in late 2015.

“It’s amazing,” said Owen Glendenning, associate vice president of education and access. “It’s immersive. It’s realistic and environmental. You can believe you are there,” said Glendenning.

Save time to see “Beyond All Boundaries, a 45 minute 4D film in the Solomon Victory Theater narrated by its executive producer, Tom Hanks. The movie takes you from battles to the Home Front using a variety of animation and sound effects. Personal accounts are read by Brad Pit, Gary Sinise and other celebrities.

For a recreation of USO style entertainment, think Bob Hope or the Andrew Sisters, try to catch a show at the Stage Door Canteen.

Perhaps the most forceful feature of the National WW2 Museum is the personal connection to people, places and time. Glendenning pointed out that the museum has four-full-time historians who are finding and recording personal stories of WWII veterans and their families. “It’s the compelling way we tell the story. It’s through personal narratives from citizen soldiers,” he said. www.nationalww2museum.org

First Division Museum, Cantigny, Wheaton, IL

A visit to Cantigny Park, the estate that Robert R. McCormick’s will decreed as a public space after he died in 1955, is a delightful Chicago area destination. Its gardens and museums are particularly fun to browse from late spring to early fall. What Chicagoans, and indeed, out of town visitors are likely not to know is that Cantigny (pronounced Canteeny (silent g), is home to a terrific museum that honors the Big Red One, the nickname of the US Army’s 1st Infantry Division. BTW, the 1st Division celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2017.

Talk about you-are-there dioramas, at the First Division Museum you don’t walk by them, you enter them and are fully enveloped by sight and sound as you connect from trenches and beaches to jungles and sand while going from World War I to Desert Storm. The museum plans to add a section depicting contemporary conflicts.

“It’s very powerful and compelling,” said Exec Director Paul Herbert, discussing the museum’s depictions.

What he hopes visitors will take away though, is an appreciation for the high price paid by people who serve in the military.

“It’s not just Division One, but all who serve our country. “Our soldiers have paid a high price for our freedom over the years. We’re telling the story of everyone who serves to defend our democracy,” said Herbert.

Jodie Jacobs

 

 

 

 

Travel with a National Geographic slide show

Passing the Mendenhall Glacier and so many other glaciers on our spectacular cruise up Alaska’s Inside Passage. (J Jacobs photo)
Passing the Mendenhall Glacier and so many other glaciers on our spectacular cruise up Alaska’s Inside Passage. (J Jacobs photo)

Among the ways to travel now while staying at home to defeat the coronavirus is to visit our national parks. National Geographic has a slide show of many of our iconic parks with most photos by and copyrighted to Jonathan Irish.

Visit them at NationalGeographic/traveldestinations/United States/NationalParks.

Here is a sample of what to expect accompanied by editor commentary.

The slide show starts with Zion National Park at the south end of Utah just over the Arizona border and near Bryce Canyon National Park. There are challenging places to climb and interesting formations to photograph. Places to stay are in the nearby town of St. George in the Mojave Desert. For a closeup, visit the film “We the Keepers. ”

Further along in the slide show is the Bass Harbor Lighthouse in Acadia National Park.  A large island park accessible from mainland Maine, Acadia is interesting to drive around but a good place to headquarter is Bar Harbor. The town has delightful ma and pop stores and eateries. Arguably the best part of the visit may be a cruise that goes around the park to see its lighthouses, eagles and the coastline.

Of course Yosemite and the Grand Canyon are included in the slide show but you have likely traveled there or are planning to anyway. However, the slideshow is a way to learn about some national parks that may be less familiar.

So on to the Great Smoky Mountains, a “great” park for hiking, biking or driving. The park accommodates more than 1500 black bears. If when driving, cars stop ahead of you it is likely to be a bear jam not a traffic jam because mama bears take their cubs across park roads. Its  location across the states of Tennessee and North Carolina on the edge of I80 and US Highways 129 and 321 makes it is the most visited national park. To stay in the area consider the highly commercial but fun town of Pigeon Forge to see its Titanic exhibit or the artistic community of Gatlinburg that has one of the easy to drive Park Information Center entrances. The town also has an arts and craft studio circle drive.

American Indians talk about the power of mountains and the spirits that are in our natural landscapes but if you haven’t felt any, drive around Mount Rainier National Park. It may change how you feel. The park is southeast of Seattle if flying in and Tacoma is clloser if driving. We stayed in Seattle where we had some of the best Copper River King Salmon we’ve tasted with the exception of a town visited while traveling to Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska.

Glacier Bay National Park, in Alaska Is different from Glacier National Park in Montana, so don’t get confused. You may have to visit really soon or revisit because the glaciers are rapidly shrinking due to earth’s warmer weather. But if having to make a choice go to Alaska. The area is worth the trip. You may have heard that Alaska is gorgeous. But unless you fly over it and tour what you don’t realize how spectacular the scenery really is.

The national parks offer wonderful vistas and experiences so travelers mayh have their favorites. It is hard to say you must go here because they amake good sightseeing trips. That said., I found Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado west of Durango to be among the most interesting. When I went several years ago the road was challenging and I had to climb ladders. But it is a memorable look into the world of another culture.

 

Travel to aTitanic and Game of Thrones destination

 

Titanic Belfast in Northern Ireland's capital. (Photo courtesy of Tourism Ireland)
Titanic Belfast in Northern Ireland’s capital. (Photo courtesy of Tourism Ireland)

t’s OK to dream of where we want to go when we can safely travel again. With that idea in mind, Tourism Ireland has come out with tempting scenes of go-to places just waiting for us when we land on the Emerald Isle.

A “stay at home and stay on board” video takes you on board the Titanic Belfast, a giant, amazing ship-style structure that seems to pull you into its hold. Inside you learn about the town of Belfast, its shipyards and, of course, the RMS Titanic.

A Game of Thrones video with its Belfast-ties shows off intricately carved doors and beautifully stained glass windows of some of the mega-hit’s special scenes and characters.

Another video takes you to the charming city of Limerick. It convinced me to add it to my go-to stops when I can visit Ireland.

Where do you want to go when we can start traveling again?
Where do you want to go when we can start traveling again? (J Jacobs photo)

Until we can safely do more than drive to our local grocery store, walk the dog and do curbside pick-up or door-to-door delivery, it’s nice to start thinking of places we hope to go.

See great American museums from very old to new and historic to live

 

T-Rex Susie and other dinosaurs reside at the Field Museum. (J Jacobs photo)
T-Rex Susie and other dinosaurs reside at the Field Museum. (J Jacobs photo)

Settle in for an unusual video that takes viewers from the Charleston Museum founded in 1773 to when Chicago’s Field Museum obtained Sue in 1990.

Thanks to “Riches Rivals and Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in America”  a part of the Great Museums film series, you can travel from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “live” museum to the 2004 Smithsonian Museum of The American Indian with stopovers at the National Museum of Air and Space, The Isabella Stewart Gardener in Boston, the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago, the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio and the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

Add in NYC’s Met and MOMA, Pittsburgh’s  Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Boston’s Children’s Museum, Michigan’s Greenfield Village, Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, the US Memorial Holocaust Museum in D.C., New York’s Botanical Garden, the Milwaukee Art Museum and the National Zoo to see the breadth of the definition of museum and how museum architecture has changed.

It’s all on You Tube, so, refill the morning beverage cup, get comfortable, and visit youtube/watch/feature.

 

 

Travel virtually to Saint Augustine and Vegas

Photo is courtesy of Visit St. Augustine
Photo is courtesy of Visit St. Augustine

Sure there are countries I still hope to explore, but there are also so many places in the US I would love to revisit.

Two of them are Las Vegas, NV because it has become a foodie town but also because I haven’t visited the Neon Museum and similar attractions and St. Augustine, FL because its centuries-old history is so much a part of the town.

Neon Museum

Director/producer Tim Burton takes visitors on a fun, inciteful, virtual tours of the Neon Museum and Vegas. Follow along with him in six short videos that include “Lost Vegas.” The videos make me realize how much I didn’t notice when there about 12 years ago.

St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum

Visitors get to walk up the historic lighthouse’s 219 steps with Deputy Director Rick Cain without having to huff and puff

They also get a close look at the lens that otherwise has to be seen outside its room. The video also visits the Keepers House.

But just as good are the views of the country’s oldest port city. Founded by Spaniards in 1565, the city cares about its waterfront and cobbled streets.

 

Visit San Francisco Symphony and Monterey Bay Aquarium

his trolley scene is among those found online for zoom backgrounds.
This trolley scene is among those found online for zoom backgrounds.

Until we can physically travel again, Travel Smart will visit cities where art museums, zoos and other destinations are doing videos through youtube, Facebook and Google arts .

When clicking on the links you may get something else but they are just ads so click on” skip ad” and you will be at the even/place you want

Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, hills and trolley cars. It’s San Francisco, baby. Until you can go back there are also places you can enjoy online that you may not have thought of in the city and down the coast.

 

Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas. (Photo courtesy of San Francisco Symphony)
Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas. (Photo courtesy of San Francisco Symphony)

San Francisco Symphony

You can watch and hear about Aaron Copeland or  listen to Michael Tilson Thomas conduct the symphony and Emanuel Ax in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Also look for other concerts. They are like having a playlist on the computer to listen to while you work.

SF MOMA

San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art features different artists and their work on line. See Judy Chicago and others.

Asian Art Museum

Visit the museum online to see its collection or learn about interesting and historic pieces.

 

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Watch and learn about penguins or see the cams such as the hypnotic moon jelly movement.

Related: Visit Chicago to see a zoo or travel by L or see it back in the forties

 

Visit Chicago to see a zoo or travel by L or see it back in the Forties

 

This animal and others from the Hamill Family Wild Encounters section of Brookfield Zoo are in videos of Bringing the Animals to You. (Brookfield Zoo photo(
This animal and others from the Hamill Family Wild Encounters section of Brookfield Zoo are in videos of Bringing the Animals to You. (Brookfield Zoo photo)

Some Chicago institutions have put terrific videos on Facebook. Here are some videos sure to entertain and are worth sharing.

At Brookfield Zoo, the “Screaming Hairy Armadillo” sounds ferocious but be surprised by it and other zoo inmates. The zoo has several animal video visits on Facebook. Also check Bringing the Zoo to You..

 

Chicago Architecture Foundation uses First Lady for its river tour. (Photo courtesy of CAC)
Chicago Architecture Foundation uses First Lady for its river tour. (Photo courtesy of CAC)

The Chicago Architecture Center also has several good videos ranging from a WTTW Geoffrey Baer L visit and its architecture boat ride to an old film of the city in the 1940s.  

Chicago’s ‘L,’ the nickname for the city’s elevated tracks (although not all are elevated,) takes riders through colorful neighborhoods.

It’s fun to see the trailer of the recently released documentary, “Geoffrey Baer’s Chicago” (WTTW). Find the trailer at the Chicago Architecture Center’s facebook page or go to Geoffrey Baer’s Chicago or WTTW-Chicago PBS or interactive WTTW.

Of course CAC is known for its Chicago River Cruise. So hop on board at this chiarchitecture/video.

Another good CAC site has a  Metro Goldwyn Mayer film of Chicago in the 1940s. Go back in time to  this chiarchitecture video site.

For youtube videos of the city visit Chicago Architecture Center/videos.

 Enjoy!

 

Where to visit while staying home

 

The spiral galaxy NGC 2008 sits centre stage, its ghostly spiral arms spreading out towards us, in this image captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. (NASA photo)
The spiral galaxy NGC 2008 sits centre stage, its ghostly spiral arms spreading out towards us, in this image captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. (NASA photo)

Get comfortable. It’s time to visit some of the places that have intrigued you or are on your someday list. Don’t dress for travel.

Lots of destinations have added virtual tours. Some are OK even though they expect you to read French, such as on the 350 degree Louvre exploration or Spanish such as with the Guggenheim in Bilbao videos on Mark Rothko’s “Untitled” and Jeff Koons’ “Puppy.”

Others, like the ones here, have videos and cams that make visitors feel they are there.

So warm-ups or jammies are OK as you visit outer space, a zoo, an amazing garden, a Royal home and an aquarium. Just remember if looking at a cam that the place may be in a different time zone so might have different action at a later or earlier hour.

 

San Diego Zoo

Meet its penguins in Penguin Beach video episodes and safari animals in the cams.

NASA

Visit the Hubble Space Telescope, watch a video on the Evolution of the Moon and experience outer space visits through the Solar Dynamics Observatory.

 

Claude Monet. Water Lily Pond, 1900. The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection. (Photo courtesy of AIC)
Claude Monet. Water Lily Pond, 1900. The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection. (Photo courtesy of AIC)

Monet

Tour Claude Monet’s Garden at Giverny where you see what the artist painted including the Water Lily Pond.

Osborne House

Visit Osborne, the house that Victoria and Albert built via a Google Arts & Culture video.

Shedd Aquarium

If you have facebook follow penguin Wellington and his friends explore the closed Shedd Aquarium.

 

Three no passport spring vacation ideas

Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, MI (J Jacobs photo)
Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, MI
(J Jacobs photo)

 

Don’t wait for the first robin or crocus to pop up to plan what to do or where to go for a spring vacation. Hotels and good B and B’s may already be booked and airlines will have few seats at the price you want. Make plans now

Good as Washington DC is, student groups may already have plane seats and hotel rooms so consider that destination for another time. Instead, Spring Break is a good chance to splash in a pool, visit and cross off a presidential museum or find an unusual children’s museum in a town not yet visited.

The suggestions listed here are Midwest destinations within a day’s drive of Chicago. The city’s schools are out April 6-10 and most suburban districts are out March 23-27 in 2020.

 

African themed Kalahari Resort at the Wisconsin Dells. (J Jacobs photo)
African themed Kalahari Resort at the Wisconsin Dells. (J Jacobs photo)

Indoor Pool

Arguably among the best indoor water parks are the ones at the Kalahari Resorts. If living in the Midwest, consider the African-themed one at the Wisconsin Dells. The resort really is a combination amusement park, movie and dining destination and games emporium.

I like the Dells as a summer or fall escape when the weather is predictable but spring is a good time to enjoy a resort that has so much to offer, guests might not feel the need to leave.  Also check out other Wisconsin Waterparks for a spring Break.

An old time streetscape in the Grand Rapids Public Museum (J Jacobs photo)
An old time streetscape in the Grand Rapids Public Museum (J Jacobs photo)

Fascinating presidential and public museums

Located in Grand Rapids, MI, the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum combines his University of Michigan background, Nixon’s resignation, Betty Ford’s contributions and a replica of the Oval Office.

Across the road is the Grand Rapids Public Museum which has fun explorations and a merry go round ride. From American Indian displays to inventions, an old-time streetscape and a giant clock, there is enough here to spend the day.

 

An orangutan climbed down from his perch to try a computer game with a scientist at the Indianapolis Zoo. (J Jacobs photo)
An orangutan climbed down from his perch to try a computer game with a scientist at the Indianapolis Zoo. (J Jacobs photo)

Where a dinosaur and orangutans hang out

People outside of Indianapolis may not know the city has a remarkable Children’s Museum charmingly guarded by a huge dinosaur and that the Indianapolis Zoo is one of the few places in the country that boasts a specialized orangutan center where visitors can watch these intelligent animals play and practice their cognitive game skills.

I love the Childeren’s Museum’s Take Me There exhibits. When I visited it was to China. Currently it is to Greece. And there really is a simulated flight there.  And I was fascinated by everything the orangutans could do.

Also worth a visit when in town are the Eiteljorg Museum of American indians’ Western Art and the Indiana State Museum next door that has a wonderful Rube Goldberg inventions exhibit. See Visit Indy for more information.