Meeting Sue

I hope none of you were hoping to see a cuddly baby or a giggling toddler because Sue, as most of you probably know, is a Tyrannosaurus rex. Her wonderfully preserved skeleton holds pride of place at the Field Museum and this year Sue is celebrating her tenth anniversary of residence in Chicago.

Having a four year old boy who is very interested in dinosaurs, we could not miss the opportunity to see Sue and her enormous grin. Sue is huge but somehow I thought that a T. rex would be much larger. What is very impressive is her skull. In fact, we got to know that her head is so massive and heavy that the rest of the skeleton cannot support it. So Sue’s head is actually a cast while her real skull is on the second floor of the museum, encased in glass.

Seeing Sue was an awesome experience for all of us but I am really, really glad that these types of creatures are extinct. I am more comfortable with the cute green lizards that run around our yard.

Sue is probably the hugest attraction that the Field Museum has to offer but I was equally fascinated by an exhibit about the Native American peoples. I have always been interested in the history of these ancient cultures and I was lucky that the museum has a large section dedicated to all the different tribes from North and South America.

 

Another exhibit which I really enjoyed was the re-creation of the mastaba tomb complex of Unis-Ankh. I suppose that if I never make it to Egypt, I at least will have had the experience of descending into an exact replica which is built around two original chambers from the tomb in Egypt.

The trip to the Field Museum was really enjoyable. There was something for everyone, including very young children. My son still talks about Sue and I too cannot get over coming face to face with a creature from our very distant past.