2018 Summer Road Trip: Day 7

One of the most anticipated stops on our trip was Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. (We got in for free because of our Thanksgiving Point memberships.) Our boys were especially excited to see a real German U-boat captured during World War II. The story of how the U-boat was caught was really cool, and the exhibit was cool too.

There were so many awesome exhibits at MSI. We could have easily spent several days there. One of the things I liked about the museum was that many exhibits required free tickets for certain times. This meant that the exhibits were not overly crowded because they managed the flow of patrons coming in. Genius.

We had a good time with the fun mirrors.

There was a little section about circuses, and there was a sign for the hagenbeck and Wallace Circus. My great-grandfather worked for that circus, and so did another more distant relative. I had spent so much time talking to my kids about our early Chicago ancestry during our trip, and it was fun to see a relic of my more recent immigrant ancestor's story mixed in there as well.

MSI is housed in a hall that was built for the 1893 World's Fair. One exhibit featured the engine for the world's fastest train that was featured at the fair. Also, I am a huge sucker for the cutouts where you put your heads in.

We loved the mirror maze, even though we went in just a few minutes after a field trip of kids. It was loud and chaotic and surprisingly challenging!

There were probably some tears from a toddler who was confused about where her dad went in this maze.

When our time at MSI was done, we loaded up into the van and headed out to the Indianapolis area, where Eric's brother and his family lives.