Sorry for the silence

Sometimes, life gets a little nutty and you have to let the things you like doing most fall by the wayside. That's what has been going on here lately. But, things have calmed down a bit, so I'm back on the horse.

Chris and I had a fabulous time during his visit. We saw all kinds of Chicago touristy things, most of which you guys probably don't care about. But, what do you care about? Well, the Pirate exhibit at the Field Museum, our stroll through Graceland Cemetery and our trip to The Museum of Science and Industry to check out the Harry Potter Exhibit.

Let's start with Pirates. It kicked off with a history of slave ships which threw us for a loop. Two or three rooms full of of information about the slave trade. Very disturbing stuff. Eventually, in or about the third room, you find out that the slave ship they've been talking about, The Whydah was taken by Pirates and became a Pirate Ship. YAAAARGH! There were tons of artifacts, which was way cool. And a replica or two that made us happy. Including the bow of the ship. There are 5 screens in front of you showing a boat floating out on the horizon. Even though you're perfectly stationary, it really feels like your bobbing up and down. A most excellent effect.

The next day we went to Graceland Cemetery. I've posted pictures from there before, but have some new ones I'll be putting up tomorrow. Chris got some ideas there for the tombstone he's making for The Gathering raffle. Each and every one of you should buy a ticket.

Sunday, we headed over to the Museum of Science and Industry for the Harry Potter exhibit. I'm glad we saved it for last because it was, without a doubt, the highlight of his visit (well, except for magic mic at Kate's). I can't even begin to count the amount of movie props, costumes, etc they had there. They also built a replica of Hagrid's hut and the Great Hall. If you can get to Chicago the exhibit is a must! We got so many great ideas of things to make for our Halloween stuff this year. And, all the guides (read guards) have wonderfully fake English accents.

We were not allowed to take pictures in either of the exhibits (sad Debbie), but here's a link to their websites. There's sure to be some pictures on there:

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/pirates/highlights.asp
http://www.harrypotterexhibition.com/