American art museums typically have a hodgepodge of second-rate American colonial paintings, clusters of meaningless modern sculptures, and obscure fragments of European churches. Not so in Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago consists of two wings, the old building and modern art. Its best to begin early in the morning Read more
This place in Chicago is 100% for children and amateur biologists. They have everything from tiny Nemo clownfish of the coral reef to dolphins of the Pacific. It’s not just fish, they also have spiders, frogs, cousins of alligators, and other animals that live near or around water. The special Read more
Now called the Willis Tower, the department store giant Sears once owned this Chicago landmark. The stepped-back upper floors were designed to yield a maximum window-to-floor ratio to make it attractive for tenants. Not having a gallery on the architectural ingenuity of the architecture of the tower is a missed Read more
When the John Hancock Building in Chicago was completed in 1969 it was the second tallest building in the world after the Empire State Building, but only if you include the height of its 350-foot tall spires. Today, it’s roof height of 344 meters is barely remarkable. The observation deck Read more
The MSI in Chicago is one of the better science museums I’ve visited in North America, it’s probably my second favorite on the continent after the Canada Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa and undoubtedly my favorite along the great lakes. Cleveland, Buffalo, and Detroit have nothing comparable to Read more
I had a field day at the Field Museum, it’s basically Chicago‘s museum of natural and human history. The entrance is graced by a titanosaurus skeleton composed of six dinosaurs looking over a pair of fighting elephants. The place is six museums in one. There are three special exhibitions, an Read more
The iconic salty and fatty pork bricks sold in over 40 countries around the world came from Austin, Minnesota. Each country sells and cooks Spam in their own way and the museum showcases the respective different packaging and recipe from major markets such as Korea, the Philippines, and China. Staff Read more
Not actually a castle in the classical European sense, but still a grand 20th-century home. Casa Loma in Toronto is the only true castle remaining in North America. The museum in the ornate Beaux-Arts home in Montreal records the life of the wealthy Dufresne family and how the rich lived Read more
A very, very local museum all in French in the heart of Montreal‘s Centre-Sud community is a must-see to learn about how the industrial revolution impacted work conditions and leisure in the city. I can think of no better-suited province than labor-friendly Quebec to interpret the issues of child labor, Read more
Effectively the Trois-Rivières museum of industry, Boréalis is housed inside the former water treatment plant of Canadian International Paper. There used to be four paper plants in the city with the CIP being the last to close. A long long time ago, it was powered by the water that ran Read more