So, back when I was about 9/10 ish (1999) I remember going to museum with my grandparents that contained a few key things that stood with me over 2 decades later.
The first, and creepiest was an animatronic of a homeless/drug addict in an alley or on a bench. This is the “anchor” memory, it’s hard to forget such a creepy thing.
The second was a more hands on focused kids area where I spent a majority of my time.
The last was a restaurant with some TVs installed around the eating area somewhere in the building - I distinctly seeing ads for the new Tarzan movie, so I’m thinking this was the summer of 99ish.
It could also have been the Chicago Childrens Museum, but when looking at older pictures absolutely nothing stands out to me as memorable - additionally they don’t have any on-site restaurants that I can see from my research.
After lots of internet sleuthing, I think but can’t confirm, that it is the Museum of Science and Industry. Some of the pictures of some of the exhibits seem really familiar.
I suppose the key thing preventing my brain from saying “This is the one” is lack of anyone else mentioning such an animatronic at any of these places.
I asked my grandma, but she’s pretty deep in dementia and doesn’t really recall those experiences anymore. 😢
So /c/Chicago, are any of you old enough to remember such an exhibit from 99? If so, what museum was that?
It sounds like you’re talking about the Museum of Science and Industry. There’s a huge interactive kids area. I don’t recall any specific animatronics, but my first time visiting was several years after the 90s.
Do you remember a doll house?
MSI is also weirdly located - like, if it had been the Field museum, op world probably remember/associate it with the lake, the aquarium; that whole area is contiguous and memorable; ARTIC is the same way with downtown, probably mag mile too - but (usually) when you go to MSI, you get in the car, get out in the MSI parking lot, enjoy the museum, then get back in the car, and go home - so, harder to remember its context. I could understand remembering the museum but the memory being a bit disassociated.