Happy Anniversary!

Chris and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on Monday. What do they say about the 7 year itch? I'm not quite sure.

We went to Chicago for the day. Our main destination was the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Harry Potter Exhibition. It was an addition exhibit so tickets were extra. Going into the day, I was excited to see all the Harry Potter memorabilia from the movies, but also a little skeptical. I had gone to see the Titanic Exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum earlier this year with a group from school and was sorely disappointed, especially by taking a group of kids. While I realize any artifacts from the Titantic needed to be retrieved from the bottom of the ocean, I thought there would be a lot more things to look at. Instead, there was a lot of information you had to read. I was really hoping the Harry Potter exhibit would be different with more stuff to look at and not as much to read.

We didn't really remember where the museum was, since it had been over 15 years since either of us had been there, but you'd think it was part of the "Museum Campus" in Chicago. Well, it wasn't. It was another 5 miles south, actually right across from the University of Chicago campus. We found it with plenty of time to spare. We had a little while to wander through the museum before our visit to the exhibit. When 12:30 rolled around, we got in line for our 12:45 tickets. Oh, so exciting!! Interestingly, everyone involved with the exhibit spoke with an English accent. Coincidence? I think not.

I'm happy to report that the exhibit far exceeded my expectations! It included so many props and costumes from the movies, including wands, dress robes, The Monster Book of Monsters, Hagrid's Hut, more wands, Cornish pixies, fat-bellied Mandrakes, and sooo much more. Pictures weren't allowed in the exhibit, but they did have the flying car on display in the lobby, so that's the only pic I have from the day.

While the exhibit was great, I would recommend purchasing tickets for the evening only exhibition if you don't have much interest in visiting the actual musuem. They've extended the hours of the museum just for the exhibit, so you can buy tickets just for that and not have to fork over the extra cash to pay museum admission if you go during the day. Parking is $16 too, just in case you're interested. If you are remotely a Harry Potter fan, you definitely have to check it out!