chicago pokemon party

woo WD meetup!!

The Field Museum has a Pokemon crossover exhibit this summer, and a bunch of us from WD chat wanted to see it. So we arranged to all come to Chicago and meet up. The squad: me, Mav, Web & his partner Linus, and Cora & her partner Katie. Months ago, when the exhibit was first announced, Mav sat through like 24 hours of queue hell to get us all tickets (the website was literally dying from all the traffic and wouldn’t process purchase orders). Also, by coincidence, order got a summer job in Chicago, so she’s here too.

Web and I met order at a cafe. A bit after 9, I left with Web, and order left for work. (I asked if it was okay for her to be late to work, but she waved it off. “It’s fine,” she said. “And if it’s not fine, it’s a vibe check.” That’s actually a good attitude, and an angle I hadn’t thought of before. Job suitability goes both ways.)

So, the museum! The Pokemon exhibit was about fossil pokemon; each one had a 3D skeleton, 2D skeletal diagrams, in-universe archaeological info, and comparison/discussion of the real-world fossils that inspired it. Incredibly high production values. The lead archaeologists on the project had art of themselves as pokemon NPCs, which is honestly so valid. One of them had an Articuno t-shirt. You know he specially asked for that.

Next, there was the POKEMON GIFT SHOP which was incredibly srs bsns. To even enter the gift shop you need a voucher, which is handed to you as you leave the Pokemon fossil exhibit. The voucher entitles you to purchase no more than five (5) items, including (if you like) one (1) commemorative archaeologist Pikachu plushie for $31.99. Regardless of whether you buy anything, you turn in your voucher upon leaving the gift store, meaning you have ONE CHANCE AND THAT’S IT. Web and I looked at our vouchers, and looked at the price tags on the items, and said “hey, if anyone wants an extra plushie or some extra items-“ but the standard allowance was enough for everyone else.

There was still a lot of museum to see after that. We mainly focused on the animal exhibits, and of course the dinosaurs. (Web, our resident taxidermy nerd, was impressed and fascinated by the craftsmanship on the museum’s animal specimens and told us all about them.) My ankles were not having a great time with so much standing and slow walking. Mav and I did this thing where we’d browse the exhibits a little faster than everyone else, and then we’d find a nice bench to sit on while everyone else caught up.

Because of this, Mav and I entered the Sue exhibit hall together. It was set up with a photo stand at the entrance. They take your photo as you enter, then try to sell you the photo as you leave. The photographers were like “If you’re ready, step on the-“ Mav and I walked past without even breaking stride. Perfect communion without need for words.

We had lunch at the museum food court, except Web and Linus looked at the prices and abstained. “We brought cheese,” explained Web. “It’s in the car.” (I got the $14 dino nugs. It seemed appropriate.)

An embarrassing thing: I missed introductions (since I came with Web & Linus, while Mav came with Cora & Katie) so for most of the day I wasn’t sure which of Cora and Katie was which. I thought about just letting it slide, but I decided I would regret not knowing, so mid-afternoon I just approached one of them like “Hey, really stupid question, are you Cora or Katie?” It was Katie, who now probably thinks of me as a lowkey dumb person forever but that’s ok.

We stayed at the museum for most of the day due to being incredibly chill. It was like “okay, what next?” and everyone was like “idk, I’m fine with anything” so we’d just mosey over to the next exhibit. Eventually, I said I was fine with anything but I was feeling a bit museum’d out, and I suggested we take a walk (for the sake of my ankles lolol). So we walked along the lakefront to Grant Park. It was a beautiful day. Cora kept exclaiming “cool bug! cool bug!” We love cool bug. At the park, we had a picnic (courtesy of Web) of various kinds of Wisconsin cheese, summer sausage, crackers, and honey that Web got from his own bees (so cool!!). There was a very bold sparrow eyeing us up for food. He got bolder after Linus and Katie dropped him some crumbs, and stayed perched atop the back of the park bench with all the crackers & cheese as I snapped a bunch of pictures. There were also a couple of seagulls interested in our bounty, but they got in a slapfight with each other and flew off mad and neither of them got any food.

Meanwhile, across the pond, Sol was on vacation at Disneyland Paris and having a terrible time: scorching weather, then bad weather leading to 90% of attractions being closed, not much else to do in the area, and annoying travelmates (e.g. Sol’s mom’s friend “went feral” in a McDonald’s “screaming and shouting” because her order got messed up). And for some reason the entire party of six was booked into a single hotel room. And to cap things off, they somehow missed their flight home despite being first in line to board at the gate (I do not understand how this happened, I am just relating what Sol said). RIP.