{"id":9634,"date":"2010-08-24T08:02:50","date_gmt":"2010-08-24T13:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?p=9634"},"modified":"2016-12-16T11:46:04","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T17:46:04","slug":"dig-up-a-dino-adventure-on-your-family-vacation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2010\/08\/dig-up-a-dino-adventure-on-your-family-vacation\/","title":{"rendered":"Dig up a dino adventure on your family vacation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Chicago's

Visiting Chicago's T. Rex, Sue is worth the trip alone. Credit: adactio.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Carmen Madrid<\/em><\/p>\n

What\u00a0is<\/em> it with kids and dinosaurs? The same child who\u2019s terrified of moths and won\u2019t sleep without a monster-repellent stuffed animal will correct your pronunciation of\u00a0Ankylosaurus<\/em> before detailing its eating habits. But there’s good news for dino-challenged parents planning\u00a0family vacations<\/a>: dinosaurs seem to be everywhere this year! And, much as I love Walt Disney\u2019s rendition of the prehistoric beasts, these newer versionsleave Disneyland\u2019s animatronic giants looking a little, well, ancient.<\/p>\n

For families with plans for\u00a0Chicago vacations<\/a>, don\u2019t forget it\u2019s the 10th anniversary of Sue\u2019s arrival at\u00a0The Field Museum<\/strong>! If your favorite little dino-phile isn\u2019t around to inform you, Sue is the best preserved and most complete\u00a0T. rex <\/em>ever unearthed. At 67 million years young, her reign at the Field Museum is just beginning. After you\u2019ve given Sue your best wishes, check out \u201cMammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age<\/strong>.\u201d Meeting the famous tiny mammoth \u201cBaby Lyuba\u201d is worth a visit to the Windy City before the exhibit closes September 6. If The Field Museum doesn’t whet your junior paleontologist\u2019s appetite, top off your Chicago vacation at\u00a0Dave\u2019s Down to Earth Rock Shop and Prehistoric Life Museum<\/strong> in nearby Evanston. The Neanderthal hand axes are awesome!<\/p>\n

Currently traveling the country is the\u00a0Walking with Dinosaurs <\/strong>show, immersing kids of all ages in a 90-minute spectacular of jaw-dropping realism. The 27 semis that haul around these ferocious, larger-than-life \u201cactors\u201d roll into sunny\u00a0Southern California<\/a> in early September after an icy tour in Anchorage.<\/p>\n

In the Northeast, those taking Philadelphia vacations<\/a> should stop at the Academy of Natural Sciences <\/a>for what\u2019s being described as \u201cthe ultimate paleo road trip.\u201d Opening October 23, the \u201cCruisin\u2019 the Fossil Freeway<\/strong>\u201d exhibit is the eye-popping culmination of a trip around the American West undertaken by an artist-paleontologist team.<\/p>\n

Related resources<\/strong><\/p>\n