CHICAGO - Harry Potter Style!

Well, I have no REAL pictures to go with this post (they didn't allow any in the exhibit), but since everyone insists these posts are like our "journals," I thought I better document. Mark and I went to Chicago over Memorial Day Weekend, and it was AWESOME! We started by heading down to the Museum of Science and Industry for the Harry Potter Exhibition. It was definitely the highlight of our trip. We saw tons of paraphernalia from the movies. It's amazing how many details go into making the films. I never stopped to think about it until we saw all the props. Outside the exhibit, in the main entrance of the museum, sat the flying Ford Anglia!

Once inside, we were greeted with pathetic English accents (although I think they all thought they were good...), sorting several children into their houses. Miraculously, just as each of the kids wished, they all turned out to be Gryffindor's.

Next, we got to see the actual Hogwart's Express portrayed on the movies! It was a lot smaller than I expected it to be. And no, I am not just being gullible, it was actually the one pictured on the movie (although obviously not the "set" where they appear inside the train).

We then saw several of the pictures plastered on the walls of the castle, including the "fat lady." We even got to hear her sing so "beautifully" that she broke glass. So funny...

Gryffindor Tower came next, complete with Harry's and Ron's four-poster beds. They even had the curtains that Dumbledore claimed he set fire to while he was in school. Several of Ron's horrible hand-knitted sweaters were on display there as well.

We saw Umbridge's Office. It was just as sickeningly sweet looking as it was on the movie. The entire set-up was there. It was quite impressive. It looked just like this picture (with the exception that the ugly hag wasn't sitting there in it).

We saw Dobby! He was quite cute, as opposed to Kreacher, who was just mean and nasty looking...

We also saw Buckbeak (he was huge!) and a couple of the centaurs, who were truly freaky looking.

Hagrid's hut was there as well, complete with his huge furniture and the hatching dinosaur egg, Norbert.

We also saw seriously freaky Death Eater masks and costumes, as well as Lord Voldemort's clothing when he came back in the graveyard.

One of the freakiest things we saw was the Dementor! I never knew it had a spine... I thought it was just a hooded black figure, but it had a pelvic bone with vertebrae extending all the way down and forming a sort of tail. Freaky looking. I would have totally crapped my pants if I were a kid...

That is just the beginning of all the awesome artifacts we saw... Of course, all of their wands were there, in addition to much of the clothing (including Ron's horrible dress robes) from the movies.

All in all, it was quite spectacular, especially for two avid Harry Potter fans, such as ourselves!