The exhibit halls, the classrooms, and the symposia spaces at McCormick Place won’t be open all night. That means attendees of RSNA 2004 will have a certain amount of time to kill in between each of the show’s 6 session days.
If you’re looking for something to occupy yourself (along with anyone who’s accompanying you), show organizers offer information on more than 30 different tours of Chicago.
“We have a brochure on [the tours],” says Pam Kaminsky, senior meetings manager for registrant services at RSNA. “In addition to tour packages, it lists local events as well as provides suggestions for dining, theater, and shopping.”
The brochure is accessible online at RSNA’s Annual Meeting site: rsna2004.rsna.org. Simply click on “Tours & City Events” for more information.
One of the exhibitors, Mark M. Miller, VP of sales and marketing for ZONARE Medical Systems Inc (Mountain View, Calif), doesn’t think he’ll have time to avail himself of any of the tours, as he expects his time will be spent just talking about his company’s new ultrasound technology. Miller will, however, be stepping out of McCormick Place come dusk to sample Chicago cuisine at his favorite restaurants: Cafe Spiaggia (980 N Michigan Ave) and Keefer’s (20 W Kinzie St). (For additional dining recommendations, see “Let’s Eat!”)
Art Oddities
A less-acclaimed but perhaps equally stirring storehouse you might also want to see while you’re in Chicago is the International Museum of Surgical Sciences (1524 N Lake Shore Dr).
Surgeon Max Thorek, MD, is the founder and curator of this unusual place. In it, you’ll find more than 7,000 items and artworks on exhibit, including Napoleon’s death mask, a bronze speculum uncovered in the ruins of Pompeii, the nurse’s cap worn by Florence Nightingale, a still-functioning iron lung from the 1920s, an Aztec version of prescription medications (charms, actually), one of the world’s first stethoscopes, a full-sized apothecary shop, and-of special interest to RSNA attendees-something called the Adrian X-ray Shoe Fitter.
The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm and charges $5 for adults and $3 for children and seniors. Visit www.imss.org for more details.
Another unusual collection of art and artifacts can be found at the Berwyn Art Mall in Cermak Plaza (7043 Cermak Rd, Berwyn, Ill, which is just outside Chicago). Some years ago, this shopping center commissioned artists to spruce up the place, but something went horribly wrong in the process. The result is 21 oddities, which include a work of eight wrecked automobiles stacked on top of one another and skewered by a giant nail. (You might have seen this piece-called The Spindle-in the movie Wayne’s World.)
In the Clouds
Speaking of spindles, in the Chicago suburb of Niles, you’ll find the amazing Tower of Pisa-a half-size replica of Italy’s famous leaning tower. A Great Gatsby-esque industrialist built the Niles version in 1933 to supply water to his sprawling estate’s trio of swimming pools. Today, the 94-ft structure is as dry as a bone, and the grounds surrounding it have been converted to a public park. While you’re there, be sure to call home from the park’s famous Leaning Telefono Booth.
In case you prefer your towers more perfectly perpendicular, there’s always the one that bears the name Sears in downtown Chicago.
The Sears Tower (233 S Wacker Dr) is 1,454 ft high-1,707 ft if you cheat and toss in the twin antennas at the top. It’s a tall building (until just a few years ago, the world’s tallest), but it also leaves a pretty sizable footprint: a city block’s worth, in fact. From the Skydeck at the top, you can-on a clear day-see more than 50 miles in any direction, which allows you to peer into the states of Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. It’s a fast ride to the top, since the high-speed elevator gets you there in 70 seconds. The Skydeck is open daily 10 am-8 pm for $9.95 (adults) or $6.95 (ages 3-11).
Chicago, incidentally, is home to two other world’s tallest buildings: the Aon Center (aka the Amoco Building) at 1,136 ft and the John Hancock Center at 1,127 ft. The Hancock building also has an observatory open daily from 9 am to 11 pm for $9.50 (adults) or $6 (ages 5-12).
Grave Details
Closer to ground level-much, much closer, in fact-is the grave of Al Capone, Chicago’s most infamous gangster. For Roaring Twenties aficionados, the grave is a must-see. Originally, Capone’s burial site was at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Section 52. (The cemetery is located at 2755 W 111th St on Chicago’s South Side.) But his remains were later exhumed and laid to final rest some distance away in Mount Carmel Cemetery, located at the intersection of Harrison and Hillside avenues in the Chicago suburb of Hillside. His grave is in Section 35: At the Roosevelt entrance, go right approximately six markers, and you’ll find a gray marker with a large bush in front of it hiding the Capone name.
While you’re visiting Mount Olivet, look for the grave of Catherine O’Leary (aka Mrs O’Leary, owner of the cow blamed for starting the Great Chicago Fire of 1871). According to legend, the late-night blaze broke out when Mrs O’Leary’s milker kicked over a lantern. Descendants of Mrs O have tried to exonerate her by making the case that it was really an inebriated tenant who touched off the inferno that raged uncontrollably for days and consumed most of the city. They succeeded on October 7, 1997, with a resolution. Read all about it near the bottom of the article “Let’s Eat” in a section entitled “Breaking the Ice.”
Alternatively, you can visit the site where that fabled barn once stood: the corner of DeKoven and 12th streets.
Also buried at Mount Olivet is another figure from history: Henry Lange, born in 1851, whose claim to fame was serving with General Custer, the famous leader of the US 7th Cavalry unit that met its doom in the Battle of Little Bighorn. Custer took more than his fair share of arrows in that fight and was killed there, but Lange survived until 1928.
Rick Romano is a contributing writer for Medical Imaging.
