So, back when I was about 9/10 ish (1999) I remember going to museum
with my grandparents that contained a few key things that stood with me over 2 decades later.
The first, and creepiest was an animatronic of a homeless/drug addict in an alley or on a bench. This is the "anchor" memory, it's hard to forget such a creepy thing.
The second was a more hands on focused kids area where I spent a majority of my time.
The last was a restaurant with some TVs installed around the eating area somewhere in the building - I distinctly seeing ads for the new Tarzan movie, so I'm thinking this was the summer of 99ish.
It could also have been the Chicago Childrens Museum, but when looking at older pictures absolutely nothing stands out to me as memorable - additionally they don't have any on-site restaurants that I can recall.
After lots of internet sleuthing, I think but can't confirm, that it is the Museum of Science and Industry. Some of the pictures of some of the exhibits seem really familiar.
I suppose the key thing preventing my brain from saying "This is the one" is lack of anyone else mentioning such an animatronic at any of these places.
I asked my grandma, but she's pretty deep in dementia and doesn't really recall those experiences anymore. 😢
So /c/Chicago, are any of you old enough to remember such an exhibit from 99? If so, what museum was that?