Hello, friends! Today is the August meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group. The group was founded by our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. To view list members and this month's co-hosts, visit the IWSG page here.
I am feeling a little insecure today as I didn't get any of the writing done that I wanted to in July, but I still had a good month and took a fun little road trip to Chicago, so I'm going to focus on that instead. I went to Chicago to see Hamilton, which was fantastic, but I ended up also visiting the American Writers Museum, which was amazing!
I'd never heard of this museum but my niece discovered it and we decided to head there since it was only a few blocks from our hotel. The museum only occupies one floor of a large building, but we spent several hours there and I feel like I could easily have spent much more time exploring the compelling and inspiring interactive exhibits.
Here are a few highlights of my visit.
The Children's Lit Gallery was adorable, with large banners depicting famous works, including one of my childhood favorites Goodnight Moon.
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| "Goodnight comb and goodnight brush" ❤❤ |
The center of the museum included a timeline of key events in American history and famous writers of the time.
And the ceiling was filled with books!
My favorite exhibit was the Word Waterfall, which initially looks like walls of unconnected words, but then lights up various segments to reveal famous quotations that reflect the American experience.
Images created by the lights, such as the Statue of Liberty in the above case, along with sounds such as ocean waves and birdsong, combine with the words to create a truly inspiring and mesmerizing display.
If you're ever in the Chicago area, I can't recommend this museum enough. There is something for every writer and reader to enjoy and I'd return in a heartbeat if I lived closer.
I hope all is well with everyone and I wish you all a Happy August!
