Museum of Science + Industry

The Museum of Science and Industry is found in Jackson Park, right between Lake Michigan and the University of Chicago, and is the same building that used to be the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition Palace of Fine Arts. According to the museum, it's the biggest science museum in the Western Hemisphere with over 14 acres of hands-on exhibits and Chicago's only five-story domed Omnimax theater. Basically, The Museum of Science and Industry is a jaw-dropping visit for any self-proclaimed geeks.

Not only does it have a full-size coal mine replica and a German submarine, it even was a model railroad and the original Apollo 8 spacecraft.