I got to go to Chicago for the first time on a school trip about 10 years ago. It was a 4-day trip but I got to pack a lot in during those 4 days and it was one of my favorite trips I’ve ever taken. Perhaps the reason was because I wasn’t with my mom or any family members.

I was with one of my accounting professors and several other students. We spent an afternoon at the Art Institute, had deep dish pizza, got an in-depth tour of Soldier Field, and spent the final afternoon at the Field museum.

The Field Museum is a Natural History museum. The first thing you will see when you enter will be a gigantic dinosaur skeleton. I didn’t know the first thing I should see, so I started from the first room and made my way around.

I was captivated by how real this was when I saw it. This is the facial reconstruction of the First Woman ever excavated. It looks shockingly real, doesn’t it? And the features were all re-constructed from a set of skeletons.

My second “First” is from Salt Lake City.

In 2013, when the Chinatown Supermarket was opened in South Salt Lake, my mom thought Salt Lake City finally had its first Chinatown. She couldn’t be more wrong.

This is the First Chinatown – Plum Alley. Long ago, it was a thriving Chinese community, especially during the 1860’s when the construction of the transcontinental railroad was in progress. According to a documentary I watched, it had laundromats, groceries, restaurants, and tenement housing.

Unfortunately, it was abandoned and destroyed in the early 1950’s. Today, in its place is a large parking garage. The only reminder of the First Chinatown is this metal plate on the pavement.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge