One of the more interesting things that vacationers will undoubtedly notice about Chicago Illinois, if that is their choice of vacation getaways this year, is that this great city seems to live upon the premise that bigger is better. Take into consideration the facts about the city itself. It is home to the Sears Tower, one of the worlds' largest buildings. It sits upon the shore of the massive Great Lake, Lake Michigan, that is one of the world's biggest freshwater lakes. The bigger the concept is, the more likely that you will find it in Chicago Illinois.

One of the many massive attractions that you will find in Chicago is that of the Chicago Shedd Aquarium. Of course, you'll find tons of big oceanic wildlife here, but the size aspect is mostly in the collection as a whole. The Shedd Aquarium is noted as the worlds largest aquarium. There are literally over a million different forms of aquatic wild life to be found in the pearl blue waters of this institution. If it lives beneath or upon the surface of a body of water, the odds are that you will find several varieties of it here. There is everything from sharks to sea turtles for your viewing pleasures, and all species in between.

One of the local favorite creatures that live at the Shedds Aquarium is that of the Giant Octopus. These somewhat scary looking creatures from the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean generally grow to about fifteen feet in length and weigh almost one hundred pounds each. The children are particularly thrilled to see these monstrous sea creatures. If you are fortunate, you might even get to see one of them squirt ink before you leave the area!

For the reptile fan, Chicago is also proud to announce that the Shedds Aquarium is now home to the world's biggest kind, the famed Komodo Dragons. You can find this massive scaled fellow in the Lizards and the Komodo King Exhibit. As thrilling as this monster of a lizard is, there are also plenty of other scaly serpents to view and get to know in this particular exhibit. There are chameleons, blue lizards, basilisks, monitor lizards, and more. For the snake lovers, the Aquarium has a good variety of those also.

The exhibits are numerous and, going along with Chicago's love for the bigger things in life, unusually large. See the sharks at the Wild Reef exhibit, play with the dolphins at the Oceanarium Exhibit, wander through the many Amazonian creatures in the Amazon Rising Exhibit, and find many fantastic creatures from every sea and major waterway in the entire world, all in one place!

If you tend to agree with Chicago in that bigger is better, this is one of the many unparalleled attractions that this wonderful city offers to you, the visitor. Stop thinking small this year when choosing your vacation destination and pick the big city of Chicago in Illinois for your next getaway destination.