I drove to Chicago last week with my brother-in-law. We went up through Louisville, then Indiana, and then over to Chicago. It was a boring drive. On the way back, I chose an alternate route. We went south through Normal, then through Padukah, then came home through Nashville.
One of the reasons for the alternate route was a statue I heard about. The tiny (very tiny) town of Metropolis, Illinois decided they would be the “Metropolis” in the Superman comics. They started calling their town the “home of Superman.” Clever, huh?
Part of being home to a super hero is having a statue in his honor. It just makes sense. Metropolis citizens raised money for their hometown hero’s statue (not from taxes, hooray for them) and erected this giant Superman statue in the middle of their little town.
It’s pretty impressive. That’s me (6 feet, 5 inches tall) by Superman’s right leg.
We stopped for a few minutes, bought me a Superman t-shirt, and spent money on supper at McD’s. That’s probably why they spent the money on the thing anyway. It gave me a reason to get off of I-24 and it put about $40 into their tiny town’s economy.
If you’re ever passing through Illinois on I-24, I’d suggest a stop in Metropolis. It seemed like a peaceful little town, but if a villain were to approach you, a super hero would be very near.
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Did you read the dedication plaque at the statue? I especially like the line the clarifies that the statue is “a symbol to be honored, not an idol to be worshipped.” Glad they straightened that out!
You made it through this entry without mentioning Sufjan Stevens. I don’t know whether to be proud or sad.
Hey, that’s a good point … Ron, did Tim attempt to convert you to the Illinoise on your road trip?
Oops…oversight on my part. We did listen to the Illinois record on the way up. Good stuff, indeed.
I’m actually from Metropolis and yeah, it’s lame, but we’re proud of that statue. We have a Superman Celebration every Summer where people come from everywhere and buy Superman stuff and have a bunch of events. You should come down for that, then you’d see what a backwoods bash is really like. Haha. Thanks for the post and we’ll see you soon.