Big John: Metropolis’ Other Hero

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Driving through Metropolis on your way to the World’s Largest Statue of Superman, you’ll find another large statue of a “super man”: Big John (37.144369, -88.716370).

Big John

Big John fits in the genre of roadside attractions known as Muffler Men: giant statues of square-jawed he-men, that beckon you to buy mufflers, or in the case of John, to buy groceries. John looks like a cross between the happiest lumberjack ever and Al Capp’s L’li Abner.

If you lived in Southern Illinois, wouldn’t you shop at Big Johns?

Big John

Read more about Big John in this lengthy article.

Last visited: May 24th, 2015.

Fort Massac Rest Area

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Fort Massac

The Fort Massac Rest Area (37.159140, -88.679758) welcomes you to Metropolis, Illinois, the town Clark Kent works in. Clark Kent is, of course, the possibly-fictional superhero Superman.

The rest area is, overall, quite pleasant and features landscaped grounds, a clean bathroom (I can’t say clean bathrooms (plural) because I only visited the men’s bathroom), and an informative educational display about Emerald Ash Borer insects (which destroy ash trees).

Emerald Ash Borer

The grounds also feature Brood XXIII periodical cicadas, but the next time you’ll be able to observe them there is in 2028.

Last visited: May 24th, 2015.