In case you didn’t believe that I purchased Kryptonite and Kryptonite rock candy at the Super Museum in Metropolis, Illinois, here is photographic proof:
They will be stored in a lead box, just in case.
The Superman Museum in Metropolis, Illinois
The Superman Museum (37.152684, -88.732646), or technically the Super Museum, in Metropolis, Illinois, is both a museum dedicated to Clark Kent/Superman and a comic book store/souvenir shop.
Outside the brightly-colored (red, blue & yellow of course) brick building you’ll find a phone booth (just in case Clark needs to change), a green car reminiscent of the car on the cover of Action Comics #1 (the debut of Superman) and some contraptions that let you take a photo of your head on Superman or Supergirl’s body.
Inside you’ll find a museum, and a comic book store skewed towards Superman and DC Comics. The best purchasable items are the glow-in-the-dark Kryptonite rocks and the Kryptonite candy.
This Super Museum is worth a visit if you’re in the area, and I suppose it would be a must-visit destination for super-fans of Superman.
The World’s Largest Statue of Superman
Where is the world’s largest statue of Superman (37.152329, -88.732637)? Metropolis, Illinois of course! Right on Superman Square.
The non-stop flow of tourists is almost as amusing as the statue itself.
Visit Metropolis Tourism for more information.
Last visited: May 24th, 2015.
Big John: Metropolis’ Other Hero
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 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?
Read more about Big John in this lengthy article.
Last visited: May 24th, 2015.
Fort Massac Rest Area
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).
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.