On Day Three of my three-week road trip to WrestleMania, I stopped at Casey, Illinois. I guess you could say that this road trip had a kitschy theme because I seemed to find things that were oversized and take a picture with them (more on that when I post about the Broad Museum in Los Angeles).
Casey, Illinois is home to the world’s biggest things. They say they are the ‘big things, small town.’ You can follow them here on Instagram. So how did this small town become so popular for such big things? According to its history, it happened because of Jim Bolin. Bolin is a local business owner who was born and raised in Casey. He wanted to give back to the town, and made a few of them. these big items started becoming tourist attractions — which, of course, helped the town too. While I was visiting some of these big things, there were at least 5-10 cars pulled in to see the same attractions. It worked. It’s drawn attention.
Whenever I listen to any podcasts on road trips, everyone talks about a little side trip to Casey. It is one of those places that I have no idea why I was drawn to seeing it, but nonetheless, it was fun to do. All of these oversized objects make for fun photo ops too! I didn’t have time to see all of them, but I definitely knew I wanted to see the pencil (I’m a writer, ya know, LOL.). I had big thoughts after holding it.
So what did I see? The pitchfork, pencil, barber pole, teeter-totter, wind chimes, rocking chair, bird cage, mailbox, key, and taco!
You can probably see all of these free jumbo attractions in one day, so stop off and have some fun. A few things: Be sure to see the mailbox. Walk to the top of it if you can and there is a place inside where you can actually mail a real letter (yes, it needs to be stamped). It will arrive at its destination with a seal from the mailbox. Think about mailing it to yourself!
When You’re Done
When you’re done, be sure to stop into the Whitling Whimsy Cafe (they are located next door to the Wind Chimes — which I got to ring!). They sell postcards of all of the big things and have sandwiches and snacks to nosh on. Casey, Illinois, is a place that makes you feel really small — in a good way.
