Have you ever heard of Casey, Illinois? I hadn't. At least not until this spring. My friend Laura, who was in my high school graduating class, posted to Facebook during spring break that she had taken her son to this place called Casey, Illinois. She posted pictures, and I thought it looked like the most fun thing ever. I told her so, and she added that it had a sweet coffee shop she thought we might like.
How convenient, then, that this was literally directly on our way home from Mansfield. So it became the final stop on our trip, and oh my goodness. It did NOT disappoint. What fun!!!!! Casey's tagline is "Big Things, Small Town" and that is exactly what it is. First of all, the town is just cute as a button. Felt very Hallmarky. It has little shops and boutiques and such, and all of that is a lot of fun on its own. But it is also the home of some of the world's largest unique items, and it's also home to a handful of other "big things" - even if they aren't world record holders.
I also particularly loved it that the family who has been behind the idea of adding these big things to the small town also loves the Lord, so the things have Scripture verses on them, too!
All these big things are totally free to see, and you can do photo opps and everything. It is seriously SO MUCH FUN. I should also add that in order to qualify as the world's largest something...it has to be truly functional. So for example...the world's largest wind chime has to actually ring. And it does! We rang it! The wind chime structure is 54 feet tall, and the longest actual chime is 42 feet tall. HEre is a picture of me with it - and a video of Ryan ringing it!
This next one was actually one of the last things we saw, because it's located just outside of town on a golf course, but it's the world's largest golf tee! It's 30 feet tall and over 6600 pounds!
The world's largest rocking chair took TWO YEARS to build! The website says it takes ten grown men to actually rock it, so obviously it's not set up to be rocked by the general public, but it's pretty cool to see! It is 56 feet tall and over 42,000 pounds!
The world's largest wooden shoes are one of the few things located inside a building - and they are HUGE! Each shoe weighs 2500 pounds! They are 4 feet, 9 inches tall, and 11 feet, 5 inches long. (By the way, the shoes are visible from a window, so if you happen through town after business hours and still want to see them, you can. You just can't get up close!
The world's largest pitchfork is located just outside town, and it was one of the few things we couldn't really get up close to like we wanted, because there was another couple there doing their own photo shoot, and they didn't seem super inviting. We were on our way out of town and were trying to get home before all the city rush hours, so we didn't linger. It is 60 feet long and over 1900 pounds.
One of our favorites? The world's largest mailbox! You can actually climb up inside it and mail a letter from the box. When you drop your mail in, a red flag goes up on the outside of the box. We took several pictures here! And we mailed a few postcards!
The world's largest key is pretty cool too! It's over 28 feet tall and over 11 feet wide!
The world's largest gavel is in a neighboring town, so we did not see that one. But the world's largest swizzle spoon, at almost 12 feet tall, was pretty fun!
The world's largest golf driver is 45 feet tall and weighs 731 pounds. And according to my sister, the golfer, Ryan needs to work on his form.
The world's largest barbershop pole...appropriate for Ryan, no? It's almost 14 and a half feet tall and almost 4 feet wide!
And...the world's largest teeter totter! It's 82 feet long! We got pictures with it, but it is only operational on Saturdays, so we didn't get to see it in true action.
So those are the world's largest things. Here are a few of the "just big" things we got to see!
The antlers were used in a commercial and then gifted to the town.
The birdcage is SO fun! You can swing in it!
The big softball bat is at a softball hall of fame on the edge of town:
Ryan liked the Pokeball and the Minion:
The spinning top is also fun! (We didn't go see the toy airplane glider...it was outside town at the airport.)
We didn't get to see the giant token, because it was inside a bank that had not reopened their lobby. And somehow I did not even KNOW I missed the giant pizza slicer. FAIL!!!! But the knitting needle and crochet hook were fun! They were just inside the window of a store.
Of course, I loved the bookworm, and the nail puzzle was pretty cool too!
The anvil and horseshoe were in neighboring towns, so we didn't see those. But we did see the cactus and the ear of corn!
The rocking horse was inside a building we didn't go to, but the mouse trap was fun!
And last, but certainly not least - the yardstick and pencil were dear to my heart, of course!
There were so many other fun things about Casey, but this was SO SO fun. It was a huge highlight of the trip!
We went early - starting around 9 - before most of the businesses opened, and we were able to see quite a few of the things before the town started filling up with people! Just a little tip! :)
4 comments:
Oh my gosh, these are all so cool!!
Okay, this is crazy! I have a friend whose husband was a pastor at a church in Casey for a few years, and I visited them at least three times between about 2005-2009, I'm guessing. I never heard about any of this! They said it was just kind of a dud of a town. Maybe this is new?
Giiirrrrrlllllllll you are skinny!!!!
Tamar - They sure were!
Tracy - I believe you are correct! I read in some article that the idea behind these world's largest items was to try to bring people to Casey. They were all constructed in the last few years, so it must be working!!!
Charity - I love you for it, but I promise it's just creative photography on Ryan's part! (And I love him for it, too!)
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