Just off I-70 in eastern Illinois sits Casey, a town of fewer than 3,000 people with some of the biggest things you will ever see. A giant wind chime, a rocking chair you could park a truck under, a mailbox you can climb inside. Several of them hold Guinness World Records for the largest of their kind.
It started in 2011, when local businessman Jim Bolin set out to give travelers a reason to pull off the interstate and spend some time downtown. Many of the pieces are built from salvaged materials: old telephone poles, pipe and oil tanks.
Where it began
The wind chime came first, its tubes made from pipe Bolin's company had on hand.
Take a seat
The rocking chair is built from telephone poles. Standing between its legs is the only way to get a sense of how big it really is.
You've got mail
The mailbox is the one to climb. A door in the post opens to a staircase, and at the top you can look out over town, then drop a postcard in the slot.
Around every corner
Walk a few blocks and the list keeps growing: a birdcage, a barber pole, a pencil, a mousetrap, a golf tee. Inside the shops downtown there are giant knitting needles and a pair of wooden shoes.
“Signposts around town point the way, and most of the giants are a short walk apart.”
Even on a cold, grey day in January, it is worth the stop. Finish with something sweet at the Candy Depot before getting back on the road.
