So, the city of Metropolis, Illinois loves Superman. They’ve built him a few statues, they have a store dedicated to him, and everything about the town refers back to him. I, for one, applaud the city for taking advantage of their name as it relates to the decades of Superman lore. If only more towns across the world with cool names would do that (looking at you, Frankenstein, Missouri and Money, Mississippi)!

We left Paducah and crossed the Ohio River on apparently one of the narrowest bridges in existence before arriving in Metropolis. Our first sight was the giant statue of Superman that sits in the middle of town, right next to the Super Museum. After getting the obligatory pictures around the statue, Superman Square, and the outside of the museum, we meandered into the gift shop. The Super Museum and gift store is the holy grail for anyone who likes the Man of Steel. There is memorabilia covering every square inch of this place.

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Admission to the museum is cheap at only $8, but the gift shop is a neat place to go to get a souvenir or an elusive piece of Superman and DC collectibles. There is also no shortage of photo opportunities, and if you’re even relatively close to Metropolis, you have to make the stop through just to see the way this town has embraced their “hometown hero.”

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The town was fairly quiet when we showed up on early on a Sunday. The main street through the town definitely gave a “Mayberry” vibe, especially with the classic car sitting in front of the museum and the original brick buildings in the oldest part of town. But nothing here escapes Superman’s view, including the small city water park they’ve recently built. Many people literally drive through the city just to park and get pictures before moving on, but it doesn’t hurt to take a quick walk to the museum and other small shops that line the street in front of the large statue.

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Every year the town holds the large Superman Celebration, which at the time of this writing is just ending for the year. It’s a large festival that celebrates Batman. I’ve heard other DC characters show up, but the Dark Knight…wait. Oops.

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Anyway, guest stars show up, there are souvenirs to be exchanged, and it’s just a three day weekend of revelry and all things Man of Steel. We weren’t there for it this time, but it would totally be a fascinating visit in the future. Have any of y’all been? We’d love to know how it is, so definitely leave us a comment!