The Biggest Things in the World: A Ride through Southern Illinois

We learned about Casey Illinois one morning while watching CBS Sunday Morning.  They had a segment about the town and it's world record big items. It looked like a pretty neat place.

Oh, they have the biggest rocking chair and the biggest mailbox in the world.  I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to this stuff, so with a smile on my face, I say, "I have to see that sh!!". Casey is only 250 miles from Clarksville sounds like a great overnight motorcycle ride.



We leave on a warm fall day.  We take Interstate 24 up to Eddyville then US Highway 641 and Kentucky 91 through Marion to the Cave in the Rock Ferry on the Ohio River.  After the Ferry crossing, we ride through the Shawnee National forest and cross the devil's backbone on Illinois Highway 1.  The Devils Backbone is a ridge that was created by an earthquake in the early 1800's in Southern Illinois.

Riding in Southern Illinois is always a good experience, with its wide curving turns and it's hills with changing fall foliage make it a great ride.  After leaving the National Forest the terrain flattens out and the road straightens out.  Which makes it a short trip to Casey.

Casey is a typical small midwestern town that decided to have some Big Things in a Small Town.  Most of the big items are located on the main street.  You can actually see everything in under an hour.  The Biggest Rocking Chair and the Mail Box are among my favorites.  You must drive to the Golf course to see the worlds largest Golf Tee.

We stay the night in a local hotel that is by Interstate 70 and have a great meal at a Mexican Restaurant that is by the hotel.  It is nice to be able to walk to a place to eat from the hotel.  The next morning we're up bright and early for the return trip home.  The hotel breakfast bar had been overrun that morning so we decide to eat at Reflections Cafe downtown.  It's near the biggest mailbox in the world and we stopped there to drop some postcards off.

After Breakfast, we get back on the road, we take the same way home.  Once we get down to southern Illinois we decide to stop in Elizabethtown at the E-Town Restaurant which is actually a small barge on the Ohio River. You had a choice between actual Ohio River Catfish or Pond Raised Catfish.  The Ohio River Catfish is some of the best that I ever had.

After lunch, we catch the Ferry across to Kentucky and are home in a little more than an hour. It was good to get home and reflect on some of the biggest things in the world, that is in a nice small town.