Visting Superman’s Hometown

 

Illinois is filled with small towns with their own personality. Even after 17 years of living here, I still have a list of many I have yet to explore. Toward the top of that list was Metropolis, the hometown of the character of Superman.

I recently had the opportunity to visit Metropolis, and it met my expectations. I took along my friends, Amanda and Heather, and my service dog, Teddy.

 

We stayed at Harrah’s Metropolis Hotel & Casino. It’s a large property within walking distance to everything in town. Amanda and Heather shared a room, while Teddy and I had a larger accessible room with two beds and a big bathroom with rails and a chair in the walk-in shower. 

After check-in, we headed downtown to the Superman Museum. The entrance to the museum is filled with photos in the window and something you’d expect the Man of Steel to need—a phone booth. 

You first walk into the store. I can’t imagine there is anything related to Superman you will not find for sale, including clothes of all sizes and kryptonite candy.

Superman Museum is a dream for the superhero lover. It pays homage to every Superman and the actors who played him. A lot of the memorabilia is one of a kind, such as the final script of the first Superman movie with Christopher Reeve, and the original costume worn in Superman III.

 

You’ll see photographs of Reeve, Dean Cain, and all the actors who played Superman, as well as all the actors who played Lois Lane and Supergirl. Branded video games, dolls, and toys are everywhere.

After the museum, they walked and I rolled around the downtown. It’s filled with quirky shops and Superman (and Lois) statues. Metropolis has a uniqueness you certainly can’t match anywhere else.

I found out that you can easily soar through the streets in Metropolis with a wheelchair. The town is also extremely dog friendly and Teddy was welcome everywhere we went. Of course, I had to dress him to fit in.

 
After reading about the restaurants in the town, we settled on Fat Edd’s, for its food reviews and dog friendliness. The food is mostly centered around barbecue, and they have quite a selection.

I cleared with the manager that the shrimp was cooked separately, and I didn’t need to worry about allergy contamination. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich, Amanda got the Lava Chicken, and Heather had the BBQ chicken platter. Teddy was happy with scraps, and French fries.

 
Metropolis isn’t just about Superman. We found some relaxing and historic outdoor spots to check out too.

Dorothy Miller Park is on the Ohio River and a perfect place for a picnic or relaxing afternoon. It’s filled with picnic tables and paths to explore. There is a lighthouse and Teddy found plenty of spaces to enjoy while I wheeled around.

 

Fort Massac State Park is also on the river, but an entirely different park. This one is on 1500 acres and includes a visitor’s center with an extensive collection of Native American artifacts, offers camping, trails, forestry, and recreated buildings.

The history of Fort Massac is quite complicated and includes the original Native Americans, the landing of the Europeans back in 1540, the French and Indian War, Revolutionary War, and Civil War. The park is free to enter, and they have plenty of parking, including handicapped spots.

 

Before leaving Metropolis in the morning, our last stop in downtown was breakfast at Sissy’s, A Sweet Spot. It’s actually more of a bakery than restaurant, but they do have accessible seating. They also have so many treats it was hard to decide to decided what to get.

In the end, we all had breakfast sandwiches for practicality. I also got a pumpkin cream cheese muffin for us to share. It was as delicious as it looked and a great way to end our trip to Metropolis.

I was hosted on this trip by Metropolis, Illinois, but opinions are my own.

More to See in Joliet, Illinois

After an exciting night at the Illinois Rock and Roll Hallof Fame Induction, my friend Lisa and I stayed at Harrah’s Joliet hotel. In the morning, we went downtown to explore.

With Lisa walking and me in my scooter, the town looked easy to navigate on this beautiful day. We hadn’t eaten since early the previous evening, so we were ready for breakfast at the Route 66 Diner.

The diner was decorated to pay tribute to the popular roadway that comes right through this town. There was no doubt as to what I was going to eat as they actually had a dish named “Marcia’s Platter.” No one seemed to know how it got its name, but the plate of scrambled eggs, vegetables, hashbrowns, and cheese was just what I wanted (with a side of pancakes).

Lisa chose the Eggs Benedict and we relaxed with our coffee for awhile before heading back on the street. The downtown is quaint with lots of shops. We took a few minutes to stop at Sue Regis Glass to see some of the creations being made.

I’m not sure why, but my scooter had not charged, and we got stuck at some point. It was nice to see how much help we got from local people coming by and seeing the scooter broken down. They helped me get to the Joliet Area Historical Museum while we plugged in the scooter and went through the museum with a wheelchair. (It would be the last trip for that mode of transportation, and I had to get another.)

At the museum we were greeted by the Blues Brothers. The statues are so life-like we just had to stop and pose. The famous group is just one of the exhibits here. 

There are tributes to many of the people and things that came out of Chicagoland, as well as the history from this area. A large room also has a lot about Route 66 from Illinois to California.  

We managed to get an Uber back to the hotel in which we could carry the scooter. Once at Harrah’s Joliet, we got some lattes and wraps from the Cross Street Grill for the road. 

It was less than two hours to home and I knew Joliet was a place I’d be coming back to – especially since the Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame wasn’t quite ready for us to see on this trip.

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Food, Wine and More Continues in Atlantic City

I was in Atlantic City for a little birthday celebration with my close friends Liza and Lynn before the Food and Wine Festival. We had a fun evening and were up early for a beautiful day along the Jersey Shore.

Liza had to head out in the early afternoon, but Lynn and I remained. I used my free time to walk along the boardwalk for about an hour.

I was happy to see that everything had been rebuilt along this part of the Atlantic Ocean since the last time I was here, prior to Hurricane Sandy.

I spent some time at both the beach and pool before Lynn and I headed to the next stop, Caesar’s Resort.

I’m not usually one to go for the buffets in Atlantic City, but we were both hungry and I knew I was going to have a late dinner.  We were not disappointed as the selection at the Palace Court Buffet is huge.

I had a little bit of everything, including General Tsao Chicken, pork dumplings, salad, pasta, brisket, stuffing, and vegetables. They also had ice cream you could serve yourself and I happily topped mine with hot fudge and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Lynn had to leave and my room still wasn’t ready so I went to the Caesar’s Pier Shops, looking around and using a Victoria’s Secret gift certificate I had gotten for my birthday.

I picked up my credentials, tickets for the Atlantic CityFood and Wine Festival events, and goodie bags, which included Guy Fieri’s new sauces.

My daughter, Sam, was meeting me for the rest of the weekend, but she was stuck in traffic so I had plenty of time left to relax and leisurely get ready for dinner.  

When she arrived we took a cab over to Harrah’s for the Media Dinner at Martorano’s Restaurant with the other writers and the staff at DKC Public Relations.

One thing that I’ve been missing since I moved to Champaign is a good Italian restaurant so I was more than ready for a meal that I was told would be as authentic as it gets.

Martorano’s is everything you’d expect from a New Jersey Italian restaurant and more, including the atmosphere, the music, and the mafia movies (the one thing I actually could have done without -- a bit too much blood and foul language for dinner time). The waiter’s even sported shirts that read “Yo, cuz!”

We ordered cocktails to start and I was very happy with my Watermelon Ice Martini. It wasn’t long before the waiters were also pouring Martorano’s own Pinot Grigio Venezia Giulia 2012, and bringing out platters of food family style.

The food here was beyond incredible and we all ate until we couldn’t any more of meatballs, fresh ricotta, chicken Marsala, calamari, shrimp scampi, eggplant with fresh mozzarella and tomato, ziti with veal and peppers, and spaghetti with a pork sauce.

As we finished dinner, the atmosphere also changed, with disco music and lights. People got up to dance and even the waiters had a bit more swag in their movement. Everyone was having so much fun as the restaurant turned into a nightclub.

It wasn’t much longer before the dishes filled with desserts came out, including waffle sundaes, chocolate cake, and the best red velvet cake I have ever had. The frosting alone was like eating cheesecake.

I am very picky about my Italian food, especially since I spent years perfecting my cooking to please my Sicilian grandfather, and this meal was one of the best I’ve ever had.

It was after midnight by the time Sam and I got back to the room at Caesar's. It took a bit longer before we could finish digesting all that food and go to sleep. We had a full day ahead of us at the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival. 

Restaurants and a bit of Burlesque in Atlantic City

I didn’t expect this story to be written quite the way I’m about to. When I decided to attend the Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival, I thought it might be nice to go in a day early and check out a resort I hadn’t been too. That day early happened to be my birthday so a celebration with New York friends seemed to be fitting.

Revel Resort, which I had heard incredible things about, graciously agreed to host me and have me and two close friends, Liza and Lynn, to dinner at Amada, a Jose Garces restaurant. I had been to two of his other properties in Scottsdale and Chicago so I was in for a treat. I had also interviewed the Chef for Cocktails & Joints. 

Unfortunately, I’m going to have to point you to the other Garces restaurants as Revel Resort has closed down in the short time since I was there. I was one of those hoping this beautiful property would be sold before the closing date, but it was not.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have lots to say about food and wine in Atlantic City. Before we get to the festival, I’d like to describe an incredible meal I had at a place that is very much open.

After we checked into the hotel, Liza, Lynn, and I were just planning on meeting Lisa Johnson and Alexis Kull of Lisa Johnson Communications at Atlantic City Bottle Company for drinks before our dinner at Amada. We ended up with a lot more than we planned.

Atlantic City Bottle Company is off the strip and not easy to find, but it’s definitely worth the drive to the stadium (it’s across from there, between McDonald’s and the car wash).

The Iron Room Speakeasy is actually located beyond the AC Bottle Company wine and liquor store. It’s not very big, but definitely makes a statement, with lots of wood, and a spot for live music in the corner.

It was hard to decide whether to go for one of the classic cocktails with a unique twist, or one of the favorite wines from an uncommon vineyard. I went with the Ribbonwood Sauvignon Blanc, a good choice for a New Zealand wine that’s not quite as grassy as some of the others.

My friend Liza did experiment with the Strawberry Pim’s Cup, which she said was very good and mojito-like.

In addition to a great drink list, the food here is amazing. The Udon Mac & Cheese was delicious. It was very cheesy with lots of parmigiana for a bit of a kick. I loved the idea of using long thick noodles in macaroni and cheese.

The Chicken Waffles were excellent. I have had this before and it’s usually a chicken leg, but it’s done instead here with a cutlet. Also, it’s more savory than overly sweet.

The Hanger Steak was tender and tasty, but the Brussel sprouts served with them got our attention fast as the best we’ve ever had.

We also enjoyed the pappardelle, the crab, and the cheese plate, which had a great combination of cheeses and fruits.

After dinner at Amada back at Revel, we went to the Ivan Kane’s Royal Jelly Burlesque Night Club. It was my first burlesque experience and Ivan was kind enough to give us access to the VIP section. Although the club was forced to close when Revel did, I hope it has the opportunity to open up somewhere else in Atlantic City.

We were back in our room after my birthday had ended, but I still had a lot more celebrating to do over the weekend as Lynn and I were staying for the next day, and my daughter was than joining me at Caesar’s for the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival.