Not trying to be too punny, but the sound of the wake up the morning of Saturday, June 11, 2011, was rather alarming. As such, it was alarming in its own right that Dean and I had self-inflicted this punishment at 4:30 in the morning – all in the name of driving into town and lining up to get tickets that would enable us to meet the three major celebrities of the 2011 annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois. But since we had, we went ahead and followed through with it. Ugh.
They had given out half of the tickets the morning before, and there were a rash of people competing to make sure that they had gotten their share out of this last bash. Apparently the year before, some folks had been turned away. Even though we arrived at about 5:20am at the Chamber of Commerce, we were still rather far back in the line. We waited and chatted with each other and other fans. I impatiently noted the hefty gentleman with restless leg syndrome who was sharing my bench, until I finally suggested that he get the hell up and let my friend Dean sit down.
By 6am, we were questioning our choice to line up for autograph tickets
There were going to be four signing sessions throughout the day, and one guest – Sam Huntington – had had a flight delay and wouldn’t be present until the third and fourth session. He would, however, make this up the next day for those who had tickets for the first session. At 7am, we got our tickets, choosing the third session at 4:00pm, and that was that. We headed back toward our motel, stopping to get pictures under the giant iconic Superman statue.
The Supermen of Metropolis
A brief Presidential interlude: a nice photo of future-President Barack Obama and his visit to Metropolis in 2006
We decided to rest a while, naturally nodding off for an hour or so. Dean decided to get ready and attend the Celebrity Q&A with Brandon Routh, Sam Huntington, and Alaina Huffman at 11:30. I opted to just stay back in the room, take my shower, and play on Facebook for a bit. When Dean got back, we had lunch next door at the Kentucky Fried Chicken. There were two things I loved there: 1) the old-style bucket sign, and 2) the very-reasonably priced all-you-can-eat buffet, which I didn’t know existed here.
Nothing like a good retro-bucket
After lunch, we headed back to the downtown area to get our celebrity encounters out of the way. Over at the Artists Alley & Writers Way building, Mark Pillow and Tracy Lewis were scheduled to appear at 2pm. They had virtually no line, partially because they weren’t actually there. They were getting the official celebrity photo taken at the Superman statue. Eventually they showed up and Dean and I had our meeting with them. (See my encounters here.)
Dean meets Tracy Roberts Lewis from Superboy
We finished her at a little after 3pm and had enough time to check out the cool Lois Lane statue which had been placed in town the year earlier. Dean had been present to see Lois Lane actress Noel Neill attend the unveiling. We also looked around the festival booths, checked out the Chamber of Commerce, and bumped into the Metropolis mayor. After finding Dean a restroom that wasn’t portable, we went ahead and lined up at Banterra Bank where the signing for the three main guest stars would occur.
With the Lois Lane statue honoring Noel Neill, “The First Lady of Metropolis”
Among the crowd of festival attendees were an angry man in plaid, Dean, and apparently, a Ghostbuster. In the extreme rear is the Superman statue by the Massac County Courthouse.
The Mayor of Metropolis Billy McDaniel. Superman has gotten him out of many a scrape.
This is the first shield that will be installed on the Walk of Heroes down Market Street in Metropolis, honoring Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
In the phone booth in the Chamber of Commerce, getting ready to change into… sweaty man
The session was supposed to begin at 4pm, but sure enough there were huge delays before it even started (likely due to the VIP session that was preceding ours). The line finally began to move, slowly weave its way through the bank, and eventually bring Dean and me up to the tables where they were signing. It was one of the most laborious processes I had ever seen, but in the end, I had happily met all three. (My encounters can be seen here.)
Finally nearing the table of the guest celebrities, Alaina Huffman, Sam Huntington, and Brandon Routh. All of the are visible if you have… super eyes.
This looks like a job for… Dean Garrett… as he meets Brandon Routh
My program signed by the five celebrity guests
It was 6pm by the time we finished and I had just one more item on my must-see list: to see the Super Museum. This was by far the biggest collection in the world of Superman memorabilia. Whereas some of the American Hollywood Museum contained pieces related to the comic book and cartoon Superman, this museum concentrated on his live action films and TV series. Costumes and props from The Adventures of Superman, the Superman serial, and Christopher Reeve’s Superman abounded, with a smaller emphasis put on Supergirl, Superboy, Superman Returns, The Adventures of Lois and Clark, and Smallville – yet there were goodies from these productions as well. Overall, it was Superman-lover’s super dream.
Outside the incredibly super Super Museum. Note Superman bursting out of the side of the building. Also note me. No reason. Just note me.
Intercoms, telephones, typewriters, lamps, hat racks, etc., that were not only used on the TV series The Adventures of Superman, but also on Dragnet, which used the same Hollywood prop house
The glasses that George Reeves wore in The Adventures of Superman TV series
Overview of memorabilia in the Super Museum. I didn’t get to try on all of the Superman pajamas.
The model is a bit ridiculous, but that is an original Superman costume used in the 1978 film Superman with Christopher Reeve. Many different capes were designed to suit Reeve in various functions. This one is a ‘walking’ cape.
One of Jimmy Olsen’s cameras from the 1978 film Superman, this one made of balsa wood
Apparently, I’m drawn to phone booths in Metropolis, hoping I might come out with super powers. This one was not only used in the Superman serial with Kirk Alyn, it was later owned by him.
These are original Superman and Ultra-Woman costumes worn by Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher in The Adventures of Lois & Clark TV series
Original Superman costume worn by George Reeves in The Adventures of Superman TV series
After browsing the museum for about an hour, we decided to get into the spirit of the street festival atmosphere by having a simple dinner of carnival food. I chose the Polish on a Pita sausage sandwich and we sat under the town’s Superman mural and ate.
On the streets or Metropolis, a sausage concoction capable of delivering super gas
Great Superman mural in downtown Metropolis depicting Kirk Alyn, Brandon Routh, Christopher Reeve, Dean Cain, and George Reeves
Dean suggested dessert in the town Dippin’ Dots restaurant. Headquartered in the neighboring town of Paducah, Kentucky, the Dippin’ Dots in Metropolis in the largest in the world. It was nice to kick back, eat some ice cream dots in the air-conditioning, and watch some of the premier episode of Smallville playing on the TV.
Visiting the world’s largest Dippin’ Dots restaurant with the world’s largest ice cream appetites
We got back to our motel room at about 9pm. After chatting for a while, we finally fell asleep at a relatively decent hour. Although we didn’t have a strenuous agenda the next day, I did want to hit some important places on the way home – places that you just don’t get too close too on the average day.
The trip will conclude with some important historical sites on the way back to Ohio…
Follow the celebrities of the show here…
Kneel Before Zod!!
Eric Hubble
July 23rd, 2011
Cool! I’ve been to Metropolis and the Super Museum twice now, though never for the festival. (One of these years…) I’m sad to report, however, that the “World’s Largest Dippin’ Dots” has closed permanently (my last visit to Metropolis was 1/7/2012 and it was closed then, so apparently it didn’t last much longer after your own visit).
Len Cleavelin
August 8th, 2012
Happy to report that the Dippin Dots store reopened on the first day of the 2012 Superman Celebration. It is under new ownership and now serves pizza as well!
Neil Cole
August 19th, 2012