Metropolis Superman Celebration Recap On The Supergirl Radio Podcast

On Saturday, June 11th we took a day trip up to Metropolis, IL for the 44th Annual Superman Celebration. We’ve been attending for many years, and the weather was just too nice to not get out of the house. The higher gas prices had us think twice about going, but thankfully we had a new hybrid that gets between 50-60mpg.

I’m guessing Optimus Prime‘s gas mileage isn’t as good, but he definitely looks impressive in person!

Many others made the trek to the Official Home Of Superman, including many cosplayers.

Everywhere you turned there were fans with capes, cowls, shield, or other costume accessories- DC, Marvel, and a variety of other properties and characters were well represented there.

Some of the first folks we ran into were fellow Memphians the Easterling family! (Photo by Liz Easterling)

There were also some super-celeb guests in town, including Tom Welling, George Newbern, and Michael Rosenbaum. That’s Josh Boultinghouse with them who is the official Superman of Metropolis.

We ran into Superman while in Superman Square, just between the giant Superman statue and the Metropolis Chamber of Commerce.

We also visited the Noel Neill/Lois Lane statue just outside of the Artists Alley on Market and 8th Street.

We followed the signs to Artists Alley/Writers Way to the back of the bank building, and down some steep stairs. It was almost like entering a speakeasy- only no bouncer was at the door.

While in AA/WW we ran into Mama Wanda Helm who always keeps watch over the room, and more of our Memphis friends Christina and Jim Hall. We spoke to artists Matthew Clark and Rick Burchett, and spotted George Newbern as well.

Last year we ran into Supergirl Radio co-host Rebecca Johnson and fellow listener Dr. Nicole Green at AA/WW.

This year we had a Supergirl Radio meet-up on Market Street as we were exploring Metropolis and heading towards Artists Alley and the Noel/Lois statue. Dr. Green grew up not too far from Metropolis and brought along more of her family this year.

Last year we also had lunch with them and we all enjoyed drinking Kryptonite at Fat Edd’s. It’s the signature drink there, but there are others available.

This year we saw them again while we were in line at Fat Edd’s Roadhouse. It’s on Ferry and 4th- halfway between the Superman Square and the Harrah’s Casino. We had bacon cheese burgers, fries, and glasses of Kryptonite– plus a glass of water each to stay properly hydrated while walking around Metropolis under the yellow sun.

Staying hydrated, either with water, lemon shake-ups, or an ice cold glass of Kryptonite is a must. The summer heat can sneak up on you and quickly ruin your trip if you’re not careful.

Drinking a glass of Kryptonite has become a tradition for us in Metropolis, as is dropping a few bucks in the “Cash for Cats” can there.

Our boy Lex was adopted at the 2015 Metropolis Superman Celebration. He and two siblings had been abandoned at the carnival there. All found furever homes, and Lex has been part of our family for 7yrs now..! He currently lives with adopted siblings Lena and Jarael.

The animal shelter in Metropolis is the Project Hope Humane Society, and is located off Hwy45 next to the Metropolis welcome sign. We saw a few strays hanging out near the front of the building. Looks like they have some shelters built for them. We missed their fund raising tent, but now that we know where they are we can drop off some donations the next time we are in town.

Lots of well behaved Superpets can be seen around Metropolis during the Superman Celebration. If you bring yours along with you be sure to have plenty of water and shade breaks for them, and be wary of the hot pavement. There are great shady grassy areas near the statue for pets (and you) to stop and chill.

Speaking of chilling out while in Metropolis, I do recommend stopping by Sissy’s – A Sweet Shoppe. It’s about halfway between the Superman and Lois statues on Market Street. After our lunch at Fat Edd’s we were too full to have any ice cream there, but have enjoyed it on previous trips up.

They’ve got a great outdoor seating area that’s great for getting out of the direct sun, and doing some people watching. It’s also great for doing podcast interviews– last year that’s where we were interviewed by Rebecca for Supergirl Radio.

The Super Museum at Superman Square is also a great place to get out of the heat for a bit and see huge variety of Superman collector items, art, movie props and costumes- plus items from the Supergirl movie and TV show, Lois And Clark, Smallville, and more. We didn’t have time to check it out this trip, but Rebecca and Dr. Green and family did.

You can see and/or hear more of our adventures in Metropolis on the latest Supergirl Radio podcast. It’s available on YouTube, on their website, or most anywhere you like to download and listen to podcasts.