Family Travel

There’s nothing like driving through small-town America and stumbling upon a 19-foot statue of Paul Bunyan holding a giant hot dog.

Kids put down their Gameboys pretty quickly when they look out the car window and see that!

After miles and miles of authentic Midwest agricultural wonders (this is your brain on corn) it’s a bit mind-boggling to stand in tiny downtown Atlanta, Illinois and try to figure out the origins of the thoroughly fake Hot Dog Man.

According to the Logan County tourism Web site, the massive fiberglass dude with a dog used to stand in front of a restaurant called Bunyon’s in Berwyn, Illinois (also on old Route 66) from about 1965 to 2003.

When the restaurant closed, the owner Mr. Stephens agreed to keep the landmark Big Guy standing tall on the fabled Mother Road, so it was moved to a new home in Atlanta, Illinois.

Your family can see it today, presiding majestically over passing tiny people and assorted hot dog fans.

Mustard and relish not included.

Related posts:

• (on Perceptive Travel blog) Vintage ad artwork in Atlanta, Illinois
• (on Perceptive Travel blog) Route 66 maple syrup in Funks Grove
• (on Family Travel) What makes Chicago, Illinois so great for families?
• (on Family Travel) Getting our kicks on Oklahoma’s Route 66

(This is cross-posted with the Perceptive Travel blog.)

In the U.S., there’s a saying usually ascribed to Native Americans about getting another person’s perspective by “walking a mile in their moccasins.”

As a traveler, it’s always interesting to see my country through another’s eyes.

As I scanned my local newspaper the other day, I noticed an Associated Press article in the Sports section about how Chicago is trying to convince international officials to pick their city to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Apparently Chicago’s international image is pretty much summed up by….the gangster Al Capone.

Industrial grit and grime. Violence.

This is not at all the city that I’ve visited, but when you live in a big country and travelers tend to cluster in well-known coastal cities like New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco, it’s natural that a sprawling Midwestern place on Lake Michigan might tend to be overlooked.

In the AP article, Edinburgh resident Carol Morrison is quoted: “It’s much more visually stunning than I’d expected.”

Gosh, yes, Chicago is that.

I visited last summer with my teen daughter to speak at the BlogHer blogging conference, and even though I’d been there before, I was struck anew by the energy, verve, sports enthusiasm, beautiful parks and dazzling architecture.

If you like history and amazing buildings, I strongly recommend the 90 minute docent-led Chicago Architecture Foundation river cruise (what, you didn’t know that Chicago has lovely rivers? See, you should visit….)

The museums alone could keep a visitor tied up inside for days.

For a hard look at press freedom and freedom of speech in general, there’s the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum. For mind-blowing beauty, there’s the Art Institute of Chicago (I was crushed that Edward Hopper’s 1942 painting Nighthawks was gone when we visited….it was on loan to the MFA in Boston.) For T-Rex-sized portions of natural history, there’s the Field Museum.

Inside “the Loop,” the main downtown area, I was never concerned about my personal safety, even at night.

Some parents might be horrified, but my teen walked from the Navy Pier to the Field Museum on her own, and I never worried about her.

Sorry, Al Capone and assorted gangsters no longer rule Chicago.

Poke around in the Chicago Tribune’s travel section for plenty of visitor fun in what we call the Windy City or the City of Big Shoulders.

And if you plan a trip to any country, always try to explore a little bit beyond “the usual” places….and don’t rely on a city’s reputation from the 1920s.