Casey, Illinois
Big Things, Small Town, Endless Charm
Offbeat Pathfinder Dane D. Blaze tumbles into a Midwestern town with a big secret: it’s home to a dozen of the World’s Largest things. Part hilarious travel memoir, part surreal scavenger hunt, this is your guide to a place where dreams are just ideas nobody’s dared to make unnecessarily gigantic—yet.
From rocking in a chair built for a giant to mailing a letter from a mailbox that needs a ladder, Blaze (with occasional “help” from squirrel sidekick Gregory) finds the joy, ingenuity, and community spirit that make this tiny dot on the map feel visible from space.
Chapter 1: An Excerpt
They say size isn’t everything, but Casey begs to differ. The first time you round a corner and meet a rocking chair that could babysit a blue whale, you realize scale has a sense of humor— and this town is in on the joke. Somewhere between the wind chime that hums its own weather report and the mailbox that requires mountaineering, your inner child steals your itinerary and draws a treasure map.
The secret isn’t the steel and bolts; it’s the welders, dreamers, and do-ers who decided whimsy deserves a ZIP code. Here, directions are: “hang a left at the world’s largest pencil sharpener, if you hit the teacup you’ve gone too far.” It’s impossible to stay cynical in a place where the landmarks are punchlines and the punchlines are made with craftsmanship and care.
Blaze Tips™: bring a camera, a step stool, and an appetite. Nothing pairs with outsized joy like a diner pie slice measured in square feet.
