The weekend of Oct 21st 2022 I packed up my car to move from Missouri to Florida. What an excellent opportunity to go on an adventure quest! Paul Stryer, the CEO and Co-Founder of XploreGEO. He decided to take the road trip with me to explore and find Hard Rock Cafes and Whispering Giants (Indian sculptures carved by artist Peter Wolf Toth) along the way. Peter Wolf Toth completed his goal of having at least one Indian statue in every state and then added more. Some are now missing or removed.
I have been building quests to upload to the database when the XploreGeo game launches in early 2023. I have explored and researched 100s of amazing locations, which in XploreGEO we call “Markers”. I was so excited to go on this road trip and do a multi-state adventure quest to find some of our markers (locations) and discover new ones, which we did. Keep reading because you are going to be amazed and some of the places we visited.
So let’s get to our multi-state “Adventure Quest” playing XploreGEO. My dog, Moose, also came along on this adventure. Check out my pictures, can you find Moose?! He is in quite a few pictures.
Please share your thoughts about are pre-launch pretend adventure quest in the comments below. During this adventure quest we visited Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, tell us some of the states and places you have visited in the comments as well.
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Our first quest stop in Missouri was Forest Park in St. Louis which is an XploreGeo marker. We were in search of the The Trail of the Whispering Giants Indian sculpture. Unfortunately, it got hit by lightning and was removed. Forest Park is 1,300 acres and has the most beautiful fall trees in every color. It has picnic sites, trails, lakes, statues and monuments, a visitor and education center, museums, and so much more. There were many people out enjoying the nice fall day – walking, running, riding bicycles, exploring the park, checking out the museum, sitting by the lake. The receptionist at the Visitor Center was friendly and helpful to us and others inquiring about Forest Park. She went above and beyond helping us figure out the mystery of the missing Trail of the Whispering Giants Indian sculpture. She also discovered a helpful website.
By car we saw another one of our XploreGeo markers – the St. Louis Arch! It is definitely a must-see place to explore and visit. There are interactive pre-boarding exhibits before you travel up 630 feet to the top of America’s tallest monument. Amazing views stretching up to 30 miles to the east and west.
Metropolis, Illinois: Home of Superman
The next stop on our adventure quest was Metropolis, Illinois in search of the world largest Superman Statue, one of the XploreGeo markers. Take a selfie and earn some points in the XploreGeo app (Launching Early 2023) with this marker. Metropolis, Illinois has been the “Home of Superman” since 1972. It is located at the very southern tip of Illinois on the border of Illinois and Kentucky. We found the 15-foot statue as well as shops selling everything Superman that you can imagine! An interesting fact is that this is the second Superman statue. The first one people kept shooting to see if it was stronger than a speeding bullet. It wasn’t. This one that we saw is two ton projectile proof and bronze!
There is also a Super museum. It is located in the back of the museum gift store. The gift store is filled with tons of Superman gifts and souvenirs. This place is incredible and you will have lots of fun looking around. It is open everyday and has over 70,000+ items from Superman enthusiast and collector, Jim Hambrick. Some of the items are almost every Superman toy ever made as well as movie props and promotional items from all the Superman movies and TV series. There is also one of the only George Reeves Superman costumes still in existence in the museum. The museum is changed often to encourage repeat visits so that is awesome!
We happened to visit during a Fall Back to Metropolis special event. Bangarang with Lost boy Raushan Hammond who played Thud Butt in Steven Spielberg’s movie Hook was there discussing his experiences in the movie. Superman and Batman showed up as well as some other superheroes and villains. We didn’t stay but later in the evening they were having a Super Retro Dance Party with DJ Ray Martinez. People were encouraged to come dressed up in their favorite 80s or 90s clothes, Halloween costume, or cosplay. As we were leaving we got to see many people arriving in their outfits – so cool!
Nearby there are a couple more markers to find – the Lois Lane and Kryptonite statues. It was an amazing place to explore and visit. Check out the Metropolis IL quest in the XploreGeo app to find 30+ markers in this incredible town. Up, up, and away to the next marker we go….
Paducah, Kentucky
The next marker in Paducah, Kentucky was a Indian sculpture that is part of the “Trail of the Whispering Giants”. This 56,000 pound 35-feet tall statue was hand-carved by Peter “Wolf” Toth in 1985 from a local red oak and is #50. The historical marker names him “Wacinton” (way-cheen-too) honoring the Chickasaw people. This was my first Whispering Giant to see and it is just remarkable in person.
Nashville, TN
Well, Nashville is calling me, and I must go…. Our next marker to find is in Music City, USA – the Hard Rock Cafe Nashville. We were not expecting Nashville to be so alive and exciting. Our eyes darted everywhere. So much to take in and explore. People filled the streets, sidewalks, buildings – on roof tops and in open windows. There were street performers (my favorite was the lady that looked and acted like a statue, see picture) and every kind of party tour vehicle imaginable – buses, tractors, pedal taverns, rockets, barges, fire engines, military vehicles. All blaring music with people having a blast. Bands were in every building even Taco Bell! We stopped to watch some girls trying their best to hang onto a bucking bull in a bar. You definitely will need to take more than one day to enjoy this city. Tons to explore! There will be many unique and fun markers and challenges in our Nashville quest in the XploreGeo app.
Nashville, TN: Hard Rock Cafe
We found the Hard Rock Cafe Nashville marker, one of Paul’s must-see places. It is located in an historic building. They had a special 80s night going on upstairs and a band downstairs.
Alabama Welcome Center/Rest Stop
We got back on the road and passed by an interesting rest stop in Alabama near Elkmont. It has a Saturn 1B Rocket lit up outside! That will be one of the XploreGeo markers to find.
Dothan, Alabama: Trail of the Whispering Giants
Cracker Barrel in Cullman, Alabama started our Day 2 of XploreGeo adventure questing. It was a yummy, hot breakfast. We then headed to our next marker in Dothan, Alabama, another Trail of the Whispering Giants Indian Statue. Each one is uniquely different. This one was located in a small park next to the Dothan Houston County Library. It is 20 feet tall and this Indian’s name is Mus-Quoian. It is #5 and made in April 1973.
Dothan , Alabama: Peanut Tour
We noticed two peanut sculptures nearby and started to wonder what they could be about so we researched them. Our curiosity and exploration uncovered an amazing quest that will be in the XploreGeo app once it launches. Find all the peanut sculptures that are in Dothan. There are at least 67 with more being added daily. The sculptures began as a fundraiser for the revitalization of Downtown Dothan then grew into a city-wide public art project. Businesses purchase fiberglass peanut statues from locally owned Replica Plastics, and design them to represent their business. We found the Original Gold Peanut, Elvis, Captain Cash (by the bank), a termite one, and at least three more as we were passing through. Adventure questing is so fun. You never know what you may find. This small unassuming town was just plain “nutty” with tons of interesting things to explore and find. I plan on coming back in December to find all 67+ peanut sculptures!
World's Smallest City Block
By 12 days we missed The National Peanut Festival, the nation’s largest peanut festival. Wouldn’t that have been a sight to see! It is held for 10 days each fall to honor local peanut farmers and to celebrate the harvest season. Dothan is known as the “Peanut Capital of the World”. The majority of all the peanuts grown in the United States are grown within a 100 mile radius of Dothan.
Dothan also has 19 beautiful murals painted on buildings downtown. The best way to see them is by walking the eight-block pathway. We saw a few on our way to find the World’s Smallest City Block which was another interesting and unusual thing in Dothan that we stumbled upon. This will be a marker on the XploreGeo app.
Colquitt, GA: Trail of the Whispering Giants
Another Trail of the Whispering Giants Indian Statue was about 50 miles from Dothan, Alabama in Colquitt, Georgia. That was the next marker in our XploreGeo adventure quest so off we went. It is located at the town’s Chamber of Commerce building. There is a speaker box that you can press to learn about the Indian sculpture as well as other landmarks. This Whispering Giant is 18 feet tall and is #70 and it replaced #4 for unknown reasons in 2002.
We noticed an impressive mural on a silo behind this Whispering Giant. We drove by the silo to explore that area and take pictures. The mural is painted on all sides and will be another added marker in the XploreGeo app.
Banbridge, GA: Southern Philosophy Brewery
By now we were getting very hungry from all the adventure questing. We did a little bit of exploring and found the neatest little town square with an awesome place to eat in Bainbridge, Georgia. The town square reminded us of the Hallmark movies and the town square clock tower reminded us of Back to the Future. The trees were beautiful. It was a quiet, nice night to explore all the monuments. Even Moose explored a bit. Can you find him?!
The restaurant was Southern Philosophy Brewing and it is in a building built in the 1870s. We had one of their wood-fired pizzas called the Hey American! Totally delicious with premium pepperoni, mozzarella, smoked sausage, and marinara on it. Paul added the sausage which we thought would be crumbled up pieces. These were thick, round slices of smoked sausage. My favorite part of this pizza was the sausage besides the melty cheese. Sorry no pictures, we dove right into that pizza!
Daytona, FL: World Famous Buc-ee'S
After our stomachs were full we walked around the square once more to explore the quaint shops and town square. Then, we got into the car ready for a long car ride. Our next marker and our last one was in Daytona Beach, Florida about 4 ½ hours away. Paul kept us awake listening to crime podcasts. We finally made it to the XploreGeo marker about 1am. It was my first Buc-ee’s experience! It has 104 gas pumps and a mega-convenience store that is over 50,000 square feet filled with everything Buc-ee the beaver – chips, fudge, socks, clothes, jerky, souvenirs, barbecue sandwiches, Beaver Nuggets (sorta like caramel corn), and so much more. This was a crazy, fun place to explore. A definite must-see place and an awesome place to end our XploreGeo adventure quest through seven states! As always I’m ready for my next quest….
