will almost surely see a three-thousand-pound, ten-foot-tall concrete egg standing on its end near a bank parking lot.
The twins were not in a position to beg off going to look at the giant egg, as they had already talked their parents into skipping the RV Hall of Fame. One should choose one’s battles carefully.
“This is it ?” Dr. McDonald asked as he walked up to the egg, somewhat disappointed.
“What do you mean, Ben?” the easily impressed Mrs. McDonald enthused. “This is amazing ! How many people can say they saw the largest egg in the world in person?”
Dr. McDonald shook his head and went back to wait for the rest of the family in the RV.
“It’s really not that big, Mom,” Pep said. “And it’s not even an egg. It’s an egg-shaped object.”
“I don’t think this egg is as big as the world’s largest ball of twine,” Coke noted.
“You’re comparing apples and oranges,” Mrs. McDonald told him.
“No I’m not,” Coke said. “I’m comparing balls of twine and fake eggs. If you want me to compare the world’s largest apple and the world’s largest orange…”
Mrs. McDonald ignored him, taking some photos and notes for her website.
“It’s probably bigger than that hairball you told us about,” Pep guessed, hoping to make her mother feel like it hadn’t been a wasted trip.
“I can’t believe we passed up the world’s largest toilet bowl to see this ,” Coke complained. “Let’s blow this pop stand.”
So they did. There’s only so much time you can spend looking at a gigantic concrete egg.
Go to Google Maps ( http://maps.google.com/ ).
Click Get Directions.
In the A box, type Mentone IN.
In the B box, type Peru IN.
Click Get Directions.
“What’s next, Mom?” asked Pep as they drove out of Mentone.
“Oh, you’re going to like this” , she replied mysteriously.
Thirty miles directly south of Mentone, on the banks of the Wabash River, is the town of Peru, Indiana. Peru is called the “Circus Capital of the World,” because it used to be the winter home of Ringling Brothers and other circuses. But the McDonald family didn’t come to Peru to see lions or tigers or bears.
They came to see a pair of pants. “Do you kids remember a couple of days ago, when Dad and I went to that shoe store in Illinois to see the shoes of the tallest man in the world?” Mrs. McDonald asked as they turned onto North Broadway in Peru.
“Yeah.”
“Well, his pants are here.”
Coke and Pep looked at each other as their dad pulled into the parking lot at Miami County Museum.
“We came here to see a pair of pants ?” Coke asked. “You gotta be kidding me.”
“Well, they’re overalls actually,” Mrs. McDonald replied.
They went inside the museum and looked all over for an extremely large pair of overalls.
“Hey, check this out,” Coke said as he spotted a giant skull. “Maybe this is that guy’s head.”
In fact, the skull was labeled “Big Charley the Killer Elephant.” Apparently, Big Charley was a circus elephant that got mad at his trainer one day in 1901 and drowned him. So Big Charley was shot, and his skull was put in the museum. The bullet holes were plainly visible.
“That’s gross,” Pep said, with obvious fascination.
Mrs. McDonald took some photos and notes for Amazing but True . But not far from the giant skull, she found what she was looking for.
“Feast your eyes,” she told the family, “and behold … the pants … of the tallest man in the world!”
There they were. The pants belonged to Robert Wadlow, the Illinois man whose body produced too much growth hormone. When he was thirteen years old, the sign on the wall said, he was seven feet four inches tall. At age twenty-two, he was eight feet eleven inches tall.
“Those are some big pants,” Dr. McDonald admitted. “That guy must have been some basketball player,” Coke marveled.
Go to Google Maps ( http://maps.google.com/ ).
Click Get Directions.
In
The twins were not in a position to beg off going to look at the giant egg, as they had already talked their parents into skipping the RV Hall of Fame. One should choose one’s battles carefully.
“This is it ?” Dr. McDonald asked as he walked up to the egg, somewhat disappointed.
“What do you mean, Ben?” the easily impressed Mrs. McDonald enthused. “This is amazing ! How many people can say they saw the largest egg in the world in person?”
Dr. McDonald shook his head and went back to wait for the rest of the family in the RV.
“It’s really not that big, Mom,” Pep said. “And it’s not even an egg. It’s an egg-shaped object.”
“I don’t think this egg is as big as the world’s largest ball of twine,” Coke noted.
“You’re comparing apples and oranges,” Mrs. McDonald told him.
“No I’m not,” Coke said. “I’m comparing balls of twine and fake eggs. If you want me to compare the world’s largest apple and the world’s largest orange…”
Mrs. McDonald ignored him, taking some photos and notes for her website.
“It’s probably bigger than that hairball you told us about,” Pep guessed, hoping to make her mother feel like it hadn’t been a wasted trip.
“I can’t believe we passed up the world’s largest toilet bowl to see this ,” Coke complained. “Let’s blow this pop stand.”
So they did. There’s only so much time you can spend looking at a gigantic concrete egg.
Go to Google Maps ( http://maps.google.com/ ).
Click Get Directions.
In the A box, type Mentone IN.
In the B box, type Peru IN.
Click Get Directions.
“What’s next, Mom?” asked Pep as they drove out of Mentone.
“Oh, you’re going to like this” , she replied mysteriously.
Thirty miles directly south of Mentone, on the banks of the Wabash River, is the town of Peru, Indiana. Peru is called the “Circus Capital of the World,” because it used to be the winter home of Ringling Brothers and other circuses. But the McDonald family didn’t come to Peru to see lions or tigers or bears.
They came to see a pair of pants. “Do you kids remember a couple of days ago, when Dad and I went to that shoe store in Illinois to see the shoes of the tallest man in the world?” Mrs. McDonald asked as they turned onto North Broadway in Peru.
“Yeah.”
“Well, his pants are here.”
Coke and Pep looked at each other as their dad pulled into the parking lot at Miami County Museum.
“We came here to see a pair of pants ?” Coke asked. “You gotta be kidding me.”
“Well, they’re overalls actually,” Mrs. McDonald replied.
They went inside the museum and looked all over for an extremely large pair of overalls.
“Hey, check this out,” Coke said as he spotted a giant skull. “Maybe this is that guy’s head.”
In fact, the skull was labeled “Big Charley the Killer Elephant.” Apparently, Big Charley was a circus elephant that got mad at his trainer one day in 1901 and drowned him. So Big Charley was shot, and his skull was put in the museum. The bullet holes were plainly visible.
“That’s gross,” Pep said, with obvious fascination.
Mrs. McDonald took some photos and notes for Amazing but True . But not far from the giant skull, she found what she was looking for.
“Feast your eyes,” she told the family, “and behold … the pants … of the tallest man in the world!”
There they were. The pants belonged to Robert Wadlow, the Illinois man whose body produced too much growth hormone. When he was thirteen years old, the sign on the wall said, he was seven feet four inches tall. At age twenty-two, he was eight feet eleven inches tall.
“Those are some big pants,” Dr. McDonald admitted. “That guy must have been some basketball player,” Coke marveled.
Go to Google Maps ( http://maps.google.com/ ).
Click Get Directions.
In
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