The Gemini Giant draws me.
Since the formal return of the Wilmington icon during a Thanksgiving weekend celebration, I’ve visited several times at its new location at South Island Park just off Route 53.
The thousands of others who recreate–camp, hike, bird, view wildlife, boat, fish, hunt, chill–annually around Wilmington at the old strip pits, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie and the Kankakee and Des Plaines rivers already feel like a piece of the past came back.
Jim Hantak of Hillside reminisced that it was back “in the same town, which is where my brother and I would fish with my Braidwood-born grandfather back in the ’60’s. Two words, road trip!”
I find the refurbished Gemini Giant looking ruggedly handsome, yet slightly less imposing set farther back and several feet below street level than at its old location at the now-gone Launching Pad restaurant, where it began in 1964.
Heritage Corridor Destinations puts the Gemini Giant in a context, “Giants used to stand guard over Route 66. Standing up to 30 feet tall, it was hard to miss these ominous figures. . . . Most were holding tires or mufflers, hence the nickname of `the Muffler Men.’ “
The Gemini Giant was one of the Muffler Men. Heritage Corridor Destination explained, “Humans had reached outer space, and the giant reflected the nation’s fascination with the future and traveling through the galaxy. Along with the other Muffler Men, roadside travelers would stop to take their photo with him.” Of course, it enticed people to eat at the Launching Pad.
In my wanderings, I’ve spotted such Muffler Men as the Paul Bunyon and Paul Bunyan ones Downstate.
