Is there anything interesting about where you live?

[thearabianmage]

Outside my bedroom window, which is the 3rd level of a pub that is over 160 years old and located in a tiny village called Draycott, which is Old English for 'House on the Hill' (because over the thousand years that this small village has been in existence, it has slowly shifted from the top of a hill down to it's valley). . .beyond all of this I can see the steeple of a 14th or 15th century church in the neighboring village of Rodney Stoke (another medieval village). And just to the right of that, almost in the distance, is the tower on a hill: Glastonbury Tor (pronounced: Glass-ton-bree). The Glastonbury Tor is thought to have been built around 800AD by a bunch of monks (the same monks who built ditches around Somerset, effectively draining the sea from the land in order for it to be lived upon and cultivated). It is meant to mark the location of Vale of Avalon (or 'Valley of Avalon') which is where King Arthur, the Excalibur, and the Holy Grail are thought, by legends and myths, to be buried.

There are many other strange stories about Glastonbury, but I'll move on. . .

Back to the left, behind the hills beyond the church of Rodney Stoke, is the medieval city of Wells (named after grooves either side of the streets that have been there for centuries. These grooves hold water to this day, but 300-400 years ago, having running water in your city was a uncommon commodity.) Wells Cathedral, one of the largest churches in Britain, is located just 6 miles from where I am sitting. One of the oldest working clocks is located in this cathedral (apparently it has not been repaired for hundreds of years (the question begs to be asked: does the clock run on the power of God?), or so say the priests who so desperately require your money for running the cathedral) the stairs behind this clock have been trodden on so many times over the hundreds of years that they have been around (they were added in a 15th century extension, I believe) that they are worn smooth in the center resulting in a dip of several inches from their original height. At the top of these stairs is a large circular room with a very high, domed ceiling designed for acoustics. In stone seats built into the walls all around the room, monks used to sit and discuss theological matters. This room can turn even the most silent of farts into low-flying-ducks that can be heard a mile off.

Stonehenge is only a couple hours (maybe less) away.

I can go on and on about the (very interesting) area I live in (I haven't even started on Cheddar) but I'm wondering if there is anyone else who has something of interest around them. A few people here live in Waco, which is famously located near the ranch of a sex-cult, as well as being the hometown of Ted Nugent. That's pretty sweet.

[just strum]

Edit: after reading your post again, you seem to be looking for historical facts about where we live, that I can't provide.From a music point of view, the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame is located about 35 minutes from my house.

We have plenty of museums and the medical community is renowned internationally, having cared for some of the leaders of various countries around the world.

After living here all my life (with the exception of a short stint in LA), I take most things as common place. If I think further away, Niagara Falls is about 3.5 hours away and one of the Great Lakes is 35 minutes away.

Our house borders a State Park so we have plenty of wildlife and no fear of a shopping center being built on top of us. On the other side of the development as you exit there is a large horse community where people live and most own horses. It's cool leaving for work and seeing them running across the field with their morning energy.

[thearabianmage]

Hey dude, I'm looking for any sort of facts, so long as they are interesting.

I'm sure seeing horses run around large American-sized fields is cool, but here we have a bunch of posh gits riding horses in the middle of road and stuff. There is horse poo everywhere you go around these parts. Everywhere! Horseriding has long been a favorite pastime of the affluent country folk of Britain. In fact, (and I swear I'm not just making this stuff up) out my other window is the small private field of a master saddler who travels the country teaching people how to make horse saddles. Apparently he threads needles through leather quicker than you can keep track. I used to teach his grandson guitar.

Sometimes I like to watch my (entirely black) cat get chased around by the horses in his field. I'm sorry, but it's funny.:D

[Spudman]

I live next to a Superfund site. Is that interesting? It's interesting to me that it's not being cleaned up. I wonder why that is?

Historically there isn't much interesting about where I live in Idaho except that I am right where the ancient Lake Bonneville (inland ocean) broke through the mountains and released all its water westward across Idaho millions of years ago.

[markb]

I live here, who needs history?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2144/2042513546_e03bba8185_o.jpg

[player]

OK I'll jump in.where I live is not far from The Mammoth Caves which have not been entirely explored.in fact about 20miles Northeast of me there is another set of caves but they're alive not dead like Mammoth.I believe the town I live in is built on caves.reason being I have a neighbor that is also a local historian who remembers long ago before indoor plumbing everything drained into a cave not 200 ft. from my house.aside from that there is a ton of Civil War history in these parts along with a yearlly Civil war days bash with re inactments and all every September.
om my property itself there is an unmarked grave said to have three buried in it.from when no one knows.omly reason I found out about it was from someone doing a survey to locate pipes,wires and the like.their machine(x -ray I assume) picked up on the gravesite.I live atop a hill so if it ever did flood the town I live in would be under water.no pics on /in my machine or even taken or they would be included.last year Civil war days did have the first American(confederate) submarine The Hunley on display recently found off the Carolina coast it's nothing more than a long huge boiler with an interesting story that goes with it.

[Gil Janus]

Anything interesting? :AOK:

I live within a 1/4 a mile of 4 Wooden Covered Bridges - 3 of them on the same road.

Slaughter House, unknown builder, c1872, Queenpost, 59' spanning the Dog River on Bailey Street in Northfield Falls.

Station, unknown builder, c1872, Town Lattice, 137', spanning the Dog River on Cox Brook Road, off Route 12 in Northfield Falls.

Second (a/k/a Newell, Lower Cox Brook), unknown builder, c1872, Queenpost, 56', spanning Cox Brook on Cox Brook Road, west of Route 12 in Northfield Falls.

Third (a/k/a Upper Cox Brook), unknown builder, c1872, Queenpost, 51', spanning Cox Brook on Cox Brook Road, west of Route 12 in Northfield Falls. Four steel beams added in 1966.

And there are 2 more covered bridges in Northfield.

Chamberlin (Privately Owned), Mahlon Chamberlin, 1956, Kingpost, 22' span of unnamed tributary of Stony Brook southwest of Northfield Center.

Moseley, John Moseley, 1899, Kingpost, 80', spanning Stony Brook on Stony Brook Road, approximately a mile west of Route 12A.

Northfield is the home of Norwich University. The University was founded in 1819 at Norwich, Vermont, as the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy.

It is the oldest private military college in the United States and recognized by the United States Department of Defense as the "Birthplace of ROTC" (Reserve Officers' Training Corps). It is one of the six Senior Military Colleges.

Northfield was the headquarters of the railroad that became the Central Vermont Railroad. The HQ was moved in 1896. The old station still stands and is a bank now - but it looks just a working railroad station - no trains stop nowadays - 2 Amtrak trains pass each day and many freight trains of the New England Central Railroad.

Other than that, not much - Northfield is a older, smaller town just to the south of Montpelier, the State Capital of Vermont.

Gil :cool:

[warren0728]

not interesting to me but i'm about 40 minutes north of disney world, sea world and other various tourist hell destinations.... :thwap:

now 30 minutes north of me is blue springs where hundreds of manatees hang out during the winter because the spring water is a constant 72 degrees and the river water gets a lot colder than that during the winter...

ww

[player]

not interesting to me but i'm about 40 minutes north of disney world, sea world and other various tourist hell destinations.... :thwap:

now 30 minutes north of me is blue springs where hundreds of manatees hang out during the winter because the spring water is a constant 72 degrees and the river water gets a lot colder than that during the winter...

ww

has to be a nuke plant nearby I'd think.when I lived there they liked hanging there too for that reason.the water used to cool is warmer after all the time.

[Bloozcat]

Not really...

Lots of beachfront where you can pick a spot and not see many people. But, for most of us who've lived here for any length of time, the beach doesn't hold much interest.

Mel Fisher's had a lot of success pulling Spanish galleon treasure off the bottom along the coast here. That's why they call this The Treasure Coast.

I can watch the space shuttle take off from the Cape while sitting on my back porch.

We have the occasional, exiting hurricane blow through. That kind of excitement I can do without.

And if The Fountain of Youth that Ponce DeLeon searched so feverently for, really was here in Florida as he thought, I'm sure there wouldn't be so many shrivelled old retirees cluttering up the roadways (I know, I should be kinder. I'm headed there myself in a couple of decades).

Ah, but the winter weather is the envy of the country...:)

[thearabianmage]

. . .I can watch the space shuttle take off from the Cape while sitting on my back porch.


Amazing! Have you ever seen any of the disasters?

[player]

If I get my way and Probably will I'll be back in South Florida in the near future when the housing market improves. Big mistake moving from there in PBC:thwap:

[warren0728]

has to be a nuke plant nearby I'd think.when I lived there they liked hanging there too for that reason.the water used to cool is warmer after all the time.
actually no....it is a spring fed stream that dumps into the st. john river....since it is a spring, the water stays a constant 72 degrees so all the manatees come there to stay warm.


I can watch the space shuttle take off from the Cape while sitting on my back porch.
oh yeah...i forgot about that....i can watch the shuttle take off from my front door and sometimes if the landing pattern is right....i can see it streak across the sky on it's approach to land too!

ww

[ZMAN]

I live about 11 minutes from Niagara falls, I am 26 mins from Lake Erie, and 5 from Lake Ontario. We have the Welland Canal running through our city.
It Brings ocean going vessels from the St. Lawrence seaway to the upper Great lakes.
There are 8 locks over 27 miles that raises the boats 327 feet from
lake Ontario to Lake Erie. Each lock is 766 feet long and raises each vessel about 40 feet at a time. Amazing to watch.
I also live about 2 mins from the Henley Rowing Course where they hold world championship rowing events.
Our area also has one of the worlds leading wine areas in award winning wines. Our climate and topography is exactly like the wine regions of France.
We have one of the orginal General Motors plants in our town that was originally called McKinnon industries it was founded in 1878 and was aquired by General Motors in 1929.
Our area is called the golden horseshoe and goes from Niagara Falls to Toronto. and area of about 6 or 7 million people.

[warren0728]

i went to niagra falls as a kid on vacation with my parents....how awesome....one thing i remember is that standing there watching the water go over the falls you could see the fish going over the falls too....i had never thought about the fact that the fish went over the falls too... :whatever:

ww

[Bloozcat]

Amazing! Have you ever seen any of the disasters?

Yes, I saw the Challenger disaster. As I was watching it, I thought something looked wrong about it. I could clearly see the explosion. It appeared from my vantage point as a large ball of smoke that shouldn't have been. Then the main engine sections seperated and started spiraling around and I was sure something was seriously wrong.

I ran to the radio which was several feet away, but the announcer had not yet said anything about the problem. It seemed like several more minutes before conformation of the problem came accross.

I went up to the Cape to see another shuttle launch after the Challenger disaster had occurred. Because of the new safety protocols put into place after Challenger, the closest they would allow us to get was miles away from the launch pad. And I was with a VIP group from Grumman Aerospace too. Seeing a launch at the Cape isn't like it used to be.

[thearabianmage]

. . .Seeing a launch at the Cape isn't like it used to be.

It's still cool to be able to see one, though, isn't it? Not many people can kick back, open a beer, and watch a space shuttle take off.

[warren0728]

It's still cool to be able to see one, though, isn't it? Not many people can kick back, open a beer, and watch a space shuttle take off.
there's nothing like it...i watch every one....i'm 40 or so miles from the launch site inland and northwest.....on night launches when everything is really quiet a few minutes after launch you can hear and feel the sound/shock wave created at launch....sends chills up your spine! :AOK:

ww

[thearabianmage]

I can imagine. Soon, though, we will all be able to go up in space. It really isn't that far off in the future, either. Maybe at the end of our lifetimes or during the next generation's lifetime. That would be sick.

[warren0728]

i would jump at the chance....a liftoff has to be one huge adrenaline rush....i have done some skydiving....nothing like a 60 second freefall from 2 miles up before pulling your chute....but man....sitting on top of a rocket and lighting that thing must be great!! :AOK:

ww

[street music]

I would say that most of you would find it boring to live in my area, not a mall in site, Wal-Mart is the big shopping center. We have the Country Music Highway Museum just four mile from house, we had Loretta Lynn, Krystal Gayle, Rick Skaggs, Dwight Whitley and Rebecca Lynn Howard all grow up close to us. We the Mountain Arts Center for local concerts and The Kentucky Opry finds it home there. PLenty of lakes and public hunting grounds, lots of strip mines and several deep coal mines. Other than that just about the most beautiful area for fall colors and spring blossums.

[luvmyshiner]

We used to have this place, but it got burnt down.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m159/luvmyshiner/050418_waco.jpg

[Childbride]

We used to have this place, but it got burnt down.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m159/luvmyshiner/050418_waco.jpg


bad husband. :thwap: what was i saying before, that was OUTSIDE OF WACO.

you're not helping with the labeling.

waco has the dubious honor of being close to where W lives

the home of the nuge,

the home of 80-something of the el dorado children

but is home to the dr pepper museum, dr pepper originated here...

the tx ranger's museum...

home of Baylor U... Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas, Baylor is the oldest, continually operating university in the state. has a nationally ranked law school program that shiner and i both attended. [i did it as a penitente kind of thing... ]

[Katastrophe]

Nothing terribly special about where I live, it's just a little ol' rural area in Texas.

However, up until 2007 there was a field containing goats located in between the McDonald's and Taco Bell restaurants (and I use that term very loosely), adjacent to US Highway 183. The field was sold recently, and I shed a very small tear. :D

We are also well known for our Barbeque. We have two big celebrations, the Chisholm Trail Roundup and the Luling Watermelon Thump which attract folks from all over.

[Childbride]

Kat, man, do the reverse of waco and brag on what you're close to!!!!

UT Longhorns... amen, bro. [alumni (edit) 91... darned, old age is getting to me]

SRV.

a ton of texas history.

some of the best darned bbq in the nation.

barton creek

the townlake bats

6th street... actually background-filmed in at least one popular movie i can remember...

Sxsw

pecan street festival

the list goes on and on and on. Austin Rawks, man!!! :dude: :rockon: :D

[luvmyshiner]

bad husband. :thwap: what was i saying before, that was OUTSIDE OF WACO.


Your right honey, I'm sorry.:cry: We also got this,

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m159/luvmyshiner/bush460.jpg

Ain't we frikken' lucky.:D

[M29]

Anything interesting here in SE Michigan? Stink Bugs...

M29

[Childbride]

honey, NEAR the in-and-out burger. NEAR. :D

let's go bowling.

============

Walter Sobchak: He lives in North Hollywood on Radford, near the In-and-Out Burger...
The Dude: The In-and-Out Burger is on Camrose.
Walter Sobchak: Near the In-and-Out Burger...
Donny: Those are good burgers, Walter.
Walter Sobchak: Shut the ____ up, Donny.

[birv2]

I live in Lancaster, PA, home of the Amish. We never see any where we live (Lancaster's pretty large), but any time we go to the eastern part of the county we always see several buggies and can watch them plow their fields with horses. A major mode of transportation is scooters - many of the Amish, including adults, seem to use them.

It's interesting to be driving somewhere and have traffic backed up behind a horse and buggy. Probably doesn't happen in many other places!

Bob

[wingsdad]

I live in one of at least 3 regions known as 'the High Desert' in Southern California, this one in the Mojave Desert.

As it winds from Chicago to L.A., more than 2 Thousand miles, all the way, Route 66 (yep, that Route 66) runs through Victorville, CA, about 1/2 way between Barstow & San Bernardino. LA is about 90 miles south of here.

Victorville was/is the home of the former George Air Force Base, where Chuck Yeager and others trained & tested jet fighters, and Yeager flew the X15 and broke the sound barrier. GAFB closed for good in '92.

Until about 5 or 6 years ago, Victorville was home to the Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Museum. The family moved it to Branson, MO.

I live in the next town over, Apple Valley. Roy & Dale lived here, helped make this place an attractive area for Hollywood folks to find peace & quiet, and were its 'patron saints', so to speak, until they died. They're buried here. Trigger and Bullet are not. They went to Branson with the rest of the museum.

The other contiguous town/city here, south of Victorville & Apple Valley, is Hesperia, which was home to Bernie Rico and his company, B.C. Rich. While the original *****es & Mockingbirds were built right here, Bernie died about 5 years ago, the company was sold, and now BC Rich's are made in the Pacific Rim.

[sunvalleylaw]

My current hometown, Hailey, Idaho, is near Sun Valley. The Shoshone Indians, and specifically a group known as the Sheepeaters, were the the first recorded human residents. Later, Lewis and Clark came by not too far away, then later sheep herders and miners came. A couple of Native American Indian wars, the Bannock Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bannock_War, and the Sheepeater war, the last one fought in the pacifc northwest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheepeater_War, were relatively close.

Western european descended settlers came first with sheepherders, then more came with silver mining. The town was pretty sleepy in the early 20th century, after silver mining died down, until the Union Pacific Railroad wanted a ski resort scouted out. Count Felix Schaffgtosch, under the hire of Union Pacific Railroad chairman Averell Harriman, picked the spot. See here. http://www.sunvalley.com/sunvalley/Info/rst.hist.aspx, and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Valley%2C_Idaho

There are still mining remnants around town, and if you go far enough out, you can find mining ghost towns and remnants as well. Earnest Hemingway's grave, and one of his homes where he finished "For Whom the Bell Tolls", is in Ketchum. Ezra Pound's birthplace and childhood home is in Hailey. The headwaters of the Salmon River, "The River of No Return", is not too far away, over Galena pass near Salmon, Idaho. So, some Native American history, some sheep herding and mining heritage, and America's first ski resort, along with the oldest and first ski lift in the world.

Not as interesting as your stuff though. As a west coast bred kid, even going to South Carolina, the one time I went, was huge. I had never seen things so old. Out here, it is a big deal if something is over a hundred years old.

[piebaldpython]

Philly Pa; born,raised, married and still here. No need for me to recite all that Philly is famous for in the historical sense. While SHINER and CB's Waco had that lil tinderbox conflagration; we are the ONLY city in the USA to have bombed itself in the infamous MOVE siege on 5/13/85!!! The whole area burnt down to a crisp.

[Iago]

If you don`t mind reading :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olinda

I live about 10 minutes by car from that pic.

[Bloozcat]

Philly Pa; born,raised, married and still here. No need for me to recite all that Philly is famous for in the historical sense. While SHINER and CB's Waco had that lil tinderbox conflagration; we are the ONLY city in the USA to have bombed itself in the infamous MOVE siege on 5/13/85!!! The whole area burnt down to a crisp.

CHEESESTEAKS!!!

Got to be what Philly is most famous for. Except..maybe for all of that Colonial stuff...Continental Congress...first US capital...yeah that stuff too...;)

I used to live accross the river from you in Burlington County, NJ. But that was many moons ago...

[Katastrophe]

Kat, man, do the reverse of waco and brag on what you're close to!!!!

UT Longhorns... amen, bro. [alumni (edit) 91... darned, old age is getting to me]

SRV.

a ton of texas history.

some of the best darned bbq in the nation.

barton creek

the townlake bats

6th street... actually background-filmed in at least one popular movie i can remember...

Sxsw

pecan street festival

the list goes on and on and on. Austin Rawks, man!!! :dude: :rockon: :D

You're absolutely right, CB! Actually, there have been a number of movies that were filmed in this area, too... I worked security on "Secondhand Lions," and "Man of the House," while in a prior career. I worked security on a couple of other lesser movies as well. Caldwell county is popular for rural scenes, and because it's cheap to work out here.

[thearabianmage]

but is home to the dr pepper museum, dr pepper originated here...


OH MY GOD! You are my new best friend.

And who were the El Dorado children? I know of El Dorado (obviously) but that's where my knowledge ends.

[Ro3b]

I live just outside Washington DC, which is a remarkable place for several reasons.

The city has at various times boasted thriving blues, bluegrass, and punk scenes. Musicians and bands who have called DC home include John Philip Sousa, Al Jolson, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, Bo Diddley, Roberta Flack, Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins, Charlie Byrd, Minor Threat, the Bad Brains, Fugazi, and Thievery Corporation. DC even has it's own indigenous music genre: go-go.

As the great linty bellybutton of the free world, DC is the most ethnically and culturally diverse place imaginable. It's unusual that I don't hear at least three or four languages spoken in the course of an ordinary day.

There are restaurants here that are to die for, from the Oval Room and Citronelle to Chinatown Express (a grubby little noodle den a couple of blocks from where I work that serves otherworldly stuff) and my secret pho shop, the location of which I'm not going to divulge because they only have three tables.

The town where I live, Takoma Park, Maryland, was founded in 1883 as the first commuter suburb of DC. It was the headquarters of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church for many years. Today the town is known as a left-wing hotbed: the People's Republic of Takoma Park, the Berkeley of the East. We're a nuclear free zone, which means the city doesn't do business with corporations or other entities that have ties to the nuclear industry. Last year the city council adopted a resolution calling for the impeachment of the President and Vice-President. I really like it here.

[zuschnell]

Excluding the GC's.

I'm in Chicago but a native of the DC area with a stop off in Pennsylvania. After reading a few post, I was wondering what are some of the great guitar shops in your town?

BTW, from my home office, I get a view of the Sears Tower peaking over the sugar maples with the lovely sound of crappy cars with bad exhaust and emergency vehicles recovering the most recent shooting victims.

On the upside, I've got Make'n Music, Chicago Music Exchange, and the Music Gallery to visit and test drive the latest!

[Tone2TheBone]

Umm...they blew up the planet's first atomic bomb here and aliens crashed in Roswell long time ago yeah.

[thearabianmage]

Umm...they blew up the planet's first atomic bomb here ...

That's an interesting fact, because up until that bomb was tested, there was a theory that nuclear weapons would potentially set the atmosphere on fire and destroy the earth. So the dilemma for America during World War II was to destroy the world or control it. They took a risk, and look what happened.

[Tone2TheBone]

That's an interesting fact, because up until that bomb was tested, there was a theory that nuclear weapons would potentially set the atmosphere on fire and destroy the earth. So the dilemma for America during World War II was to destroy the world or control it. They took a risk, and look what happened.

I find that amazing too and it probably deserves it's own thread. Let's start one.

And they film a bunch of movies in this state too. We have several new studios that have recently been built. Apparently it's cheaper to make movies here...tax is less. "The Governator" is trying to stop it though he wants Hollywood back in CA.

[Childbride]

OH MY GOD! You are my new best friend.

And who were the El Dorado children? I know of El Dorado (obviously) but that's where my knowledge ends.


the displaced children from the religious group in el dorado, tx, needed to be cared for in multiple locations just from the sheer number of minors that were removed from the sect.

several of them are hosted here locally.

and that's all i'm saying about that subject... religion and politics alllllll over it.

[thearabianmage]

the displaced children from the religious group in el dorado, tx, needed to be cared for in multiple locations just from the sheer number of minors that were removed from the sect.

several of them are hosted here locally.

and that's all i'm saying about that subject... religion and politics alllllll over it.

So are they in any connection with the Koresh compound (I hope that's its name. . .I'm trying to use my fried memory and steer away from referring to it as 'the sex cult'. . .)

[Childbride]

unh unh. different religious group.

[thearabianmage]

unh unh. different religious group.

Texas is stained, isn't it?

[Spudman]

Since the city I now live in is so lame I'll mention the one I grew up in, Miles City Montana. Remember that from Willie Wonka and The Chocolate Factory?

The big thing for that community is going on this week. It is the Bucking Horse Sale. People come from around the world to buy and sell bucking horses and rodeo stock. The town used to triple in size and every morning the city would bring a front end loader down Main Street at 4 am to scoop up all the beer cans and bottles from the bar crawl and street dances the evening before. The garbage would be up to the curbs. That event is widely know as an alcohol consumption weekend of great proportions.

Bucking Horse Sale (http://visitmt.com/categories/moreinfo.asp?IDRRecordID=8915&SiteID=1)

JyJpsFv0yU0

"First beer of the day."

ufSZC52eL6U

[thearabianmage]

Sometimes I miss living in America. Everywhere I go in England is swamped in history. . .Romans here, abandoned Iron Age settlements there, castles, abbeys, old towns. . . so much to learn! And it's all so interesting! But sometimes. . . A big cheesy American accent is the best thing on the planet.