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View Full Version : What's Unique About Where You Live?



Nate Carey
06-12-2009, 9:35 AM
It's just good fun to explore and participate in this forum; and as I explore I take notice of where "forumites" are from.

I enjoy what little travel I have time for. So why not travel a little right here on SMC.

Show us something unique about where you live.

I spend most of the year in central western New Hampshire. Born and raised here, and I enjoy New Hampshire and New England; but the older I get, the less I enjoy cold and snow...I also enjoy south Florida and look forward to sending winters there in the not too distant future.

...photo taken at the top of New Hampshire's Tuckerman Ravine May 15, 2009...
http://www.tuckerman.org/photos/tucks/images/Dsc_6836.Jpg

Belinda Barfield
06-12-2009, 9:48 AM
Very nice Nate! Does it count if it's not truly unique? Views from the dock. The reason I love where I live, even if it was 80 with 80% humidity at 7 a.m. The marsh grass is incredibly green right now with all the rain we have had recently. Glass of wine, good book, waiting for sunset . . .I'm happy.

View to the right
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View to the left
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Ken Fitzgerald
06-12-2009, 9:50 AM
Nate...That's some gorgeous country!

The 1st 2 photos are taken from the top of the infamous Lewiston Hill. The town lies 3,000' in elevation below it. The 3rd photo is Hell's Canyon 40 miles south of Lewiston. Deepest gorge on the North American continent.

120475

120476

120477

Recently Outdoor Life named Lewiston, ID as the #1 place to live in the nation if you like outdoor sports...including fishing and hunting. I sure hated to see that make the national news......

Nate Carey
06-12-2009, 10:01 AM
...now that's what I'm talkin' about!

Belinda and Ken, thanks for my travel "fix" this morning!

Jim King
06-12-2009, 10:09 AM
I live in the Amazon the biggest swamp in the world. My wife and I live in Iquitos, Peru the largest city in the world with no roads going to it. The attached photo shows a house we lived in for 3 1/2 years 2 hours from Iquitos by speed boat, you can see the difference in the water levels with the photo taken from about the same spot but different months.

Nate Carey
06-12-2009, 10:38 AM
Jim, that's unique! We'd love to learn more about Peru, the Amazon, and how you got to be there...

...but only if you'd care to share.

Martin Shupe
06-12-2009, 10:57 AM
I live near Granbury, Texas. We were featured as the example of a small town during CNN's millennium coverage. Of course, I was gone that night, but that was the town's claim to fame for a while.

Acton, which is also close by, is the burial site of Mrs. David Crockett. She came to Texas after the Alamo, because they gave land to all the people who served in the Texas Army. I can't remember if they gave her 160 acres or 320.

I don't have any pics, but there is not much to see anyway. We do have a nice courthouse and old time square that attracts tourists from the DFW area.

I'd rather live somewhere with big mountains, like Ken. If I lived in the northeast, it would be in New Hampshire or Maine. Probably NH because of the lower taxes.

I've traveled quite a bit around the states, and there are lots of nice places to live. It would be hard to pick just one.

I have lived in FL, and you can have it. Too flat, hot, humid, and I don't care for the beach. I'll take the mountains any time.

David Christopher
06-12-2009, 11:04 AM
This some shots of pensacola

Ken Fitzgerald
06-12-2009, 11:06 AM
David.....prettiest beaches in the world in the Pensacola/Destin area!

David Christopher
06-12-2009, 11:38 AM
Ken, I will be headed up your way in a month to see what it looks like there

John Schreiber
06-12-2009, 12:02 PM
Nothing unique here. You could move Champaign 10 miles in any direction and it would look just the same. The prairie is flat and featureless.

Mike Henderson
06-12-2009, 12:11 PM
Well, I don't have any pictures of any of this stuff, but this is a pretty good place to live. Weather wise, we're buffered by the Pacific ocean so our weather is cool most of the year, but never cold, and rarely hot. We only get rain in the winter and not a lot of days at that. It's a metropolitian area so most companies have a presence here - so whatever you want, you can find it. The population is diverse - we have all ethnic groups: Little Saigon, Little Korea, Mexican areas, and on and on. Whatever food or ethnic things you'd like are available here. Employment is generally "high tech" so a large percentage of the population is highly educated.

Then, within a fairly short distance, we have all kinds of natural wonders and recreation, from water to mountains, from desert to snow.

It really is about the closest thing to Paradise you'll find on this earth.

Mike

[And almost no bugs. No mosquitoes, no "no-see-ums", almost no flies. You really can have a cook out here and enjoy it.]

Ken Fitzgerald
06-12-2009, 12:13 PM
David,

If you are in the area, stop by!


John,

I was born in Champaign.

John Keeton
06-12-2009, 12:23 PM
Ken probably may disagree with me on this one, (but his sister will agree with me) but aside from all the great things about Kentucky, the best part is God lives just down the road - because this is truly God's country. We have flat land, mountains (not as tall as the Rockies, but nice nonetheless), lots of water, and good folks. Plus, good wood is reasonably priced here!!

I enjoy all the seasons, and we have them all - from sub-zero temps to hot and humid July-August. I have been thru most of this great country, and there are some gorgeous places - but, this is home.

jeremy levine
06-12-2009, 12:28 PM
Really high taxes

David Christopher
06-12-2009, 12:48 PM
Ken , I will PM you later

Ken Fitzgerald
06-12-2009, 12:52 PM
Ken probably may disagree with me on this one, (but his sister will agree with me) but aside from all the great things about Kentucky, the best part is God lives just down the road - because this is truly God's country. We have flat land, mountains (not as tall as the Rockies, but nice nonetheless), lots of water, and good folks. Plus, good wood is reasonably priced here!!

I enjoy all the seasons, and we have them all - from sub-zero temps to hot and humid July-August. I have been thru most of this great country, and there are some gorgeous places - but, this is home.

Oh but John......I KNOW where God goes on vacation!:D

Quinn McCarthy
06-12-2009, 1:06 PM
I don't have any pictures either.

International Falls, MN is the coldest spot in the lower 48 states. Our average temperature is below freezing. It is just amazingly pretty here. If you don't like the outdoors you are out of luck. We are on the laurentian shield which is the oldest rock on earth. We are situated on the border between the boundary waters canoe area and the Quetico provincial canoe area in Ontario. Most of the lakes are formed from volcanos that where is the area. Rainy lake which is the lake we keep our sailboat on is half in the US and 1/2 in CA. Rainy lake flow into lake of the Woods and then up to Hudson bay.

This will be an interesting thread to watch.

Quinn

Mitchell Andrus
06-12-2009, 1:07 PM
You can't make a left hand turn out of a store anymore. Hardly unique, but....

....s'why I'm leaving NJ.

.

Andy Bardowell
06-12-2009, 1:12 PM
Great string Nate!

A small burb known as the Home of the Marigold, Whitby is about 30 minutes or so from Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario. Whitby’s claim to fame is where the top secret Camp X spy school was located. Camp X was established December 6, 1941 by the BSC's chief, Sir William Stephenson, a Canadian from Winnipeg, Manitoba and a close confidante of Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Camp X trained over five hundred Allied units of which 273 of these graduated and moved on to London for further training. Many secret agents were trained here.

The Camp X pupils were schooled in a wide variety of special techniques including silent killing, sabotage, partisan support & recruitment methods for resistance movements, demolition, map reading, skilled use of various weapons, and Morse code.

One of its most famous pupils was of course was Ian Fleming of 007 fame who was sent to Camp X while serving with British naval intelligence during the war and as the story goes failed one of his tests where he was to kill a man described as a dangerous enemy agent, in a Toronto hotel.

Captions:
1. Camp X 1941
2. American OSS agents training north of Camp X - 1943
3. Cullen Gardens

Nate Carey
06-12-2009, 1:14 PM
Quinn, the Marvin family has been kind enough to fly me into Warroad a few times...always in the winter. Man, is it cold in your neighborhood in January!

Jamie Delker
06-12-2009, 1:30 PM
We're right on the Erie Canal path, most of which is now Erie Boulevard that runs through the city, but there are stretches of it that are still intact, along with a lot of the old stone structures along the way. A lot of the old mule trails alongside are now groomed walking/biking/horse trails that go for miles. I also have a couple not-so-well-known fishing spots on the old canal, hidden in the woods down back roads, where some of the old raised parts just have a stream running through and around them. It's amazing how much has been filled in.
It passes by Green Lakes State Park, which holds Green Lake and Round Lake, two of the most studied meromictic (layers of water that do not ever mix) lakes in the world. The blue-green color of the water is really something. They're thought to be gigantic waterfall plunge pools carved out at the end of the last ice age. I frequently walk the trails around them in the summertime, through the old growth forest that surrounds it.

Then there's the obvious things, like SU and the Carrier Dome, and some less than obvious things, like being the place where salt potatoes were "invented".

Art Mulder
06-12-2009, 1:43 PM
What's Unique about London, Ont (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London,_Ontario) ???

Well, I live there, for one thing... :p:p:p


London is about half way between Detroit and Toronto. It's surrounded by farmland, and it's pretty flat. Like many many other places in Ontario, it was named after some place in Britain that you've probably heard of. (So was Whitby, which Andy mentioned above.)

It's got a very large university (http://www.uwo.ca/), one of the top schools in Canada, and a somewhat smaller college (http://www.fanshawec.ca/EN/). There is a big medical presence here, in part due the university. A rather well known brewery (http://www.labatt.com/) got it's start here in London.

One nice thing about London is the beaches... Not that London has a shoreline, but it's only about an hour NW to Lake Huron, and about the same amount south to Lake Erie, both of which have some very nice and very popular beaches in the area. (Personally, I favour Lake Huron - gorgeous fine sand, and a very shallow entry so it's very safe for kids far out. Not to mention it's nice for watching sunsets.)

...art

ps: oh yeah, London also has a Lee Valley store. ;)

Scott Loven
06-12-2009, 1:49 PM
1. Cold water cave (http://www.caves.org/project/coldwater/) 17 miles mapped so far.
2. The upper Iowa River
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3009/2893367963_13c2d1fd7d.jpg?v=0

Largest Scandinavian Immigrant museum (http://vesterheim.org/index.php) in North America
Scott

glenn bradley
06-12-2009, 1:52 PM
You can chew your air.
The mountains appear only when there is a strong wind or after a rain (their less than 10 miles away and are invisible during summer).
Many people can borrow a cup of sugar from their neighbor without either of you having to leave your house (the houses are that close).
You can surf in the morning and snow ski in the afternoon of the same day.
The high school I went to was the college when my dad went there.
We have the lowest point in the western hemisphere at 282 ft below sea level.
Second highest point in the US at 14,494 ft.
If you live south of Fresno, everyone out of state thinks you live in L.A.
You actually do see movie stars in restaurants and they are grateful when you leave them alone.
I never get "surprised" by the weather . . . that's the right word isn't it? Weather? What is that anyway?

Nate Carey
06-12-2009, 1:59 PM
This question is for people who really know the answer and don't have to use the internet...

Who can tell us where the...

International Vinegar Museum...is?

Clue! ...it is not in New Hampshire or Florida...

James Hart
06-12-2009, 2:02 PM
It's just good fun to explore and participate in this forum; and as I explore I take notice of where "forumites" are from.

I enjoy what little travel I have time for. So why not travel a little right here on SMC.

Show us something unique about where you live.

I spend most of the year in central western New Hampshire. Born and raised here, and I enjoy New Hampshire and New England; but the older I get, the less I enjoy cold and snow...I also enjoy south Florida and look forward to sending winters there in the not too distant future.

...photo taken at the top of New Hampshire's Tuckerman Ravine May 15, 2009...
http://www.tuckerman.org/photos/tucks/images/Dsc_6836.Jpg

Nate,

That looks a lot like the Tuckermans Beer poster I have hanging on the wall of my garage, right next to the Smuttynose poster.

I like living in the desert and visiting places like new hampshire.

Jim

Bill Jensen
06-12-2009, 2:18 PM
Internatinal event every year for runners highlight to wonders flanking Portland. I am not good at inserting pictures with the text so attached them.

Bill:)

Nate Carey
06-12-2009, 2:19 PM
Jim...this is from the top looking down...
http://www.tuckerman.org/photos/08-09tuck/images/2009-02-25%20Hillman's%20and%20Lower%20Snowfields.jpg
...I like your "neck-of-the woods" too...have had some good times in Tonto National Forest and Roosevelt Lake areas...

Bonnie Campbell
06-12-2009, 2:42 PM
Natchez Mississippi.... Well everyone knows about the antebellum homes. I myself think the Natchez City Cemetery is cool. Lots of history there since it's been in use since the late 1700's. They even run tours. Said to be someone burind in a rocking chair even. Southerners... eccentric :rolleyes: Some of the headstones are just amazing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/annieoakley/Cemetery.jpg

If anybody reads Greg Iles' books, his 'Turning Angel' book has a picture of the turning angel from the city cemetery....

Rick Hubbard
06-12-2009, 2:51 PM
The 1st 2 photos are taken from the top of the infamous Lewiston Hill. The town lies 3,000' in elevation below it. The 3rd photo is Hell's Canyon 40 miles south of Lewiston. Deepest gorge on the North American continent.


It's been quite a few years since I have seen that view. Is the "unique aroma" of the Potlatch mill still there?:D

Rick

Ken Fitzgerald
06-12-2009, 4:37 PM
Rick,

The Potlatch mill and paper plants are still there. Interestingly, Potlatch has invested millions of dollars on new stacks, scrubbers etc and the odor today is nowhere near as bad as it was when we moved here 27 years ago. I live in the Orchards near the airport and I think in 27 years I've smelled the paper mill odor maybe 4 times at most. The 800-900' in elevation makes a big difference and the mill is east of us and the predominant wind is from the west.

Jim McFarland
06-12-2009, 4:48 PM
Many think of the Dust Bowl when they think of Oklahoma, but the state has 11,000+ miles of shoreline with lots of man-made lakes. Great fun puttering (pontoon) or zipping (SeaDoo) around on the lake in the summer.

I'm sure many have other opinions, but Oklahoma is also home of Bo -- the "Greatest Dog of All!"

Rick Hubbard
06-12-2009, 5:43 PM
Hmmm- so many reasons:

No Traffic Jams
No Crime (to speak of)
Clean Air
Polite (but withdrawn) People Who Mind Their Own Business
Miles and Miles of Nutthin' but Trees
Unintrusive Local Government
Lobster
Fiddle-heads
Whoopie Pies
50 Cent take-out coffee almost everywhere

And then there are sights like this in the river in my back yard.

Nate Carey
06-12-2009, 5:55 PM
Who can tell us where the...

International Vinegar Museum...is?

Clue! ...it is not in New Hampshire or Florida...


This is a re-post!

Jerry Bruette
06-12-2009, 6:03 PM
Peshtigo, WI home of America's Worst Forest Fire. Happened same day as the Chicago fire so we didn't get the press but it was much worse. Like it here cause we get four distinct seasons, although some folks will tell you there's only two ... winter and road construction.

Jerry

Ken Fitzgerald
06-12-2009, 6:07 PM
This is a re-post!

Nate.....I cheated.....that's kinda like....Big Piney, Wyoming.....If you even know it exists, you have probably been there.:p

Gene Howe
06-12-2009, 8:48 PM
Nothing unique here. You could move Champaign 10 miles in any direction and it would look just the same. The prairie is flat and featureless.

John, We left Effingham for that very reason. Gotta be more than silos on the horizon for us.
We live on a plateau at about 6000 ft., surrounded by mountains. Elk and Antelope wander through occasionally. Rabbits, (Jack and Cottontail) quail and dove love our ranch. Plus the wife feeds the other birds and she's attracted a passel of finches and swallows and others that I can't recognize. Got the four seasons, 30 miles from skiing, (I don't) 50 miles from great walleye (I do!) and 150 miles from any city!!!
Right now the humidity is 18% and it's 72 deg. Expecting the monsoons any day. Wonderful country.
NO NATIVE HARDWOODS close though, darn it!

Nate Carey
06-13-2009, 8:44 AM
...Big Piney, Wyoming...

Ken, there must be two!
http://www.internationalvinegarmuseum.com
...this one's in Roslyn, South Dakota

...nope, never been there; I heard about the place on a Public Radio show called "The Splendid Table"

Colin Giersberg
06-13-2009, 11:08 AM
One of the more interesting monuments in N. Alabamahttp://img29.imageshack.us/img29/5963/cgg3700.th.jpg (http://img29.imageshack.us/i/cgg3700.jpg/)

Mark Norman
06-13-2009, 1:12 PM
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t116/triangle5/Landscape%20pics/101_0955.jpg


This is typical of my front yard:

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t116/triangle5/Landscape%20pics/101_0965.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t116/triangle5/DSCN9586.jpg

Craig D Peltier
06-13-2009, 1:31 PM
David.....prettiest beaches in the world in the Pensacola/Destin area!
You havent seen Southern Californias or Oregons then.

Craig D Peltier
06-13-2009, 1:34 PM
Hmmm- so many reasons:

No Traffic Jams
No Crime (to speak of)
Clean Air
Polite (but withdrawn) People Who Mind Their Own Business
Miles and Miles of Nutthin' but Trees
Unintrusive Local Government
Lobster
Fiddle-heads
Whoopie Pies
50 Cent take-out coffee almost everywhere

And then there are sights like this in the river in my back yard.

You forgot the severe Black Fly season! ( Maine state bird)

Ken Fitzgerald
06-13-2009, 1:38 PM
You havent seen Southern Californias or Oregons then.

Craig,

My wife has seen Hawaii, southern California and Oregon. So have I. I'll stick by my opinon that the white beaches at Destin FL are the prettiest on earth.

My BIL has seen all the above and the ones in Vietnam. He agrees....Destin FL.


But everyone has a right to have an opinon....

Lee DeRaud
06-13-2009, 1:55 PM
I live in Southern California: it's not so much a matter of "unique" as it is "a little bit of everything except bad weather".

Feel free to insert your own favorite biases, cliches, or urban legends...I'm used to it. :cool:

Lee DeRaud
06-13-2009, 1:59 PM
Craig,

My wife has seen Hawaii, southern California and Oregon. So have I. I'll stick by my opinon that the white beaches at Destin FL are the prettiest on earth.

My BIL has seen all the above and the ones in Vietnam. He agrees....Destin FL.If that's the Pensacola area, I'll agree with you. And overall Florida has better beaches than California anyway.

Problem is, they're in Florida. Been there, done that, hated the climate.

Mike Henderson
06-13-2009, 2:17 PM
Problem is, they're in Florida. Been there, done that, hated the climate.
Amen, Brother. I lived in Florida for 17 miserable years.

Mike

Joe Pelonio
06-13-2009, 3:41 PM
Besides the obvious coffee shops and fish-throwers in the Seattle area, what I like most about this area is the abundance of natural features. While many areas have one or more of these we have them all. Another thing that's odd but may be unique is the drivers. When we lived in CA at a four-way stop there were many close calls as all four vehicles charged forward at once. Here no one goes, all four sit and wait for someone else to go!:eek:

Mountains - some snow capped all year
Rivers
Salt Water - Puget Sound and Pacific Ocean
Lakes
Forests
Wildlife
Green all year
Fresh local seafood, fish, clams and oysters


The price we pay is the 40+ inches of rainfall though this year we have enjoyed a really nice late-spring early summer so far. Last year this time we had 33 days of rain, this year 23 days (so far) of sun.

http://www.olympicsuitesinn.com/images/hurricane_ridge_400.jpg

http://www.weathersystems.com/uploaded_images/lake_sammamish_boat-707825.JPG

Lee DeRaud
06-13-2009, 3:48 PM
...what I like most about this area is...That's the question everybody seems to be answering, but it's not the one that was asked.

And of course the only correct response is, "What? You mean besides me?" :eek:

Belinda Barfield
06-13-2009, 4:09 PM
Until Bonnie mentioned a cemetery I didn't even think of our famous one, Bonaventure.

120592

If you watched Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, or read the book, you will know the name Jim Williams. Jim is buried at Bonaventure. Oh, and we have the Lady Chablis but I don't think I'll attach a photo.

Richard M. Wolfe
06-13-2009, 6:11 PM
What's unique about where I live? Can't think of anything offhand, and I guess that's OK. That means not being in some touristy place and having to contend with all the attendant traffic, etc that goes with it.

Stephenville has a billboard touting the place as the "Cowboy Capital of Texas". That means you can drive a mile down about any road and see a half dozen $50,000 trailers.....people taking their horses out for a ride. :D

Rick Gooden
06-14-2009, 12:10 AM
It's not heaven, just shares the same zip code. New Harmony, Indiana

http://www-lib.iupui.edu/kade/newharmony/home.html

Rich Engelhardt
06-14-2009, 6:35 AM
Hello,
Our river caught fire...:rolleyes:

Dennis Peacock
06-14-2009, 7:09 AM
Well, I don't know how unique it is....but they are still around and in use. :D

Art Mulder
06-14-2009, 9:26 AM
Well this is not that far away... about a 2hr drive SW.

We visited Point Pelee (http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/on/pelee/index_E.asp) yesterday, which is one pretty unique thing about our area. This is the southernmost tip of mainland Canada, which extends just past the 42nd Parallel, equivalent to the latitude of Rome, Barcelona, as well as Northern California.

It's a bird watchers paradise as many many species stop by there on their migrations, and in the fall it is a stopping point for all the Monarch butterflies heading south to Mexico

The floating boardwalk through the marsh is quite cool
120659

Nesting pair of Black Terns, about to come and start dive-bombing us...
120660

Here we are, just south of the 42nd parallel, all of Canada is north from here...
120661

And that's the tip looking south. (Group family shot, all six of us)
Sandusky, OH is about 53 miles that-a-way...
120662

...art

Colin Giersberg
06-14-2009, 10:31 AM
This is what Huntsville, Alabama is known for.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/5003/cgg63081.jpg (http://img193.imageshack.us/i/cgg63081.jpg/)