[admin]

If I was traveling to your town what would you recommend? I'm looking for restaurants, hangouts, best kept secrets and the like.

[skysurfer808]

That would depend on the town.

In Honolulu, there's the Bowfin museum, the Navy Sub Museum, the U.S.S. Missouri, the Arizona Memorial, and Fort Derussy Army museum, right in the heart of Waikiki. As for nightlife, Waikiki's known for it, and Duke's Waikiki is the most popular singles spot, especially on Sundays. Be forewarned, Oahu has over 100,000 Military personnel either stationed there or passing through, the majority of whom are single males in their early 20s with money to burn. This turns most nightspots into what I would refer to as a sausage buffet....one of the reasons I moved to Maui. As a single male the odds on Maui are more in one's favor....a target rich environment. As far as siteseeing in Honolulu and the island of Oahu...get the hell out of Waikiki and head to the North Shore, especially in winter when 30 foot waves come rolling in. They are really something to see.

In Maui, there is little military, only a small Air Force contingent, plus some Army National Guard. There isn't anything in the way of military museums there, but the island is much more beautiful than Honolulu's tropical version of LA/New York...with Tokyo like crowding and the aforementioned sausage infestation. There is however, uncrowded beaches, a lot of world class fine dining, and a much more single male friendly atmosphere. Best places to eat is Charley's in Paia town for breakfast, Sea Watch Restarurant in Wailea for lunch, and Mama's Fish house on the North Shore for dinner. My favorite hangout spot is Makena Beach...which consists of two areas, Big Beach, which is a mile long classic Hawaiian beach (without a huge crowd, but rather large waves sometimes) and Little Beach, which on Sundays plays host to a Drum circle. I have learned to filter out unpleasant sights, and love to bodysurf the shorebreak there....so it is one of my favorite spots in the universe. There are times, when surrounded by lovely nude sea nymphs...that one feels like they've died and gone to heaven. Who needs 72 Virgins...paradise is on Maui. Of course it isn't always that way, and more reserved people would be turned off by the nudity...it is clothing optional there, and I keep my trunks on. Still there's little to beat riding a wave and dropping into a naked tourist gal. Sunday nights, I'd recommend Mulligans on the Blue, an honest to goodness Irish pub in Maui....run by real Irishmen. It's a great place, and for some reason a lot of beautiful women congregate there. Of course this is written from the perspective of a straight, unmarried male. Still, the sights are worth seeing.

I was just in Palmdale, California for the past month, and Palmdale is within spitting distance of Edwards AFB. I managed to see a couple F-117s do a low pass on the 4th of July, but wasn't able to get the cam out in time to get a shot. There's an airpark there with a Blackbird, F-4, and a few other machines. As for nightlife, the only spots I was able to recce was a dive bar called the Silver Spur (which reminded one of a cross between the Star Wars Bar at Mos Eisly spaceport....and Panchos without the pilots or the cookies.) There was also a dance club called Schooners...with a much younger crowd, but the music and ambience was a bit too chocolate for my taste. Of course Palmdale is a White flight zone, so it is much more conservative, and lacks the youthful energy and freedom of the Hawaiian islands.

I'm heading to the Atlanta region, where I've heard good things about Buckhead and the Air Museums. I'll be staying close to Marietta, so it ought to be interesting...both from Aviation perspective, and the singles aspect of Georgia. I lived there before and learned how to misbehave at an early age, alas the charms of Georgia peaches is something I have yet to savor. Maybe Shawn 507 can enlighten us more on this.

Missing Maui but looking forward to Georgia.

Skysurfer808

[Kubikali]

In Utrecht you will have to climb the Dom tower. Highest (112,32 meters) building in the city center. It is forbidden by law to build taller buildings. The view is brilliant!!
The city center, which goes back about 5/600 years (the Romans started it all when they built a castellum in 46 AD), is a sight on its own. A canal (Oude Gracht / Old Canal) runs through the city with wharfs alongside (which is unique in the Netherlands) where there are many restaurants now.
The main train station is in the city center. Here you can take a vintage train to the Dutch Railway museum which recently has been renovated and is top notch!

Terraces on "De Neude" (where you should pop in the thirties' style postoffice too). Where you can relax, drink a beer and do some people spotting.

And of course there are the Dutch treats like prostitution (on three main -sad, sadder, saddest- locations) and drugs. To some these are sights... I live close to the saddest prostitution site. Here the junkies offer their services which is sad in itself but even sadder is the line of cars with potential customers. And drugs, well, alcohol is a drug too, causing more social and personal problems than all other drugs combined...
Hmz... I am not selling Utrecht very well, so the tip here is: don't go there!!

We don't have huge cities over here and Utrecht is the Netherlands' fourth city with a population less than 300.000. In my eyes that's quite big but Utrecht does not have a "big city atmosphere" like Amsterdam, Rotterdam or The Hague have. Very, very, pleasant!

[mustangdriver]

In Pittsburgh, PA I would say that you would have to wait until football season to come here. Sat.start by going to our Science Center. We have the U.S.S. Requin diesel sub that was converted to look like a nuclear sub to fool russian spy planes. There are a few mom and pop hobby shops, but they are great, and I support them when I can. Then go to Mt. Washington which is an overlook of the city, and watch one of the nations top sunsets. Night life go to one of the clubs, and afterward on the way home stop by Parmanti's and get a sandwich of legendary status.
Now the real fun. Sunday morning during pro football season in Pittsburgh. You wake up at 7:00 and put on all of your black and gold. The game starts at 4:00 but nevermind that, you have tailgating to do. As you approach the Heinz Field you can already see the steam rising off of the other people's grills who have been there overnight. You get settled in to your area, start grilling, and drinking some beers, and throwing the old football around. It is an atmosphere to behold. For this onthing at least, your entire city, it's people, and those visiting, are all on the same side, and are there to have fun. Go in to the game, and see the Steelers beat whomever, and when you come out everyone is yelling and cheering. I have had friend's come here that were not football fans at all, but when they left they had become steeler fans. I ahve to be honest and say that if you want to walk out of Pittsburgh and tell people that you really experienced the place, that is what you would have to do.

[Nimrod48]

In the town of Shrewsbury the most noteable place would be the former home of Charles Darwin then on to Shrewsbury School one of the nine great schools in England click on link for a list of famous pupils http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Old_Salopians, a mile as the crow flies from my home is the worlds first iron framed building the great great grand father of the first skyscrapers.

But it is the fabric & layout of the town which is so enchanting, basically it is a medival town though its origins go much further back with its olde worlde mix of shuts* & passages & medival buildings it is probably what the first time visitor to England expects to find along with typicaly quaint street names such as Shoplatch, Grope Lane & Dogpole.
Take a trip through the county of Shropshire & you have Coalbrookdale the birth place of the industrial revolution where the worlds first iron bridge stands designed & built by Thomas Telford, just a 30 min drive away is RAF Cosford which now has a new building dedicated to the "cold war".

Shropshire is Englands largest land locked county & is still very rural in a recent survey it came 4th in being the best place for tranquility & no visitor to the county should leave until they have gazed upon Shropshire from Wenlock Edge then the viewer will truly believe the saying "Before God made Shropshire he practised on Paradise".

* The term Shut is probably medival in origin & describes a very narrow passage or alley way.
N.B. The George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol was filmed in Shrewsbury.

[swoop]

Nothing, Pickering - Ontario is too spread out. Lake Ontario is nearby where a nuclear plant nestles on it's shores and an ugly windmill graces the horizion. The definitive One Horse Town!........without the horse.

[Shawn 507]

Originally Posted by skysurfer808

I'm heading to the Atlanta region, where I've heard good things about Buckhead and the Air Museums. I'll be staying close to Marietta, so it ought to be interesting...both from Aviation perspective, and the singles aspect of Georgia. I lived there before and learned how to misbehave at an early age, alas the charms of Georgia peaches is something I have yet to savor. Maybe Shawn 507 can enlighten us more on this.

Missing Maui but looking forward to Georgia.

Skysurfer808

Um well lets see. I'm no big fan of Georgia. Too hot, too humid and too much mold and mildew in the spring/summer. Its a wet miserable cold in the fall/winter. There are some nice places to visit I guess. Up the road is the Little White House where President Roosevelt passed away. And Andersonville the Confederate POW camp / National POW/MIA museum is. On the way there from Benning stop by Four Winds and get a Ranger Burger, all you'll want to do after that is sleep.
You can visit Ft. Benning with the Infantry Museum, it has several armor and artillery pieces out front. You can see some of the quarters (from the outside) of guys like Marshall and Ike, the Patton quarters burned down years ago. We have the Airborne School where you can sit and watch the tortured souls go through training. And you can drive out to Fryar DZ to watch airborne students jump M-W, and sometimes Thursday.
There is Lawson Army Airfield where the final shot of the "Green Berets" was filmed minus all the trees in the background. Soldiers Stadium built with funds raised from WW1 soldiers, and where Mel Gibson gave his speech in "We were Soldiers" prior to shipping out.
Downtown sucks, and Phenix City is no hot spot either. If you come here, its only as a quick stop to a better destination. LOL
As for "Georgia Peaches", you can have them.
Missing Coloradao!
- Shawn

[tank nut]

Well, down here in good old moncton new bruswick we have a few things that are close and some that we can do that are not so far away. In the summer time we have shediac beach about 20 mins from the city to go and swim in, if you like nature we have the rocks is about a half hour away. The rocks are cool because the water has over the years formed caves and other cool stuf to check out. We have one of the best car shows in canada in july with about 1200 cars showing up, and we have a show for bikers as well. We have an indor amusment park with laser tag, kids rides and a cool roller coster as well. I am about an hour and a half away from all the race tracks down here so I get my file of racing in the summer and have pei just an hour and a half away as well. Lots of fun stuff to do over on Prince edward island, deep sea fish and great camping as well. Over all not bad down here except that darn thing called snow that seems to last forever LOL. Oh yes and the BEER!!!

[mikeb1958]

Originally Posted by admin

If I was traveling to your town what would you recommend? I'm looking for restaurants, hangouts, best kept secrets and the like.

Well, in Orlando about 25 mins or so drive, there is the Fantasy of Flight. I recommend that for sure! As for other sights in Orlando, if your into crowds, tourists and theme parks, you have of course Disney World, Epcot center, MGM, Universal Studios and Sea World. Watch your stuff also as Orlando is now one of the most dangerous places to live (in the top 25 by the FBI). Shooting, stabbings, armed robbery, car jackings and road-rage are other problems that the 'tourists' as well as us locals are very concened about besides the extreme heat, crowds, traffic and bugs. So come enjoy yourself in July or August .

[admin]

Originally Posted by Kubikali

In Utrecht you will have to climb the Dom tower. Highest (112,32 meters) building in the city center. It is forbidden by law to build taller buildings. The view is brilliant!!
The city center, which goes back about 5/600 years (the Romans started it all when they built a castellum in 46 AD), is a sight on its own. A canal (Oude Gracht / Old Canal) runs through the city with wharfs alongside (which is unique in the Netherlands) where there are many restaurants now.
The main train station is in the city center. Here you can take a vintage train to the Dutch Railway museum which recently has been renovated and is top notch!

Terraces on "De Neude" (where you should pop in the thirties' style postoffice too). Where you can relax, drink a beer and do some people spotting.

And of course there are the Dutch treats like prostitution (on three main -sad, sadder, saddest- locations) and drugs. To some these are sights... I live close to the saddest prostitution site. Here the junkies offer their services which is sad in itself but even sadder is the line of cars with potential customers. And drugs, well, alcohol is a drug too, causing more social and personal problems than all other drugs combined...
Hmz... I am not selling Utrecht very well, so the tip here is: don't go there!!

We don't have huge cities over here and Utrecht is the Netherlands' fourth city with a population less than 300.000. In my eyes that's quite big but Utrecht does not have a "big city atmosphere" like Amsterdam, Rotterdam or The Hague have. Very, very, pleasant!

LOL. And it started off so well.

I traveled quite a bit in the last ten years, and for a business traveler who isn't afforded much free time the local tip is coveted info. I regret not having logged more of this info for future reference. A good friend of mine is building a website that people can contribute their insider info, and it's been in my head ever since we spoke about it. I just thought I'd see what you fellas had to say. Plus, it just makes for an entertaining read.