If you came to visit....

pobblebonk · Post by **pobblebonk** » Mon Sep 26, 2016 1:36 pm

I don't know if this will take off, but I love learning about the world and thought we could try sharing our little corners.

Is there a place where you live that you like to show off to company? It could be a tourist attraction, restaurant, park, etc. I thought it might be fun to talk about them here.

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If you came to visit (and weather permitted), I would take you to the Cliff Walk.

It's a walking trail that starts at Easton's Beach (a.k.a. First Beach) in Newport, Rhode Island and follows the coastline for a total of 3.5 miles, round trip.

On one side of you is the bay, and the other side is the backs of several Gilded-Age mansions.

One of my favorites is The Elms. This "summer cottage" was built for the Berwind family, and finished in 1901. It was one of the first homes in the U.S. to be wired for electricity with no backup, and had one of the first ice makers. Mr. Berwind was a tech junkie.

It also has this amazing entryway with marble pillars and a fancy staircase, which I loooooove!

Anyway, mansions are a whole other topic. The Cliff Walk is a lovely way to get some exercise, see some beautiful things, and you can put your toes in the sand afterward and then go get some clamcakes and chowdah.

(One time, when I was walking there with my kids and some friends, we saw a deer swimming in the bay. There were lots of tourists that day, and we were all watching this poor creature as it struggled to get up on a rock and stood there, shaking. There was a lot of concern. So the dummy I am....I called animal control and explained the situation. The person on the other end said, "Ma'am, deer can swim. That's how they got to the island in the first place."

I replied,"Okay, but she looks really tired." The guy goes, "Yeah. She'll stay on the rock until she's not so tired and then she'll continue swimming."

Boy did we all feel stupid!!!)

Tharmas · Post by **Tharmas** » Mon Sep 26, 2016 10:52 pm

Love the mansions, especially the interior shot.

I live in Dallas, and most visitors want to see JR’s ranch, which I’ve never seen. Sometimes I drive people down Elm Street by the old Texas School Book Depository, and head into the triple underpass by the grassy knoll, and people get agitated. “Where are we? This place is so familiar.”

A nice spot I actually like to take people is Fair Park, the site of the Texas centennial of 1936, and the State Fair ever since. There is a collection of wonderfully decorated Art Deco buildings surrounding a reflecting pool.

Murals depict major aspects of industry in Texas. I'll show just a few, such as Agriculture:

Film:

Industry:

And the Future:

ruby sparks · Post by **ruby sparks** » Mon Sep 26, 2016 10:59 pm

Those aren't proper murals. They are not tribal and bigoted and there are no masked men with guns in them.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murals_ ... rn_Ireland

MattShizzle · Post by **MattShizzle** » Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:43 pm

About the only thing around here - and would have to be around Christmas - is Christmas Village - about 1 mile from me. There's a few decent restaurants - including the Eagle Hotel (Cuban Menu) and Marios (Italian - but mainly pizza and sandwiches but quite a few entrees) in town. Main landmark around is the Pagoda near Reading:

night:

Jobar · Post by **Jobar** » Tue Sep 27, 2016 12:39 am

I grew up in Warm Springs, GA, a bit more than a mile away from Roosevelt's Little White House, where he died in 1945.

A few miles from the LWH is Dowdell's Knob, an overlook from the ridge of Pine Mountain.

Pine Mountain, and the ridge you can see straight across the valley, Oak Mountain, are the very last ridges of the Appalachian chain before you reach the coastal plains. There's some fine hiking trails going along Pine Mountain.

Roosevelt owned much of the property that is now Pine Mountain State Park, and frequently picnicked on the Knob. This statue of him was put there several years ago.

Roo St. Gallus · Post by **Roo St. Gallus** » Tue Sep 27, 2016 1:48 am

It's hideous here. Nobody should ever want to come here for any reason.

plebian · Post by **plebian** » Tue Sep 27, 2016 5:04 am

Where?

pobblebonk · Post by **pobblebonk** » Tue Sep 27, 2016 12:34 pm

Very cool! I'm diggin' all the pics!

Tubby · Post by **Tubby** » Tue Sep 27, 2016 2:27 pm

[quote=""Jobar""]Pine Mountain, and the ridge you can see straight across the valley, Oak Mountain, are the very last ridges of the Appalachian chain before you reach the coastal plains. [/quote]

Your "mountain" would be called a "hill" in these parts-- if it was given a name at all. But then our "river" would be called a "creek" where you are.

Jobar · Post by **Jobar** » Tue Sep 27, 2016 2:28 pm

Pobble, for many years I had an annual meet-up for my freethinking friends here at my place in west central Georgia. Though those gatherings seem to be over and done now, from 2003 to 2013 there were many of my online friends who *did* come visit me. You might enjoy reading about the 2011 Annual Infidels Gathering and Judgement Day Party, for example.

Sadly, the lady who kept most of the pictures from those get-togethers seems to have taken her site down. But you can still see lots of pics at http://s224.photobucket.com/user/seathe ... t=3&page=0.

Here's something unique; just a couple of miles from where I sit is the grave of James Alford, with an extremely rare freethinker's tombstone.

(If that doesn't show, you can see it at http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd32 ... rs0625.jpg.)

The inscription at the top reads "Freethought, science & reason vs. superstition." A Confederate veteran, Alford died in 1901.

{added- and you should look at the 2009 thread, Another Saturday Saturnalia, for the pictures towards the end.

}

Tharmas · Post by **Tharmas** » Tue Sep 27, 2016 2:45 pm

[quote=""ruby sparks""]Those aren't proper murals. They are not tribal and bigoted and there are no masked men with guns in them.[/quote]

Maybe not proper murals, but at least they got some nekkid women in. OK, just topless, but this is the Baptist Belt, in 1936.

pobblebonk · Post by **pobblebonk** » Tue Sep 27, 2016 3:27 pm

I thought that was a dude with long hair and poorly-drawn pecs.

Cool tombstone, but I have trouble aligning Freethinking with Freemasonry.

ruby sparks · Post by **ruby sparks** » Tue Sep 27, 2016 11:44 pm

[quote=""Tharmas""]

ruby sparks;655794 wrote:Those aren't proper murals. They are not tribal and bigoted and there are no masked men with guns in them.

Maybe not proper murals, but at least they got some nekkid women in. OK, just topless, but this is the Baptist Belt, in 1936.[/QUOTE]

Point taken.

So I googled 'Belfast murals naked women'......more in hope than in expectation (thinking that at best I'd find one showing a female terrorist in a balaclava with a half decent cleavage)....and was pleased to find that the newest Belfast mural, as of last month, is.....not naked women but....

http://www.irishnews.com/news/northerni ... ng-631674/

This is on a wall opposite The Dirty Onion bar in the Cathedral Quarter, which is THE area to head for if you ever get to visit. It's our smaller version of London's Covent Garden and Dublin's Temple Bar and it's fab, especially if you're on a pub crawl.

The Dirty Onion is good, but this is my favourite bar, just around the corner, The Duke of York...

Roo St. Gallus · Post by **Roo St. Gallus** » Sun Oct 02, 2016 7:47 pm

[quote=""plebian""]Where?[/quote]

Cascadia. What others here might reference as the Pacific Northwest.

We're awaiting a devastating earthquake and tsunami any day.