Do you live near something famous, like a factory or a major landmark? Or, more loosely, is your state especially famous for something?

Great Lakes fo sho

I’m 30 minutes from the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, MO. Quite an amazing structure. Been to the top three times.

Well my state has that whole Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island thing. But I don’t think I live “near” it, being a good 2.5 – 3 hours from the City. Where I lived most recently is purported to be the home of the man upon whom the Uncle Sam legend is based….

D.C.
My towns got a lot of battlefields and not too exciting things.

@MrItty Have you ever been to the Statue of Liberty?

@rangerr My husband flies into DC occasionally. They have the WORST landing field!!

I also live about an hour and a half from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. If you ever get a chance to visit it, do it! It is by far the best museum I’ve ever gone to. Most would think museums are boring, but this one is extremely interesting!

@erichw1504 I love museums!

My entire home state is famous for being rather unique and cool – California. When I lived there I was within half an hour of Malibu; within an hour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Universal Studios and of course the porn capital of the world Van Nuys. My hometown was less than 20 minutes from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Some well known folks from my area include Heather Locklear, Steve Perry (Journey), Kurt Russell, and Michael Richards (the racist of Seinfeld fame). We are probably best known for one of our local boys done good @whatthefluther.

Now I live near president Ford’s birthplace and the military base where president Bush hid out after the 9/11 attacks.

@SuperMouse You suck! I’ll trade you a Pizza Hut for a Malibu!

The main thing that comes to mind is the serial killer Pee Wee Gaskins. http://crime.about.com/od/serial/p/gaskins.htm

Just.. you know.. The Rocky Mountains.

I live a few miles from this: National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows

@jeanna Oh my! Well WE had BTK! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTK My sister actually lived in Kechi, where he lived, for several years before they found out who he was. Really scary considering how tiny that town is.

The Clark Museum in Williamstown
Olana (Home of Frederick Church)
Norman Rockwell Museum
Tanglewood (summer home of The Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC)
Jacob’s Pillow (dance)
Shakespeare and Co.
Berkshire Summer Theatre
Outdoor sculpture gardens
Millay Colony (residence for writers and other artists)
Edith Wharton’s home
Martin Van Buren’s home
Catskill Mts.
Chesterwood (home of sculpture Daniel Chester French)
Mass MOCA (Museum of contemporary art)
Bard College
Vassar

And that’s driving, at most, only 50 minutes from my front door.

I live in the blueberry capital of the world. mmmmmmmmm blueberries :)

@Val123 Yeah, the airports are impossible too..
ALSO. We had the serial snipers.. one of the men they killed was on my church softball team.

@Val123 I don’t live there anymore, I moved away about three years ago after spending my entire life there. I miss it every day. Well, all but the traffic and the smog and the wild fires and the earthquakes.

@gailcalled Worlds deepest well. In Greensberg. Was the only thing that didn’t get wiped off the face of the map in that tornado in 07. (I remember watching the weather when the radar of that area came on before the tornado hit. I’m not a meteorologist, but it was enough to make me go “Holy crap!” In fact, I went to weather.com and actually got a screen print of it, which I still have. There was just nothing left. We’ve been through there a couple of times since then…a slow, painful rebuilding.)

@gailcalled What about from your backdoor?

@SuperMouse Fires are bad bad there! My sister lives in the mountains up there somewhere. So where did you move to?

I live down the street from where Victor Hugo used to live in Paris. People would know it as ‘la maison de Victor Hugo’.

im about 1km away from where quite a few famous people have houses. a town in mallorca in spain called costa de los pinos.

ana obregon, right said fred, and a few others live there from time to time. princess diana even had a place there.

our island is “famous” also for a local unque drink we make called hierbas, and the castle of bellver is about 70km away from here.

I live in ohio, and the people here like to land on the moon, orbit the earth and build airplanes. Just to name a few.

Illinois: Corn!

I live in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in terms of businesses that are household names, the Twin Cities metro area, within probably 20 miles of my house one direction or the other, is home to the world headquarters of 19 Fortune 500 companies. Most famously:

Target
Best Buy
3M
Supervalu
General Mills
Medtronic
Land O’Lakes (where I once worked)
Mosaic

Rounding out the list are United Health Group, Traveller’s Insurance (this merged with The St. Paul Companies where I also once worked), U.S. Bancorp, CHS (aka Cenex/Harvest States, another company I worked for…Harvest States…before they merged with Cenex), Xcel Energy, Ameriprise Financial, Thrivent Financial, C.H. Robinson, Nash Finch and Ecolab. We were also home to Northwest Airlines, but they merged with Delta, so the facility here, while still open, is no longer world headquarters.

In addition, we have Andersen Windows, Aveda, Toro, Regis, Polaris, Cargill, Carlson Companies, H.B. Fuller, Deluxe and Seagate. We also used to have the HQs of Wells Fargo and Honeywell.

Right now I live near Graceland (you know Elvis), and The Mississippi Mud River Museum (which was featured in the movie The Firm), and The Clinton Library is only an hour and a half from Memphis (it is excellent by the way, I highly recommend it). Plus Fedex HQ and hub is here, so there is always a Fedex plain overhead. We are known for Memphis in May which is a BBQ festival that goes for days with music and food.

Previous to that I lived in Boca Raton, which I guess the claim to fame is it was constantly mentioned on The Nanny and Seinfeld.

Growing up I lived outside of Washington DC and NYC. I probably don’t need to explain those.

Two blocks away on one side of my building, there’s this. Three blocks away on the other side of my building, there’s this.

I also used to live by tons of places that were in the Sopranos.
Then I lived in Florida, not near anything THAT cool.
Then I lived right near the Bakersfield Sign
Then I lived about 5 minutes if that from the Columbia River Gorge, Mt Hood, and The Klamath Waterfall which you can see in the movie Twilight.
I also lived about 10–15 from Stingray City and Rum Point and of course Georgetown in the Cayman Islands.
Now I’m about 30 minutes from Coors Field and Invesco Field formerly known as Mile High Stadium. Denver International Airport isn’t THAT far (for an airport) and it’s also the biggest airport in the USA. I’m also very close to Copper Mountain and Columbine High School is right down the street.

@Val123 Yeah, BTK was a bad guy, but Pee Wee…man…that dude was freaking insane. People should read my link. He raped and murdered a pregnant woman and her 2 year old daughter; he said the rape of the 2 year old was the best sex he’d ever had. This is the most disturbing thing I have ever read….

@JLeslie I lurvee Memphis in May

@erichw1504 Corn is good! Well, I know you were talking to @gailcall about what she sees from her back door, but here’s what I see out my back door….. Hang on. It’s pretty exciting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLWSpVWy-_I

@jeanna OMG…..That is sickening.

And that was just the companies. We have several celebrities that make their homes here…most notably, Prince has his Paisley Park studio way out in the western suburbs, while former Stray Cat Brian Setzer can often be seen hanging out at one of the local Minneapolis pubs as he lives here. I’m not sure if he still lives here, but Bobby McFerrin had a house on a big lake in Minneapolis when he was the conductor of the MN Orchestra. We of course are also home to the Twins, the Vikings, the Wild and the Timberwolves, all of whom have homes around here (the CEO of a company I used to work for lived next door to Kevin Garnett when he was a T-wolf).

We have a few buildings designed by famous architects, most impressive and famous would be the Weisman Art Museum designed by Frank Ghery. We are of course home to the bridge that fell in the Mississippi River 2 years ago. We have a few breweries, such as Summit, and the MN Brewing company which makes Pigs Eye, Grain Belt and a few others.

Of course, we also have First Avenue, the night club made famous in the film Purple Rain. And I find this interesting….Esquire magazine named Minneapolis’ Nye’s Polenaise Room as the Best Bar in America, while National Lampoon named St. Paul’s Alary Bar as the Worst Bar in America…I feel quite honored to have both within driving distance.

Oh and I almost forgot about Totinos…they’re part of Pillbury now (which is part of General Mills), but we also have a little restaurant where those recipes originated!.

@jeanna Read it. How sickening. This caught my eye though “His next serious murder was of Martha Dick”....did he also have unserious murders??

@dalepetrie That’s cool about Totinos! Do you ever eat at that restaurant?

@Val123 He considered the “serious murders” those of people he knew; the ones that were “recreational” to him and just for fun are those he killed along the highways.

@Val123 – just went there 2 weeks ago. I’m on their club list, so every birthday my wife and I get a coupon good for $10 off your meal. To be honest, we had the lunch buffet and it wasn’t great, if you ever get there, order off the menu.

I don’t think there’s a single part of California that isn’t famous. We’re the state where music is made, TV is made, movies are made, celebrities live, it has the most varied geography in the state form deserts to palm-tree lined beaches to redwood forests to snow-capped mountains, it’s the place of fame, fortune, style, Hollywood, and pot-growing.

As for where I live specifically, my whole city (San Francisco) is world-famous for being liberal, zany, and cultured. I live near the Presidio and the Golden Gate Bridge. I also live in an area where billionaires have houses.

I’m from DeKalb, IL, home of barbed wire and Joseph Glidden. Yah barb city (cough, Dekalb’s a city??).

@jeanna Holy crap. Reading that link right now. This is gross/creepy/just plain horrible.

alberta has Banff, Calgary stampede and Labatt’s brewery in edmonton!

I really want to go to Banff. I want to take that train that starts in Vancouver and goes through the Canadian Rockies.

New York City. Yeah…

If you read @jeanna‘s link, it implicates John Powell as one of Pee Wee’s accomplices! (page 2)

@dalepetrie haha I noticed that, made me giggle.

@dalepetrie I saw that and laughed.

I am ~10 miles from a Six Flags amusement park, and ~15 miles from the “Jersey Shore”. I am ~60 miles from Manhattan, Philadelphia, and Atlantic City.

@uberbatman: NJ is also the Eggplant capital of the world! (double-check the blueberry stats… I think there’s a particular type of cultivated berry that we dominate, but not all blueberries).

Red Rocks, the Purina Dog Food factory (so stinky), Garden of the Gods, the Royal Gorge, the Rocky Mountains… CO is awesome.

@hearkat hmmm? i wasnt saying all of nj is, i was talking about hammonton.

7.5 miles from the birthplace of The Chicken Wing

Cincinnati is kown for our sports teams, The Cincinnati Reds and The Cincinnati Bengals. to which both teams typically suck….The Reds were known as The Big Red Machine in the 70’s with back to back world series 75 & 76 and the Bengals have been known as The Bungals for quite some time

We are also home to infamous characters such as Jerry Springer, a former mayor of , and Pete Rose. Cincinnati was also home US President Wm Howard Taft, who also was the only Pres to be both a President and a US Supereme Court Justice and William Henry Harrison and more recent celbs, the home town to Carmen Electrca and Nick and Drew Lachey, and the late Tony Snow.

We have the first paid fire department in the US, and GE aircraft engine plant that makes engines for Air Force One and many military planes.

My city, Sarnia (Ontario, Canada)? French Fries. Under the Bluewater Bridge fries.

That, and James Doohan (Star Trek) grew up here. Golfer, Mike Weir, is from here, as well.

@Skippy Our state is embarrassed by our team, the KC Chiefs.

@Skippy, if you ever wondered, wondered whatever became of me…

Tee-hee! Watch out for the falling turkeys!

We have TONS of natural beauty here in Oregon.

Crater Lake

Painted Hills

Oregon Caves

Redwoods

Mt. Hood

Oregon Coast

I’m sure there are many more that I forgot about.

Yale University.

(where’s the lurve here?)

<Gives out lurve to anyone who took the time to answer.>

@aprilsimnel, I want to live where you be at. You, too, Gris.

@chelseababyy where is this waterfall located?

Klamath, OR.

@RedPowerLady Oregon and Washington states are, hands down, the two most beautiful states in the country!

@gailcalled I am from Klamath Falls Oregon. The only Klamath in Oregon. There is NO waterfall there. There is also a Klamath, CA. nearby but as far as I know there is no waterfall there either. However if there is one it’s in Cali. and not Klamath Oregon. I lived there most my life. It’s kinda a joke among us because people always say they’ve been to Klamath to see the falls, uh… what falls…. ? so that is why I asked where the falls is actually at

@Val123 I so agree! We are very lucky! :)

@RedPowerLady Actually, I lied. Yeah, yeah, your pictures are pretty, but they can’t touch this in Kansas!

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc207/Dutchcat1/Biggesttwine.jpg

@Val123 ROFL. That is way too funny! I’d move in an instant just to live next to that! haha

@jmah what, so you can have my horrible accent?

:P

@RedPowerLady: There seem to be some spectacular falls on the Columbia River;

Here are some enlargements

@Grisaille ah, dude, I love your accent. =)

@jmah – Thanks. I hope I get a decent job soon so I can stay here!

I would love to see the Pacific Northwest. I’ve not been to that part of the country yet.

@gailcalled Ya there are some beautiful falls in Oregon. Just not in Klamath (Klamath Falls).

@aprilsimnel It is very worth it if you ever get the chance.

@RedPowerLady :) Yeppers! The world’s biggest ball of twine! Ain’t it a beaut!

I have family in the Seattle area, so I have reason to go there sometimes. Just breathtaking. My Uncle built a house on 5 acres of land in 1970 or so. He paid, what, $500 and acre or something? Now it’s worth $5000 an acre or something! And worth it. They originally were in the country, but the town they’re in has, of course, turned into a mega monster that’s glued on to Seattle. However, smack in the middle of this town is about 60 acres of prime woodland where my uncle and his neighbors built their homes way back when. You feel like you ARE in the woods. Well, and you are I get all freaked out at night when I go out to smoke a cigarette. I’m really afraid the Legend of Bogey Creek is going to get me!! It’s SO secluded and drippy and stuff. Like a swamp. I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto. Next time I’m taking the ball of twine with me.

@Val123 Believe it or not I’ve never been as far North as the Seattle area but I plan on it. I would love to see the area as I’ve heard it is beautiful as well. Sounds like your Uncle has a beautiful place, lucky man.

@jmah ha. * blush *

@RedPowerLady Lucky as hell!! There was no way to know how valuable property was going to become 20 years later! I don’t think that’s gonna happen here. Well, unless we all get big balls of twine to put in the yard!

@Val123 Ya I think you should start the biggest ball of yarn scraps. Then when it becomes a popular landmark you can sell it and purchase land in the Northwest. Hehe.

I’ve got Churchill Downs and the Slugger museum. Honestly though? The coolest thing here is the Science Museum- it’s awesome. The Speed Art Museum is great too.

@RedPowerLady Or get with the user’s Mom who posted in the ebay question! She made $100K in one year by making stuff, then selling at a show! But…I don’t sew either so I’m screwed again. I’m not very housewifey, am I!
BUT I did sew this. I rebuilt, from scratch, the whole back end of this camper. It normally pulled out into beds on both ends, but the one end was ruined by mold. It took about two weeks just to figure out how to work my sewing machine! It got better after that. OH! I’m going to PM you a funny, funny story!

@Val123 Yay for funny PM. I just learned to sew myself. I made curtains, lol.
Now if I could figure out how that woman made 100K in a year by crafting I would probably change my profession in a heart beat.

We’ll have to go look in the ebay question. I asked her if she had any pics she could show us…

@Val123 I’d love to see pics.

She doesn’t think she has any but she’ll look…(It’s SpatzieLover, BTW)

@Val123 R U Kidding me? Really? I’m going to suck up to her even more now. LOL

I live in Van Nuys, which was @SuperMouse mentioned, is the porn capital of the world. :)

I’ve got all that neat stuff on @gailcalled‘s side of the river. But my side of the river has the world’s largest kaleidoscope. Neener.

I think Norfolk has the largest Naval base or something…
And Virginia Beach is very touristy during the summer. I don’t know why.

@Facade The third largest Navel? Whose is it?

@RedPowerLady Oregon. Close to Hood River, Oregon. It was off of Highway 84.

I also forgot I live hella close to Red Rocks Amphitheater.

@chelseababyy Ahh that is Multnomah Falls. not near Klamath but hey it’s in Oregon :)

@RedPowerLady Stupid me. My bad.

@chelseababyy I am just having a bit of fun, no need to call yourself stupid, i’m sure that is far from the truth.

@RedPowerLady Ha thank you :]. For some reason Klamath came to mind. Coincidental maybe.

@chelseababyy Well it is really called Klamath Falls so I can see how one would make that mistake. No biggie really.

Um. Hot Springs? A big mafia town a long time ago. And the water here is supposed to be able to ~cure you~

@RedPowerLady: From what I can see, after having actually bothered to do the research, is that Klamath Falls is the only part of Oregon that does not have at least one spectacular waterfall.

@gailcalled Ya that is why we find it so funny when people get it confused. I bet that was some interesting research.

@RedPowerLady Ah all makes sense now :]

@aprilsimnel My favorite show…..I watch it on WGN, and love the opening, I see my high school on the hill, and it’s so cool to see how the downtown area has changed over the years.

@RedPowerLady: My mother grew up in Portland and has powerful memories of her uncle’s cabin in the woods, the aroma of the evergreens and the sounds and sight of
rushing water everywhere.

We have old movies of a family reunion; the men are in trousers and long-sleeved white shirts, the women in dresses and everyone barefoot in the creek.

@gailcalled Sounds awesome! The woods around here really are powerful. :)

@RedPowerLady So are the Legends of Boogey Creek

@Val123 did i miss something?

@RedPowerLady You’re not old enough to remember, but it was a supposedly true story of some bigfoot like monster man that lived in Arkansas:

# The film was a tremendous success at drive-ins. It grossed 22 million dollars, making it the 7th highest grossing movie of its year.

# Nearly all of the cast never appeared in another film.

# The film is largely based upon actual reported encounters with a Bigfoot creature in the Fouke-Boogy Creek, Arkansas area throughout the 60’s and early 70’s. Most of the actors in the film were the real people from the encounters playing themselves.

# Director ‘Charles B. Pierce’ got funding for the film by borrowing 160,000 dollars from a Arkansas trucking company and shooting it on an older model movie camera the production acquired.

# The original title of the film was “Tracking the Fouke Monster”.

# Though Vern Stierman narrates the film it’s actually director ‘Charles B. Pierce’ heard interviewing some of the locals during audio clips. Pierce also sings the film’s folk theme song.

I saw the movie and it scared the ever livin’ creop outta me! It was sad, too, because the thing never did anything wrong in the beginning, wasn’t violent or threatening…in fact, if I remember he was trying to reach out in curiosity and friendship, but he got shot at and stuff, and hurt, and….became violent.

It’s a seriously Grade B movie, but if you like scary movies that don’t have all kinds of blood and gore, you might appreciate it. See if you can’t find it somewhere. It says it was in Arkansas, but many of the scenes are so Washington-State looking! All foggy and wooded and stuff. I get the creeps standing outside at my Uncles house…

@Val123 LOL. I’ve been there. There was actually a “monster quest” episode about it.
In the town theres a gigantic big foot cut out that you can put your face in, take your picture, etc.

@Val123 Sounds like a good one. Did you ever see the other bigfoot movie… Hendersons something. I loved that as a kid but it’s not scary.

@RedPowerLady Harry and the Hendersons! Oh, I love that movie!!
Also, if you ever look up Boogy Creek, remember that I was probably a kid at the drive in with my folkds when I saw it, and those things make a MUCH bigger impression on a kid than an adult.

@Val123 I totally get that! :)

@pinkparaluies Monster Quest FTW!!

@gailcalled Thanks! I’ll check some of those places out next time I head up!