Most Unusual, Weird, or Exclusive places you have been?

[1995hoo]

When I was a kid, one of the fathers in our Cub Scout group was an administrative aide to a US senator and he took us down to the Senate floor and showed us around. I recall one of the desks was filled with candy and was known as the "candy desk."

The National Park Service used to offer tours underneath the Lincoln Memorial and my mom signed us up for one of those once. It was pretty interesting. There is a huge space under there and then a smaller room further back that's almost like a cavern with stalactites. I'm pretty sure those tours are no longer offered because of security concerns, though you can find some pictures online. (Relevant to the interests of this forum's members, I recall the entrance vestibule, which is still used by NPS personnel for various reasons, had an ancient Washington Metrorail map from before the system opened–a lot of the station names differed from the names the stations actually received).

In terms of sports, as a kid I played soccer on the field at RFK Stadium, and in 2004 when I was in Boise for a football game I wandered out onto the famous blue turf before the game and security actually offered to take my picture at the 50-yard line instead of chasing me away or arresting me.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

On the balcony at the Zaragoza council hall.

In the depot of the Zaragoza light rail. I also rode The Thing (as I know it) during the public tests before the Grand Opening.

I was the very first rider after a total urban bus service overhaul in Huesca.

I also check on having been on an exclusive tour of a Government building. In my case, it was the Spanish Congress.

[JayhawkCO]

The Kansas City Royals locker room during a game.  A restaurant I used to work at got to do catering there once a month, so I got to hang out there.

Pyramiden, Svalbard.  Since it looks like I'm the member here that's been the farthest north, I figured I could put this in here.  Pyramiden is an old Russian mining town that was abandoned in the 80's.

Myanmar pre-2010.  It's become more popular for tourists now, but the year that I went, there were only 360 Americans who applied for a visa.

Amazon Rain Forest (in Ecuador and Bolivia)

Kyrgyzstan hanging out with a film crew from The North Face.  Random chance that the only other westerners staying at my hotel were some Canadians filming a backcounty skiing video.  I actually have a very, very brief cameo in the film.

On live TV.  My former employer (luxury hotel) had me go on the morning show to talk about our rooftop pool bar that was opening.

On the rim of an active volcano.  (Mt. Bromo in Indonesia)

Alone on the top of Pikes Peak.  Normally it's crawling with tourists that drove up but the day I climbed it, the road was closed for high winds and no one else (I think) summited that day.

Chris

[kphoger]

Off the beaten path:  La Constancia, Coahuila–about three or four hours off the paved highway, down rocky desert roads and the occasional creek bed

Restricted:  I once played the carillon in my parents' church near downtown Wichita for a little over an hour, during the congregation's centennial celebration.  It was a little strange to know that the entire neighborhood could hear me playing.

Restricted:  At the first concert of my first college music tour, my bandmates grabbed me, shoved me into the wheeled wardrobe, and pushed it into the girls' changing room.  It was apparently an annual tradition to do this to one unsuspecting band member.

[frankenroad]

I've been in the West Wing Cabinet Room and I stuck my foot into the Oval Office (it was roped off). 

[Rothman]

Oh, my son and I were taken up the bell tower at Saint Paul's Church NHS in NY.  My son got to ring the bell.

[Scott5114]

Man, I'm jealous of all of you folks that have got to see the House and Senate chambers (even more so those of you who got to go on the floor instead of just watching from the gallery). I wanted to do that when I visited DC in 2007, but we didn't realize you had to set that up ahead of time, so we only got to see the outside of the building.

Probably the only thing that qualifies for this thread for me is the mainline lanes of Interstate 40. When it was realigned in Oklahoma City my wife and I went to the grand opening, which took place in the eastbound lanes (I think I hopped the Jersey barrier and walked around on the westbound side some too). This spot carried an AADT of 112,057 in 2019.


A few months later, we went back for an open house event where ODOT was allowing access to the old alignment before it was demolished. Since the demolition, a high-rise Omni Hotel has been constructed on the right side of the frame, and 90° to the right would be Scissortail Park.

[kenarmy]

I traveled ~100 Miles to Sterlington High School for a track meet. It was so random that was a meet location out of all the high schools, and they have a black track.

[wanderer2575]

In the announcer's booth at Comerica Park in Detroit, and announcing the leadoff Tigers hitter for the game.

On the main stage of Orchestra Hall before a Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert.  That was Mrs. wanderer's doing; I definitely felt out of place.

[US 89]

I've ridden the underground subway from the US Capitol to one of the Senate office buildings (don't remember which one).

When I was in elementary school my neighborhood Jr. Jazz basketball team got to briefly play in the Huntsman Center (where the Utes play). Got to the court via an ancient elevator that I'm surprised still ran.

I've also been inside a National Weather Service radar in Norman, Oklahoma. That was pretty neat.

[Bruce]

I've been in the operator's chair of our new light rail fleet long before they entered service.

And I guess visiting the Hanford Site's plutonium enrichment chambers counts, since the tours are very infrequent.

[Scott5114]

I've also been inside a National Weather Service radar in Norman, Oklahoma. That was pretty neat.

Cool! At Westheimer, I'm guessing? I've never been inside of the radar, but the Storm Prediction Center (the organization that issues severe weather watches nationwide) holds an annual Weather Festival at their building on Highway 9, where you can tour the SPC and NWS Norman facilities. When I went they were handing out marked-up weather maps that were used in the forecasting process (some meteorologists insist that drawing conditions with marker on paper maps helps them focus on how the systems actually work, instead of relying solely on computer modeling).

[kphoger]

I traveled ~100 Miles to Sterlington High School for a track meet. It was so random that was a meet location out of all the high schools, and they have a black track.

What's unusual about a black track?  Almost all the tracks I ran on in high school meets were black.

[hbelkins]

Track owner's suite at Kentucky Speedway before Bruton Smith bought it out, and also the media center at the speedway.

Press Row at Rupp Arena (for the 1985 Kentucky boys state high school basketball tournament.)

On the catwalk beneath the New River Gorge Bridge.

Abandoned Sideling Hill/Rays Hill tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (in a vehicle, no less).

[tq-07fan]

I got to work through a lot of railfan dream type places when I worked for Sperry Rail Service in the 1990's but the two most unusual places I got to was getting to cross the Straight of Georgia on the truck and rail only ferryboat from Tilbury Island (near Delta BC) to Nanaimo BC. The most unusual place was spending a night at the Hotel Sentinel, which was a railway maintenance of way camp on the then electrically operated BC Rail Tumbler Ridge Subdivision. You could only reach Hotel Sentinel by rail or helicopter and you were truly miles (or kilometers) away from anything.

Jim   

[kenarmy]

I traveled ~100 Miles to Sterlington High School for a track meet. It was so random that was a meet location out of all the high schools, and they have a black track.

What's unusual about a black track?  Almost all the tracks I ran on in high school meets were black.

Really? All of the outdoor tracks I went to were red and I encountered one green one (which was also out of state). Maybe it's just based on my location.

[Scott5114]

I want to say the track at my high school was ordinary black asphalt. Before that it was dirt with some really fine gravel mixed in, and that was, of course, bright red because it's Oklahoma.

[Bruce]

Speaking of sports, I've watched soccer from the stands in 3 countries: the United States, Canada, and Germany.

I would've added a fourth (the UK) if not for a cancelled fixture at AFC Wimbledon.

[US 89]

I've also been inside a National Weather Service radar in Norman, Oklahoma. That was pretty neat.

Cool! At Westheimer, I'm guessing? I've never been inside of the radar, but the Storm Prediction Center (the organization that issues severe weather watches nationwide) holds an annual Weather Festival at their building on Highway 9, where you can tour the SPC and NWS Norman facilities. When I went they were handing out marked-up weather maps that were used in the forecasting process (some meteorologists insist that drawing conditions with marker on paper maps helps them focus on how the systems actually work, instead of relying solely on computer modeling).

Yep! That was actually when I went to a weather camp at OU several years back. Got to tour the SPC and NWS Norman offices and watch a weather balloon launch. The radar we toured actually wasn't the operational Doppler radar but a slightly smaller research radar that I've forgotten the name of.

As it turns out, I am actually a meteorology student now. Hand analysis is surprisingly fun. Here's one of my favorites that I've done (unfortunately, I've forgotten what the yellow was supposed to mean...this kind of thing varies depending on what website you're looking at and/or who your professor is):



Could you get a computer to plot all that? Yeah. But then you might miss out on several of the smaller features and the connections between them.

[Scott5114]

I've also been inside a National Weather Service radar in Norman, Oklahoma. That was pretty neat.

Cool! At Westheimer, I'm guessing? I've never been inside of the radar, but the Storm Prediction Center (the organization that issues severe weather watches nationwide) holds an annual Weather Festival at their building on Highway 9, where you can tour the SPC and NWS Norman facilities. When I went they were handing out marked-up weather maps that were used in the forecasting process (some meteorologists insist that drawing conditions with marker on paper maps helps them focus on how the systems actually work, instead of relying solely on computer modeling).

Yep! That was actually when I went to a weather camp at OU several years back. Got to tour the SPC and NWS Norman offices and watch a weather balloon launch. The radar we toured actually wasn't the operational Doppler radar but a slightly smaller research radar that I've forgotten the name of.

Yeah, OUN only has research equipment. The working NWS doppler for central Oklahoma is at TLX.

[MCRoads]

Man, I'm jealous of all of you folks that have got to see the House and Senate chambers (even more so those of you who got to go on the floor instead of just watching from the gallery). I wanted to do that when I visited DC in 2007, but we didn't realize you had to set that up ahead of time, so we only got to see the outside of the building.

Probably the only thing that qualifies for this thread for me is the mainline lanes of Interstate 40. When it was realigned in Oklahoma City my wife and I went to the grand opening, which took place in the eastbound lanes (I think I hopped the Jersey barrier and walked around on the westbound side some too). This spot carried an AADT of 112,057 in 2019.


A few months later, we went back for an open house event where ODOT was allowing access to the old alignment before it was demolished. Since the demolition, a high-rise Omni Hotel has been constructed on the right side of the frame, and 90° to the right would be Scissortail Park.

Damn, that was 2012? I still remember that bridge like it was only a year or so ago! I wanted to go to the open houses they held, but living down in Moore, it would have been a whole day affair. Or, at least a significant part of a day. Seeing infrastructure up close like the that is a treat!

I will say, I wish they had reestablished the grid, instead of adding a new road to the ROW.. kind of defeats the purpose of getting rid of the whole bridge instead of widening/refurbishing it IMO.

Also, I wish we could have seen the actual house/senate floors, but they were both in session. At the time, they were "making history". Or not, because I'm pretty sure I remember that it had something to do with Obomacare, which was repealed about 5 years after we went, lol. We probably didn't miss much, as they probably just open the door, say "here's the senate/house floor!" , walk you in a few steps, then walk you right back out.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Exclusive....Would the I-95/I-276 interchange (aka "Golden Spike" Roadmeet) in 2018, count?
Unusual...Back entrance to Parchman Farms, aka Mississippi State Pen, back in 1999.
Weird....Steve Alpert's house.

[noelbotevera]

I probably won't be wowing eyes...

-Have been in a maintenance tunnel under the House, due to construction in and around the Cannon House buildings; all this and I've never rode the Capitol Subway
-Led a roadmeet onto the closed PA 576 lanes (which might've been trespassing, though nobody was there so it's fine)
-Delivered papers to my high school's day care center
-Also ruffled around a few of my school's storage closets (they were unlocked and nobody was around...nothing interesting except a bunch of cleaning equipment)
-Went inside some random foodtruck in NYC; took a pic with the owner who was a cool guy

[Scott5114]

-Also ruffled around a few of my school's storage closets (they were unlocked and nobody was around...nothing interesting except a bunch of cleaning equipment)

My junior year of high school I took a Computer Science III computer class, which apparently nobody had ever shown interest in taking before, so the teacher had no curriculum for it (and she had too much on her plate to try and find something for one student who probably knew anything she'd be able to teach anyway). Instead she basically told me to propose projects that I could do, and she would then enter a grade for me. (I don't think she gave me anything less than an A, since she didn't really know what I was doing.)

The first project I proposed was to "rehabilitate" an old computer by installing a new OS on it. Of course, this was really me escaping the confines of having to come up with anything interesting to do in a locked-down Windows XP environment without the admin password, but she approved it. So I was given the key to a dusty storage room off of the old gymnasium, where the school district had simply stashed every single computer that had ever been replaced. We're talking floor-to-halfway-up-the-ceiling stacks of old equipment, some of which had stickers proudly advertising Windows 3.1 compatibility, stuff like that.

I grabbed a box that looked new enough, an IBM Model M keyboard (which was old even then), and a monitor, carted it back to the classroom, and installed Ubuntu 5.04 on it. Worked like a charm; though the computer was old enough Windows could barely function, Ubuntu handled it no problem. For most of the year I used that box to write Wikipedia articles (the Oklahoma State Highway series, naturally) and periodically printed my contribution history and turned that in for my grade.

Toward the end of the year, the teacher had a crisis–she also ran the school newspaper class, and their editor had bailed on them for reasons that remain unclear–I think they were a graduating senior who just decided to stop doing anything the last month of school? So I was asked to edit the last issue of that year's paper. Given the fact this wasn't really my area of expertise and was clearly outside the remit of the class, I asked her if I helped her out, if I could keep the keyboard from my old fixer-upper computer. She said yes, because it was probably just going to go back into storage anyway. Fifteen years later, I typed this post on it.

[formulanone]

Underneath the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Orlando.  (Guided tour; there is a network of tunnels underneath the park used by employees).

Got to take this tour in 2003.

On the floor of the House, and rode one of the underground trains that leads from the House office buildings to the Capitol.

Took this tour in 1982; as an 8-year-old, I was amazed how clean and neat their little "subway system" was.

I can't think of any other unusual/weird exclusive places of note. I've been to a few parks and trails were my wife and/or I are the only ones out there.