Well, the title might be pretty self explanatory, but...
What are some places that you went to, that not many people have gone to? Wether it is unheard of and off the beaten path, or many people have heard of it, it is just hard to go there because it isn't open to the general public, or, maybe it's something that is in plain sight, but not many people know to ask. If you want to talk about it, here is the place to do it!
I'll go ahead and start:
For me, I have a couple of places that I think are worth mentioning:
I have been on a US Navy submarine (I believe the USS Helena), the USS Gerald R. Ford before it was commissioned in 2017, the top of the Griffon roller coaster at Bush Gardens VA, and inside Cheyenne Mountain.
On the field at Fenway Park
Backstage at Symphony Hall in Boston
I can only think of two especially interesting places I've been:
- I shot a free throw at the Toyota Center on the court.
- I've been to this place (https://www.google.com/maps/@29.3955742,-95.5473086,3a,75y,57.29h,87.92t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM0mphEtvcrZJxk3wXhkKUfeh1qvVHSLKdLD8R4!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM0mphEtvcrZJxk3wXhkKUfeh1qvVHSLKdLD8R4%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya342.94235-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352) on the riverbed at the back of Brazos Bend State Park, about a 4 mile hike from the parking lot. It's the best non-beach scenery you'll find in Brazoria County.
-I was on the field at the Metrodome on two separate occasions, one for touch football and once on a school trip.
-I PAed a couple games for my high school at Target Center in Minneapolis.
-I've broadcast high school hockey from the press box at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Since the first few answers involved sports: I've been in the dugout at former Veterans Stadium in Philly. I was there with another guy one day "interviewing" to be a volunteer for the 1996 All Star Game. Afterwards, he brought me down to the field where he knew one of the guys working. I wandered into the dugout and picked up the phone. That phone ring was so loud, it echoed around the empty stadium and everyone looked in my direction! lol
The San Rafael Swell after a blizzard was the most unusual and alien environment I've been in. It's a totally different experience compared to how it usually is and felt otherworldly.
Always felt exclusive doing odd jobs as a kid for a NASCAR team, especially at the 1996 Daytona 500.
Roadwise, I've worked at NJ Turnpike toll plazas 1, 3, 4 & 7A. So I've been in the tunnel under the toll plaza at 7A, and over the toll plaza at 1. 3 & 4 don't have tunnels, so you just walk across the toll lanes there.
Any of you all remember from the past going to school early in the morning for a field trip, when it's still dark outside and nobody else is there? That environment always feels unusual, weird, and exclusive.
As for actual weird/unusual/exclusive places, I have nothing to offer, unless you count nabbing a soda from a hotel storage closet somebody accidentally left unlocked to be an "exclusive" place.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on February 28, 2021, 08:41:52 PM
The San Rafael Swell after a blizzard was the most unusual and alien environment I've been in. It's a totally different experience compared to how it usually is and felt otherworldly.
Always felt exclusive doing odd jobs as a kid for a NASCAR team, especially at the 1996 Daytona 500.
Used to be really into NASCAR until everything started changing. When I was younger, that would have been the bomb!
Quote from: index on February 28, 2021, 08:49:58 PM
Any of you all remember from the past going to school early in the morning for a field trip, when it's still dark outside and nobody else is there? That environment always feels unusual, weird, and exclusive.
You're a man of high culture.
As for my answer, never really been to too many exclusive places, but I did get to spend 10 days in Cuba before the Trump administration shut down U.S. travel again.
Very top floor of the Columbia Center, the tallest building in the Pacific NW (and only available to club members and guests).
Walked through a light rail tunnel and station before it was complete (on a press tour)
Been on a test train for a light rail line before it was opened to the public (another press tour)
The upper and lower levels of the 63rd Street tubes in Queens just before start of construction of the 63rd Street Connector to the Queens Boulevard Line. Even though the upper tubes were some 90 feet below the surface, there were several homeless camps that needed to be cleared before the inspection team arrived. I've been down numerous manholes, but that one takes the cake.
I got to see Sen. Chuck Schumer speaking to a mostly-empty Senate chamber live. We also were in the House chamber that same day, but I don't remember who was speaking. This was in mid-2017 during the Obamacare repeal debates.
Here's a few that I can think of:
(three times) On the playing field of the Orange Bowl in Miami during a Dolphins game (halftime show with marching band in high school).
In the press box, the warning track on the field, and the home team dugout, locker room, and clubhouse at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore (guided tour of the stadium).
Underneath the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Orlando. (Guided tour; there is a network of tunnels underneath the park used by employees).
GrÃmsey (an island about 25 miles north of Iceland, part of Iceland) that sits on the Arctic Circle. It's about two square miles in size, about 60 people live there, and it has a small airstrip. There's a monument marking the spot where the Arctic Circle crosses the island.
GrÃmsey on Google Maps: http://www.google.com/maps/@66.5475657,-18.0206734,6979m/data=!3m1!1e3 (http://www.google.com/maps/@66.5475657,-18.0206734,6979m/data=!3m1!1e3)
I have been within the exhaust duct for the Thimble Shoals Tunnel of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, over the roadway below. Probably the most unique place I've been due to a tour when I was an intern with FHWA.
There was also this strange, half-built apartment tower at the northern boundary of the Sovetskii Raion of Volgograd, Russia that a co-worker of mine and I climbed the stairs to the top of, but locals probably did as well.
When in high school, we were taken on a field trip and got to go up into both of the cooling towers at the John Amos power plant along the Kanawha River. We first went into the western cooling tower when it wasn't working. Then they took us over into the eastern cooling tower while it was working, which was like a sauna bath. The steam was so dense you couldn't see 5 feet in front of yourself.
On the floor of the House, and rode one of the underground trains that leads from the House office buildings to the Capitol.
Got to take a geology field trip on the stretch of CT 9 between I-91 and the Berlin Turnpike about 2 months before it opened to traffic. Was neat riding out on the open highway and walking in the lanes with no traffic on it.
Got to go to the top floor of the warehouse at Camden Yards to the Camden Club. Also went in many of the restricted areas of Lucas Oil Stadium on a tour.
Attended the 1986 NHL All Star Game and ALCS Game 2 later that year.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on March 01, 2021, 12:59:29 AM
On the floor of the House, and rode one of the underground trains that leads from the House office buildings to the Capitol.
Oh man, I've been on a tour of the capital building as well, but totally forgot about the underground trains! That was a cool experience, as we also got to go up into the dome. We couldn't go on the highest walkway, as this was when the dome was undergoing mantenence, but we got to go about 50 feet up! Iirc the highest they (used to, at least) take tours was about halfway up, around 180 feet above the rotunda.
I've been to the top of the south tower of the Mackinac Bridge.
Back in 1993, My family & I went on a trip up to Wisconsin & went to "The House on the Rock", I was a kid at the time & the automated musical instruments & some of the mechanical scenes that they had there, creeped me out.
Can't think of any real exclusive places I've been to...
But I have been inside several reactor compartments of nuclear vessels and I have been underneath an aircraft carrier in a drydock (this is a strange place to be).
Probably the weirdest thing I've intentionally gone to seen (courtesy of my wife) is a library in Trondheim Norway that when they expanded their footprint found some human skeletal remains related to a nearby church. They left the remains in place and they can be seen from a walkway above them.
"Exclusive" is a pretty high bar, at least for places that the general public would know/care about. But I did go inside Mount Morris Dam (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mount+Morris+Dam/@42.7334591,-77.9069227,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipPzF66FfiqZzXy373AHhFDleto0wI2GrTGvUVdL!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPzF66FfiqZzXy373AHhFDleto0wI2GrTGvUVdL%3Dw129-h86-k-no!7i6345!8i4230!4m5!3m4!1s0x89d162670bb6289f:0x11f7d35193f92d0a!8m2!3d42.7334591!4d-77.9069227!5m1!1e1?hl=en) on a school field trip once.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on March 01, 2021, 12:59:29 AM
On the floor of the House, and rode one of the underground trains that leads from the House office buildings to the Capitol.
Forgot about the tunnels! I didn't ride the train, but I did walk the tunnel from one of the House buildings. I've been in my House rep's office, though he was not there at the time.
When I was in 8th Grade, I got a tour of the US Capitol and White House guided by a US Senator. I got to see some areas that normal tours didn't cover, even in the pre-9/11 days.
On the floor of the old Georgia Dome (reffing the FLL World Festival)
And, to make it road-related, at the north end of US-102: https://www.usends.com/covington.html
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.
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.
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
Off the beaten path: La Constancia, Coahuila (https://goo.gl/maps/9EtLa4xFRbJN7xju8)–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.
I've been in the West Wing Cabinet Room and I stuck my foot into the Oval Office (it was roped off).
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.
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.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/I-40_Crosstown_before_opening.jpg/800px-I-40_Crosstown_before_opening.jpg)
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.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/I-40_Crosstown_median.JPG/800px-I-40_Crosstown_median.JPG)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Quote from: US 89 on March 01, 2021, 06:31:30 PM
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).
Quote from: kenarmy on March 01, 2021, 05:57:41 PM
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.
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).
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
Quote from: kphoger on March 01, 2021, 08:27:49 PM
Quote from: kenarmy on March 01, 2021, 05:57:41 PM
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.
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.
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.
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 01, 2021, 08:08:09 PM
Quote from: US 89 on March 01, 2021, 06:31:30 PM
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):
(https://i.imgur.com/JePoQlg.jpg)
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.
Quote from: US 89 on March 01, 2021, 11:13:32 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 01, 2021, 08:08:09 PM
Quote from: US 89 on March 01, 2021, 06:31:30 PM
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 (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Twin+Lakes+Airport-2ok2/@35.3334721,-97.2780836,169m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x6c4037035deabcde!8m2!3d35.3308419!4d-97.270725).
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 01, 2021, 05:51:51 PM
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.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/I-40_Crosstown_before_opening.jpg/800px-I-40_Crosstown_before_opening.jpg)
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.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/I-40_Crosstown_median.JPG/800px-I-40_Crosstown_median.JPG)
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.
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.
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
Quote from: noelbotevera on March 03, 2021, 01:07:28 AM
-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.
Quote from: dlsterner on February 28, 2021, 10:42:59 PM
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.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on March 01, 2021, 12:59:29 AM
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.
In St. Augustine, FL there is a room in the corner of the Castillo de San Marco that you have to crawl into that then opens up into a vault. When I went inside all I can think about was the entrance being sealed off and trapped in the dark room with thick walls.
Quote from: roadman65 on March 04, 2021, 08:32:34 AM
In St. Augustine, FL there is a room in the corner of the Castillo de San Marco that you have to crawl into that then opens up into a vault. When I went inside all I can think about was the entrance being sealed off and trapped in the dark room with thick walls.
I think I was up in there.
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 03, 2021, 02:43:27 AM
Quote from: noelbotevera on March 03, 2021, 01:07:28 AM
-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.)
That sounds much more cool and interesting that the computer classes I took in high school. I basically learned how to use Adobe CS products and made simple websites. My high school didn't/doesn't offer AP Computer Science A, yet I took the test for it twice. I remember the second time I took it, it was in a computer lab and a teacher wanted to use the lab at that time but couldn't because I was taking the test.
Anyway one of the most exclusive (but not weird or unusual) places I been is at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for a summer internship. I was working on Worldview, a public app (https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov) and I prototyped the video button feature that's there today. There are some interesting buildings such as the world's largest clean room but my building was an office building with sliding door cubicles so not as exciting. I did get escorted by my intern manager to see an underground server room in an adjacent building from where I was in.
Chichen Itza when you were still allowed to climb up to the top of the pyramid.
I realized when I originally answered this, I missed one.
I have given a speech on the stage at Red Rocks. My high school graduation was there.
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on March 01, 2021, 08:20:10 AM
When I was in 8th Grade, I got a tour of the US Capitol and White House guided by a US Senator. I got to see some areas that normal tours didn't cover, even in the pre-9/11 days.
Two others: On the sideline during a Cotton Bowl
East Berlin, when it was still East Berlin
Inside Buckingham Palace, though that's become less rare recently.
Also been on the field several times at Camp Randall and Huntington Bank Stadium, and on the playing surface one time each at American Family Field and Fiserv Forum. I was on the sideline at Lambeau Field but was not able to go in-bounds.
The press box at AmFam field has countless marks on the walls from foul balls flying in the windows, and each mark has the date and the player who hit the ball written next to it. I would think this is common practice by MLB media at all stadiums. Pretty cool to see dents from foul balls hit by great players 10-15 years ago.
Quote from: JayhawkCO on March 01, 2021, 09:25:56 AMOn the rim of an active volcano. (Mt. Bromo in Indonesia)
Since I posted (in fact the previous post to the one quoted) I've done this as well, except at Mt. Vesuvius.
My house
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on March 17, 2024, 10:02:47 AM
Quote from: JayhawkCO on March 01, 2021, 09:25:56 AMOn the rim of an active volcano. (Mt. Bromo in Indonesia)
Since I posted (in fact the previous post to the one quoted) I've done this as well, except at Mt. Vesuvius.
Since I posted this, I got a second volcano, and actually saw lava. (Volcán de Masaya in Nicaragua)
I've sung onstage at both the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, as part of a large chorus.
Quote from: frankenroad on March 19, 2024, 04:11:28 PM
I've sung onstage at both the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, as part of a large chorus.
That's awesome.
Weird in a different way: the crematorium gas chamber at Dachau
Quote from: frankenroad on March 19, 2024, 04:11:28 PM
I've sung onstage Carnegie Hall, as part of a large chorus.
Interestingly, despite the small number of people who have done this, you're not the only member of this board who has.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on March 19, 2024, 04:47:13 PM
Quote from: frankenroad on March 19, 2024, 04:11:28 PM
I've sung onstage Carnegie Hall, as part of a large chorus.
Interestingly, despite the small number of people who have done this, you're not the only member of this board who has.
I wonder how small that number is. I'm sure there have been high school choruses and the like that have performed in those venues.
Walked on the extension of the EOE (IL 390) before opening to traffic
Drove on the new Cline Avenue bridge prior to traffic
Walked on the Lucas Oil Stadium during the halftime of one of the high school football state game
Been inside both of the old and the new Indiana Toll Road Administration buildings
Toured my new local hospital before it opened to the public in 2020
I once spent the night on a World War II US Navy submarine (the USS Cobia at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum).
When I was in college, I got to both the highest point on campus, on the roof of the nine-story main library, and some of the lowest points, deep in the campus steam tunnels. That sort of exploration was pretty common when I was a student, though by the time I graduated the university had started to crack down on it for liability reasons.
Quote from: TheCatalyst31 on March 20, 2024, 12:54:19 AM
I once spent the night on a World War II US Navy submarine (the USS Cobia at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum).
When I was in college, I got to both the highest point on campus, on the roof of the nine-story main library, and some of the lowest points, deep in the campus steam tunnels. That sort of exploration was pretty common when I was a student, though by the time I graduated the university had started to crack down on it for liability reasons.
I was once in the anechoic chamber underneath Blake Hall on the University of Kansas campus. Maybe not the lowest point, but anechoic chambers are crazy.
I've been to Rio Tinto's Tio mine north of Havre-Saint-Pierre.
In the pre-9/11 era, I used to be able to drive around Offutt AFB in Nebraska, as long as I was driving my mom's car. My brother, who is disabled, had a job with Goodwill and needed someone to drive him to work on base. I could pretty much drive wherever I wanted, which I did once I dropped him off at whatever building I had to drop him off at.
I've sat in the chair for the Chair of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission in the room where their meetings are held.
Let's see...
- Walked on the roadway and US customs plaza of the Peace Bridge. Not the sidewalk, the actual road.
- Walked around an active port facility on official business (Port of Albany)
- Lectured multiple times at a major conference in DC (TRB, Walter Washington Convention Center). Starts blurring into "experiences", which I won't go into to stay on topic (though I have some exclusive ones).
- The Tahoe Blue Events Center at Lake Tahoe when it was still under construction
The office of the président of France.
Not for any official purpose, of course, but the French government opens up a lot of buildings which are normally kept closed to the public during the Journées du patrimoine. One of them is the French White House, the palais de l'Élysée, and I took the occasion to visit it in 2008.
This was maybe a week or two after I had arrived in France for a year of research, and I toured the palais kind of blindly. I saw the cabinet room, the press room, and the président's office, and so on, in person first, which made for a bit of a weird experience when I finally did see them on television.
This wasn't exclusive, but it was weird—I went to the Tropicana casino last night, which is closing on April 2 so it can be demolished to build a baseball stadium. Half of the gaming floor was already shut down, with the machines turned off. That, combined with the ancient facility and the typical disorienting casino design, gave it a very "backrooms" feel.
I also saw a man in a bunny costume in the restroom, but that's just Vegas weirdness as opposed to Tropicana weirdness.