Your city/hometown

[Dianyla]

I grew up in Redlands, CA. Known for lots of WASPs, old victorian mansions, and the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

[mmelindas]

...Yes, I have lived in 57 places in my 62 years... I consider a lot of places my "hometown".. but I spent most of my life in one place, Asheville, North Carolina...up in the Appalachian mountains, close to the Blue Ridge Parkway of western North Carolina....probably the most gorgeous mountains on earth... http://www.exploreasheville.com/

Asheville is famous as being the home of THOMAS WOLFE, a famous author whose stories made the theatre screen in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"... He wrote "Look Homeward Angel" and "You Can't Go Home again".... http://library.uncwil.edu/wolfe/wolfe.html

Asheville was voted the "Best City to Live in" back in the late 90's because of it' s mild climate, lots of beautiful mountains, low cost of living and tourist attractions (golf, hiking, great dining, mountains). People flock from all over in the fall to view the incredible colors of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It used to be one of TWO International Weather Records Centers in the US, but after the cold war, those centers were dispearsed all over because of security reasons. The military depends on those weather forcasts!

It's home to the famous Biltmore Home and Gardens, an amazing estate....
http://www.biltmore.com/

I loved living there and have a lot of memories. Billy Graham used to come to my high school and he lives in a small community nearby, Black Mountain, NC.

I imagine biking would be so much fun there, because of all the tree-shaded roads and gentle hill.

[mmelindas]

Oh, the southland, how beautiful... here are some shots from the Bayou country that I took from the cab of our truck when were there...(no more trucking for us, a year was enough...)

[btchance]

I grew up in Mustang, Oklahoma. The Chisholm Trail passes through at the Western edge of town (a whole 12 square miles of town). It's also where Kendall Cross, the Atlanta Olympics gold medalist in wrestling grew up (he was on the same team as one of my brothers). We've also had a few famous football players come through here, but I can't think of the names right now, which is completely unheard of for someone who went to OU. Oh well, I'm not that crazy about football anyways

[Crankin]

My hometown is Newton, MA. Known for being the birthplace of the Fig Newton cookie and having a great school system. I have also lived in Miami, FL (ugh), Tempe, AZ, Philadelphia (briefly), and Tyngsborough, Boxborough, and now Concord, MA. The Old North Bridge (the "shot heard round the world") is 3 miles from my house. I live in a town where tourists come from all over the world! Still can't get used to it.

[songlady]

Hey Caligurl, I have been to the Herkimer Diamond Mine! My mother is from Middleburgh, NY. Not exactly next door, but in the area.

Ok, Rochester is the home of Kodak. We also have one of the largest Lilac Festivals in the country every May, beautiful sight! Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass lived here. We are also the home of Wegmans grocery stores, if you've ever been in one, you know how wonderful they are.

[shadon]

famous for fog, and currently rain.
known for the Summer of Love, Gay liberation, and good coffee.

"If you're goin' to San Francisco,
be sure to wear some flowers in your hair"

[kaybee]

Hey Melinda, did you ever drive I-10 between Baton Rouge and Lafayette over the Atchafalaya Swamp? We used to call it the "Cajun Autobahn" because it was hard to enforce the speed limit on a 21-mile-long bridge, and everyone took advantage of that fact. Sunrise over the Atchafalya is still one of my favorite scenes.

KB

[CorsairMac]

My City:

Albuquerque, New Mexico (yes we're in the United States).

Although Albuquerque (Abq) is celebrating it's 300th birthday this year, New Mexico hasn't been a state for 100 yrs yet. Orginally started by the Spanish Inquisitors -oops...I meant missionaries, you can still see parts of the orginal settlement in Old Town where the cathedral was built in something like 1723 and is still in use. Old Town is built in a series of "squares" out from the church and quite a few of the shops/restuarants down there are in original homes. We also have parts of the city that were built in the mid-late 1800s as "railroad" homes and a "wealthy" area built in the early 20s. Although the center of town is 5000' above sea level we let Denver call itself the "mile-high city" coz we felt sorry for them! (ok...that last part isn't true - we don't know Why Denver got the title...maybe because people keep forgetting New Mexico is on This side of the border). The western side of the city is fronted by volcanic cliffs and is the site of Petroglyph National Park. There are also 5 volcanos known as the 5 sisters located there which are considered dormant. The eastern side of the city is hemmed by the Sandia (means watermelon in Spanish) Mountains. They are considered the "foothills" of the Rockies and when the setting sun is just right - the mountains turn a bright watermelon red. We are also host to one of the largest hot-air balloon festivals in the world the first full week in Oct when we host anywhere from 750-1000 balloons for a week-long festival. Our avg temps in the winter range from 35-55 and in the summer from 85-110 with an avg humidity in the teens or lower. Most days we have clear skies with little or no cloud cover and the skies are blues you can't even imagine.

[fixedgeargirl]

Although the center of town is 5000' above sea level we let Denver call itself the "mile-high city" coz we felt sorry for them! (ok...that last part isn't true - we don't know Why Denver got the title...maybe because people keep forgetting New Mexico is on This side of the border).

The official NGS elevation marker for Denver is on a step in front of the capitol. Official elevation: 5280 feet above sea level.

[TsPoet]

This is too good an opportunity to pass up for my first post -
I live/work just outside the Hanford Nuclear reservation. WWII, plutonium was mined in Oak Ridge, shipped to Hanford Washington and refined then sent to Las Alamos and blown up.
We have over 80% of the world's (the whole world's) radioactive materials burried right here.
Come visit, you'll go away glowing from the experience .

Sue

[Waverly]

That's pretty funny, Sue. I assume, and am hoping, it is actually safe right?

Jessica

[CorsairMac]

This is too good an opportunity to pass up for my first post -
I live/work just outside the Hanford Nuclear reservation. WWII, plutonium was mined in Oak Ridge, shipped to Hanford Washington and refined then sent to Las Alamos and blown up.
We have over 80% of the world's (the whole world's) radioactive materials burried right here.
Come visit, you'll go away glowing from the experience .

Sue

I'm guessing we have the other 20% buried here in New Mexico - which is where Los Alamos is located! Here's trivia: Los Alamos was the site of the Manhatten Project and it was originally a military compound. I have 2 friends that were raised there and you couldn't leave or enter the city without the proper IDs/clearance.

[johnmiller]

Introduction to Atlanta, Georgia

Founded in 1837 as Marthasville, Atlanta is a city of over 420,000 people. It is the largest city in Georgia, as well as the state's capital. According to U.S. census estimates, the Atlanta metropolitan area is the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States with a population of over 4.7 million people.

Atlanta is located in north/central Georgia. It is home to over 10 Fortune 500 companies, including household names such as The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Airlines, Home Depot, and UPS. In fact, as of 2005, the Atlanta metropolitan area was ranked third behind New York and Houston on the list of cities with the most Fortune 500 headquarters.

Atlanta was ranked as the fourth "Most Fun U.S City" in a survey conducted in 2003 by Cranium Inc. Factors taken into account in the ranking include the number of sports teams, restaurants, dance performances, toy stores, the amount of a city's budget that is spent on recreation, and other factors.

Atlanta "Must See" Attractions

Atlanta has attractions too numerous to do justice in a simple list. Some of Atlanta's more notable and unique attractions include:

The Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum
Centennial Olympic Park
CNN Center
The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum
The Martin Luther King Jr. Center
Stone Mountain Park, home to the Memorial Carving which depicts three Confederate heroes of the Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee, and Lt. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
Underground Atlanta offering shopping, dining, history and entertainment
The World of Coca-Cola
Zoo Atlanta
Atlanta Diamonds

Atlanta at Night

Atlanta's nightlife is legendary. The city has more bars and nightclubs than it does places of worship. Atlanta offers just about everything imaginable from dance clubs to sports bars. Many establishments offer live entertainment, including some excellent rhythm and blues. Atlanta's bars and clubs are typically open seven days a week, until 2 or 4 AM. The best place to look for coming events is the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Friday "Weekend Preview" or Saturday "Leisure" sections. Atlanta Magazine and Atlanta Magazine Online are also good sources of information about dining, events, and attractions.

[mmelindas]

Here are some photos we took of some of the places you all are posting about... Are any of these familiar to you? The restaurant and arboretum are in Milwaukee, the Rocket shot is in Alabama, the elevated highways are in Louisiana, and so forth.... The mountain that's snowy is out side and west of Denver....Enjoy!