Friday OT: I'll be your guide
- Thread starter JP4CY
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Surprisingly one of the best tours I've been on has been at the Marten Marietta mine North of Ames. We got to go two levels down which I think was like 540ft below the surface.
I interned at the Omaha Zoo one summer in college and one of the perks of getting to know the Keepers is that I got to take people behind the scenes and go in displays while the park was open. Aardvarks are like giant puppies and love attention.
We went on a tour (paid by the flooring supplier) of a flooring manufacturing facility at a prison in South Carolina in 1998? I think.
Really a brilliant idea. Prisoners worked there (assuming a good record of behavior) and not only did they learn important skills, some of their pay (at competitive market rates) went to restoration of their victims, some went to child/family support, and some was saved so that they would have a nest egg with which to reenter society. Some even continued to work there after release.
That has been my first trip inside a prison, and I was fairly surprised that there were very few guards to be seen, particularly given that it is a medium security prison.
www.woodworkingnetwork.com
Really a brilliant idea. Prisoners worked there (assuming a good record of behavior) and not only did they learn important skills, some of their pay (at competitive market rates) went to restoration of their victims, some went to child/family support, and some was saved so that they would have a nest egg with which to reenter society. Some even continued to work there after release.
That has been my first trip inside a prison, and I was fairly surprised that there were very few guards to be seen, particularly given that it is a medium security prison.
Anderson Hardwood Floors - Inmates Build New Lives from the Floor Up | Woodworking Network
Inmates Build New Lives from the Floor Up: Anderson Hardwood Floors' partnership with a South Carolina prison gives prisoners a chance to gain woodworking skills .
www.woodworkingnetwork.com
The old Boston Garden.
What stands out besides the place being very old and not up to modern (even then) standards
The place had ONE entrance. All of the fans went through one opening into the seating area. The place was a goddam firetrap.
What stands out besides the place being very old and not up to modern (even then) standards
The place had ONE entrance. All of the fans went through one opening into the seating area. The place was a goddam firetrap.
Had a professor in college that took us on a cemetery tour of Chicago. Absolutely fascinating stories about how there was a 15 year period in the 20s and 30s where you had to get the mob's permission to be buried in certain places and how Asian immigrants thought the key to fitting in to society was being buried next to Italians and Polish immigrants.
Really fun Saturday.
Really fun Saturday.
I had family that was involved in the entertainment business (mainly sitcoms) and I got to walk around some of the studios including the 'street' where Seinfeld was filmed in what was North Hollywood at the time. Saw Ted Danson driving around while we were there.
Saw the Grace Under Fire set and one time met French Stewart after watching a taping of 3rd Rock from the Sun.
Heard all sorts of stories about different actors and how weird, nice or awful they were.
Saw the Grace Under Fire set and one time met French Stewart after watching a taping of 3rd Rock from the Sun.
Heard all sorts of stories about different actors and how weird, nice or awful they were.
This was easily the coolest thing we did while in Italy.
If you're ever in Rome you HAVE to request a reservation on the Vatican's official Excavation tour. It's a tour of the original necropolis and tombs underneath the papal crypts underneath St. Peter's Basilica. It's led by a Vatican archeologist (ours was married to a Swiss Guard member and took her job VERY seriously, it was awesome) and takes you through the "streets" between the old tombs several stories beneath the floor of the basilica, finishing with the original burial place of St. Peter himself.
Then you go up a level, to the same floor as the Papal Crypts, but in a heavily restricted and guarded area accessible only to high level members of the church and this tour. You go to the Pope's private chapel which is built around St. Peter's tomb and you can see the bone fragments inside from where they opened it to confirm it's him.
Incredible experience that's limited to only 250 visitors per day. A bunch of tour groups claim to offer this, but they just bring you to the Papal Crypts, not the necropolis below or the chapel build around St. Peter's actual tomb.
Check it out: http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en/ufficio-scavi.html
If you're ever in Rome you HAVE to request a reservation on the Vatican's official Excavation tour. It's a tour of the original necropolis and tombs underneath the papal crypts underneath St. Peter's Basilica. It's led by a Vatican archeologist (ours was married to a Swiss Guard member and took her job VERY seriously, it was awesome) and takes you through the "streets" between the old tombs several stories beneath the floor of the basilica, finishing with the original burial place of St. Peter himself.
Then you go up a level, to the same floor as the Papal Crypts, but in a heavily restricted and guarded area accessible only to high level members of the church and this tour. You go to the Pope's private chapel which is built around St. Peter's tomb and you can see the bone fragments inside from where they opened it to confirm it's him.
Incredible experience that's limited to only 250 visitors per day. A bunch of tour groups claim to offer this, but they just bring you to the Papal Crypts, not the necropolis below or the chapel build around St. Peter's actual tomb.
Check it out: http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en/ufficio-scavi.html
Voluntarily, or are there handcuffs and duct tape involved?
We went to the Villisca Ax Murder house a couple weeks ago (just the tour, no overnight stay).
Wish they had the clip where they were actually at the Boston Garden. There some joke about the ice underneath or something.
We went on the double-decker bus tour in New York. It was kind of neat. You could get off at like Macy's or practically anywhere along the route to shop and then climb back aboard the next bus that came along. As I recall, the tour started on 6th Avenue, went all the way to Battery Park and came back on 5th Avenue. We stayed on the whole time because we liked the tour guide we had.
A Crocodile farm tour in Australia. Turned out we were the only ones signed up for that specific tour so we got to see some amazing things. Great explanation of their traits and behaviors. Really amazing and SCARY animals.
When I was working at Rock Island Arsenal the other guy in my job was the historic preservation officer. Whenever we had visitors that we wanted to show the importance and history of the place we would give them a special tour with lots of behind the scenes, nature, and historical stuff. I didn't always go along but it was always cool to see some of the reactions to some of the facts about that place.
When I was working at Rock Island Arsenal the other guy in my job was the historic preservation officer. Whenever we had visitors that we wanted to show the importance and history of the place we would give them a special tour with lots of behind the scenes, nature, and historical stuff. I didn't always go along but it was always cool to see some of the reactions to some of the facts about that place.
We toured a Norman-Era cathedral in Hereford, England (very near the border with Wales).
At the end of the tour, the guide said "let me know if any questions." After the crowd had mostly wandered away, I asked him some nerdy question ("why were there Norman Monks before the Norman Invasion" or something like that....)
The guide really appreciated my history-loving nerdiness so he invited me and my family to see an "off limits" part of the cathedral. It was a courtyard where the current church priests / workers live. Very serene, and he told us some more fun stories about life in the 1200's, etc.
At the end of the tour, the guide said "let me know if any questions." After the crowd had mostly wandered away, I asked him some nerdy question ("why were there Norman Monks before the Norman Invasion" or something like that....)
The guide really appreciated my history-loving nerdiness so he invited me and my family to see an "off limits" part of the cathedral. It was a courtyard where the current church priests / workers live. Very serene, and he told us some more fun stories about life in the 1200's, etc.
