# Places you've been. . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879 "2019-09-08T14:38:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![purple\_cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b487fb/32.png) [@purple\_cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purple_cow)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/181 "2019-09-12T18:58:54Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I’ve been in Boring, Tangent, and Drain, Oregon. Road trip! I haven’t been in Tangent, I just brushed the edge of it. For my own I was going to say Cana, in the Darien in Panama. We had to take a little plane that landed on a grass field to get there. But \*\*Colibri \*\* beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/182 "2019-09-12T19:10:21Z")
The air field on Tawitawi Island is just a grass strip. When I went, flights only visited the island twice a week. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/183 "2019-09-12T19:13:18Z")
I’ve been in the [Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane](https://www.cleveland.com/travel/2017/07/historic_buffalo_insane_asylum.html). Now, of course, it’s the Hotel Henry, but there are many buildings on the grounds that have yet to be renovated. We took a tour through a couple of them. The building and grounds were designed by Henry Hobson Richardson and Frederick Law Olmstead. The design of the main building is Romanesque. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/184 "2019-09-12T19:26:32Z")
I’m probably wrong, but I sort of doubt that a whole lot of people have been to the Geographic Center of the US (the lower 48 anyway) just outside Lebanon, Kansas. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/185 "2019-09-12T19:41:12Z")
> [@purple\_cow](#): > > For my own I was going to say Cana, in the Darien in Panama. We had to take a little plane that landed on a grass field to get there. But \*\*Colibri \*\* beat me to it. I didn’t actually mention Cana, but yeah, I’ve been there five times (and climbed Cerro Pirre from the other side twice). Still, it’s impressively remote. That’s one of the scariest air strips I’ve ever landed at, since it slopes downhill. It was especially so on my first trip when the trees at the end hadn’t been cut for several years so we barely cleared them when leaving. Unfortunately it’s closed down now after the FARC came through a few years ago. The airstrip hasn’t been maintained, so the only access is by helicopter (or a two-day hike up from the river). ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/186 "2019-09-12T20:26:00Z")
I was going to say, Inside the computer room in the Pentagon, but probably, there’s more than one, so inside _one of_ the computer rooms in the Pentagon. In the Cherokee Cemetery in Cherokee, California. > **[Cherokee, California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee,_California)** > > Cherokee is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Butte County, California. It is an area inhabited by Maidu Indians prior to the gold rush, but that takes its name from a band of Cherokee prospectors who perfected a mining claim on the site. The population was 69 at the 2010 census. It lies at an elevation of 1306 feet (398 m). > Possibly the site of the historic gold mine, on the 1994 Cherokee, California 7.5-minute quadrangle, a feature named "Cherokee Placer Mine" exists a... ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/187 "2019-09-12T20:37:06Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > [Checkpoint](https://cropper.watch.aetnd.com/cdn.watch.aetnd.com/sites/2/2018/05/hith-Checkpoint_Charlie_sign.jpg) [Charlie](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/24/berlin-crisis-standoff-checkpoint-charlie). > Inside [Lenin’s tomb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenin%27s_Mausoleum). > > In 1970, when I was 15. Influenced my worldview. I’ve been through Checkpoint Charlie. When I was in the US Air Force, stationed in West Germany. A friend and eye took a trip to West Berlin, and since we were in the military, and the joint forces rules were still in effect, the Soviets could not prevent US military from traveling into East Berlin (the US military could, if they wanted to, but we were allowed to visit). We were required to wear our uniforms when we went through the Checkpoint. We had to sign at the gate letting the US military guards know when we would be returning, and we were told we could not travel on public transit while in East Berlin. So we walked everywhere. It was a long hike back to Checkpoint Charlie, and we were fifteen minutes later back than we said we would be. The US Army had a car getting ready to come through the checkpoint to look for us. We got yelled at for coming back late, ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/188 "2019-09-12T20:44:44Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > Mt. St. Helens, Yes, I’ve been there. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/189 "2019-09-12T20:47:46Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I’ve been through Checkpoint Charlie. When I was in the US Air Force, stationed in West Germany. A friend and eye took a trip to West Berlin, and since we were in the military, and the joint forces rules were still in effect, the Soviets could not prevent US military from traveling into East Berlin (the US military could, if they wanted to, but we were allowed to visit). We were required to wear our uniforms when we went through the Checkpoint. We had to sign at the gate letting the US military guards know when we would be returning, and we were told we could not travel on public transit while in East Berlin. So we walked everywhere. It was a long hike back to Checkpoint Charlie, and we were fifteen minutes later back than we said we would be. The US Army had a car getting ready to come through the checkpoint to look for us. We got yelled at for coming back late, I have no idea why I typed “eye”. ---
**Author:** ![Sassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Sassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/190 "2019-09-12T20:56:34Z")
I’ve had a drink in the apartment where Dashiell Hammett wrote the Maltese Falcon. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/191 "2019-09-12T21:53:51Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Yes. Interesting that most of the museum is about manned U.S. space flight. > My favorite cemetery!. Oscar Wilde’s tomb is covered with lipstick kisses. And when I was there, there were three school buses from Poland, filled with kids to visit Chopin’s grave. They were weeping and wailing as if they had personally known him. And I loved the head-to-head graves of Gertrude and Alice, sharing a single headstone. Seemingly, Piere La Chase is one of the top tourist destinations in Paris. The head to head headstone of Gertrude and Alice was a knockout. Last time I was there they had placed a plastic dome over Oscar Wilde’s grave. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/192 "2019-09-13T03:23:51Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Seemingly, Piere La Chase is one of the top tourist destinations in Paris. The head to head headstone of Gertrude and Alice was a knockout. Last time I was there they had placed a plastic dome over Oscar Wilde’s grave. It’s spelled Père Lachaise. It was named for King Louis XIV’s confessor, Father François d’Aix de La Chaise. _Père_ means “father” in French. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/193 "2019-09-13T03:57:36Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It’s spelled Père Lachaise. It was named for King Louis XIV’s confessor, Father François d’Aix de La Chaise. _Père_ means “father” in French. That is all detailed in 199 Cemeteries To See Before You Die. Thanks anyway. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/194 "2019-09-13T06:24:16Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > - Golden and Silver Pavilions in Kyoto…I lived between them (they’re kilometers apart) > [snip] > But one oddball place that almost NOBODY has visited but me: Years ago, as a high school exchange student living in rural Japan (Shuchi, in Tamba-cho, Kyoto prefecture) I blazed a trail to the top of a small mountain that’s always looking down on the village but had no trails I could find (or anyone knew of). Got to the top and sure enough, found the rumored remains of an old building with a stone foundation. Locals called it “Castle Mountain” so presumably this building was a medieval keep of some kind. I’ve been to both of those, to the Golden Pavilion on a gray January day and the Silver Pavilion during a steamy August. The Golden struck me as a good place to visit during the summer while the Silver has a wintry atmosphere. And the “Castle Mountain” story reminds me that I’ve been in Mirabel AKA Migdal Afek, a tumbledown abandoned Crusader castle in Israel. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/195 "2019-09-13T06:56:57Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’m probably wrong, but I sort of doubt that a whole lot of people have been to the Geographic Center of the US (the lower 48 anyway) just outside Lebanon, Kansas. I haven’t been there but I have been to the geographical center of the northern Half of the Western Hemisphere outside of Poniatowski, Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/196 "2019-09-13T12:14:35Z")
I’ve been to: [Pedvales Art field](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pedvale-open-air-art-museum-4) in Pedvales, Latvia. [The Corner House](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-corner-house-riga-latvia) in Riga. When I was there they said they were only going to give tours for a few months and then close it down. Seems they have opened it up again. [Plokštinė missile base](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plok%C5%A1tin%C4%97_missile_base?fbclid=IwAR3w6ki8ORrGtG6ryzsh-JCs74ai06oLaM97R9YUFo_MuD4Lhl8Dc5G-FJI)in Lithuania. There’s a small, [Jewish memorial](https://www.yadvashem.org/untoldstories/database/murderSite.asp?site_id=615)to murdered Jews in Plunge, Lithuania. I don’t really like going to places like that. I’m sure there are a number of Irish tombs that I’ve been to that few people in general have been to. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/197 "2019-09-13T15:26:15Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > That is all detailed in 199 Cemeteries To See Before You Die. Thanks anyway. I’m assuming that your previous post was the victim of spell check then. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/198 "2019-09-13T15:31:54Z")
There are several scuba divers on this board. I wonder if any of them, besides me, have been to the Gili Islands off Lombok, Indonesia. > **[Gili Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gili_Islands)** > > The Gili Islands (Indonesian: Tiga Gili \[Three Gilis\], Kepulauan Gili \[Gili Islands\]) are an archipelago of three small islands or Gili island triplets — Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air — just off the northwest coast of Lombok, Indonesia. > The islands are a tourist destination. Each island has several resorts, usually consisting of a collection of huts for tourists, a small pool and restaurant. The largest Indonesian settlement is located on Gili Air, however due to the amount of western e... Sounds like they’ve become more mainstream than when I visited 20 years ago. I’m glad I got there while they were still off the beaten path. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/199 "2019-09-13T16:58:14Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I thought of another one. The glass dome/ball atop the Smith Tower in Seattle. Not just the apartment in the pyramid section, but on top of that is a 10 foot glass ball. It’s an interesting climb and a fantastic view. My ex and I went up there on New Years Eve in the mid 1990s, and joined the dome club. Really? Wow. I’ve been in the pyramid for a friend’s wedding, but did not even know there was a glass ball / dome above it. Envious! > [@bump](#): > > I’m probably wrong, but I sort of doubt that a whole lot of people have been to the Geographic Center of the US (the lower 48 anyway) just outside Lebanon, Kansas. You know, I learned about that place from reading Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods.” IIRC, he implies that it is a special place because so few people visit it. > [@gkster](#): > > I’ve been to both of those, to the Golden Pavilion on a gray January day and the Silver Pavilion during a steamy August. The Golden struck me as a good place to visit during the summer while the Silver has a wintry atmosphere. > > Definitely, that’s how I see it too. The Golden Temple’s nickname is “kokedera” meaning mossy temple. The area is full of moss, so it’s actually kind of nice and cool to visit during the summer. > > And the “Castle Mountain” story reminds me that I’ve been in Mirabel AKA Migdal Afek, a tumbledown abandoned Crusader castle in Israel. I guess such sites are particularly common in any “old” part of the world. In Greece I saw old looking buildings reduced to blocks (round pillar blocks, crosspieces, etc.) here and there and figured they were all ancient. Maybe so. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879/200 "2019-09-13T18:47:34Z")
I’ve stood behind the podium in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives where the President gives his State of the Union Address, and from where such luminaries as Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa and Yitzhak Rabin have spoken over the years. > [@Sassy](#): > > I’ve had a drink in the apartment where Dashiell Hammett wrote the Maltese Falcon. I spent a weekend in the Vermont country house where Rudyard Kipling wrote some of his most famous works, including _Captains Courageous_ and _The Jungle Book_: [Naulakha (Rudyard Kipling House) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naulakha_(Rudyard_Kipling_House)) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-youve-been/839879.md?page=11)