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Have you visited/driven thru the largest cities in your state/province/territory/etc.?

posted 2 months ago by GolfnGuitars (3117)
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My oldest son had a high-school track meet yesterday at Akron University in Ohio (He didn't run horribly...but he didn't run that great, unfortunately).

Anyway, I'm a life-long resident of Ohio and it marked the first time in my life that I'd been to Akron. I'd been all around it, but had never actually been in Akron until yesterday.

That was the one remaining "large city" in Ohio that I'd never visited. I live in Columbus and have visited Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo multiple times. I've only been through Dayton a couple of times and haven't really visited it properly (although I've been all around that area). But Akron was the one I needed to check off my list and that finally happened yesterday.

How about you? Have you visited or been through all the "large cities" in your state/territory/province/region/etc.? If not, what is the city (or cities) that you need to visit/see?

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[–] nyctc7 (44106) 2 months ago

New York: I never did venture much outside Manhattan and Brooklyn. Never did shuffle off to Buffalo. Was in Syracuse and Rochester briefly to attend Grateful Dead concerts.

Minnesota: Lived in Minneapolis for 8 or 9 years. Did not visit any other major city except next-door St Paul.

Hawaii: Lived in Honolulu for two years and never visited any other island.

Reno: I've been meaning to visit Carson City (the capital), but haven't so far.

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[–] GolfnGuitars (3117) 2 months ago

Awesome! I went through Buffalo when I went to Niagara Falls with my wife back in October 2006. We had gorgeous weather that weekend... but, less than a week later ((if I remember correctly), Buffalo got hit by a freak snowstorm (I think they got like 4 feet of snow in some places). I would not want to live there! 😃

Did you ever go to Albany, NY, by chance? My sister lived there for a couple of years and I got to visit her a couple of times there.

My roommate at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch was from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. I've never been to Minnesota...I don't know how people that far north handle Winters! 😃

Awesome that you lived in Hawaii! I've never been there either.

I've never been to Nevada either. You'll have to go to Carson City and tell us here about your experience!

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[–] nyctc7 (44106) 2 months ago

I've only passed through Albany, the highlight of which was Empire State Plaza (which you must have seen).

I loved Minneapolis. One gets used to the winters, though truth be told it is the main reason I never moved back (I still have a couple friends there).

Hawaii has the best climate of any place I've ever lived. But moving there permanently is not as easy as one might think. It's a different culture.

Nevada is such a barren state. I flew to Vegas from Reno and there is just nothing but unpopulated dry mountainous areas.

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[–] SamNoyoun (6015) 2 months ago

Oh nice, you went to Jorma's ranch? That must have been awesome, I've been a huge fan of his for many years!

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[–] GolfnGuitars (3117) 2 months ago

Yes, back in September 2002. FPR is not far from my hometown and I ended up seeing an article about it in my hometown newspaper.

It was a life-changing experience for me. It wasn't just the music and guitar playing (although that certainly was a factor), but it was one of the first times in my life where I did something "outside of my comfort zone," so to speak, and also that I went ahead and did it, instead of waiting to go another day. It not only made me a better guitar player, but a better person also.

It made me sad to see that Jorma stopped his workshops at FPR earlier this year. But he's almost 84 now and I get the feeling that his health may be a factor in that decision, unfortunately. But I'm so thankful that I got to go to FPR when I did...it was a "once in a lifetime" experience.

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[–] DMT (4483) 2 months ago

If Cleveland is too fancy for you try Akron, if Akron is too classy still you can alway check out Canton

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[–] GolfnGuitars (3117) 2 months ago

I really like Cleveland. I went to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame twice back in the late 1990s and really enjoyed my time there. I remember driving by Jacobs Field...that was when it was still fairly new and Cleveland was selling out night after night.

I went to Canton a few times when I was in college (for baseball games and track & field meets). One of my former co-workers tried to talk me into blowing off work back in the mid-90s and going to the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. I didn't go and there's a part of me that now wishes I had (I didn't have much vacation time back then and was still fairly new, so that was my reasoning for not going). I've never been there and it's a place I should visit one day.

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[–] DMT (4483) 2 months ago

They did a lot of construction at the Pro Football Hall of Fame these past couple years, created a huge stadium and seating there

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[–] GolfnGuitars (3117) 2 months ago

I really need to go see it one day. I'm not the NFL fan that I used to be when I was younger, but it's really a great thing for Ohio to have this.

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[–] DMT (4483) 2 months ago

Yeah I went there once on a field trip at 7th grade, didn't care much about football but it is a cool area for Ohio, they really built it up post pandemic, made a little city around it with all sorts of places to get food and what not. I drive past it all the time when going from Cleveland to the farm my family owns in middle of nowhere, the coolest thing about driving by is seeing the custom electric polls they erected to bring electricity across the highway. One of a kind

https://www.newriverelectrical.com/project-spotlight-pro-football-hall-of-fame/

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[–] SamNoyoun (6015) 2 months ago

Burlington is Vermont's largest city (a whopping 45000 folks live there) and I've both visited and lived there in the past, although I was just realizing it's been over five years since I was there! I've also visited most of the other towns/cities that could be considered 'big' with the exception of Newport, which is up by the Canadian border...

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[–] GolfnGuitars (3117) 2 months ago

Awesome! I've never been to Vermont. When my sister lived in New Hampshire, she took us one afternoon to one of the White Mountains. They had an observation deck and something like a telescope, where you could look out on the horizon and see into Vermont.

I know Vermont is gorgeous in the Fall. Some really beautiful places there!

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[–] maixiu (2860) 2 months ago

Since I live in upstate NY, I guess I'd have to consider the cities in NYS. NYC, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Binghamton, Utica, Ithaca, Corning/Elmira: yep, I've been to all of them. In fact, I've spent the night in every city on that list.

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[–] GolfnGuitars (3117) 2 months ago

Awesome! I really liked Binghamton when I drove through that on the way to Albany. That drive from Binghamton to Albany (I think it's either I-87 or I-88...I can't remember) was just beautiful in the Fall.

I was really struck by how beautiful upstate New York is. I think a person automatically thinks of New York City when they think of the state of New York, but upstate New York is really beautiful and eye-catching.

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[–] maixiu (2860) 2 months ago

You said it. Most of upstate NY, outside the I-90 corridor, is quite beautiful. You took I-88 from Binghamton to Albany, which is a great drive. Pair it with I-86 west of Binghamton to PA and you've got a gorgeous stretch of road.

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[–] 102000 (6349) 2 months ago

I also live in Ohio. I grew up in Columbus and then moved to Cincinnati in the late 70's. Because at one time I was in direct sales, I've been to every city large and small in the state - either calling on accounts or driving through place to get to another.

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[–] GolfnGuitars (3117) 2 months ago

Awesome! I really like the Cincinnati area (grew up a Reds' fan and went to about 10 Reds' games thru my early 20s...last one I attended was May 1990).

I've seen just about all of Ohio now, but there's still a couple of areas I haven't. One is around the Steubenville area (been all around it, but don't think I've ever been directly in Steubenville). I'd like to go back near the Dayton area one day. I'd like to visit a couple of places again right outside of Dayton that I really enjoyed.

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[–] jacotodd47 (2402) 2 months ago

Driven thru:

Harrisburg, Scranton

Visited:

Philadelphia

Know like the back of my hand:

Pittsburgh

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[–] GolfnGuitars (3117) 2 months ago

Great! I think Pennsylvania is a really neat state. Lots of beautiful scenery and nice places to visit. I've driven through both Harrisburg and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre also.

My sister lived in Philadelphia for a couple of years and I really liked it. Seeing Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell was amazing.

I've been all around Pittsburgh, but have never been there before. Several of my co-workers (past and present) have gone to PNC Park to watch a Pirates' game and all of them raved about it. My wife just went to Pittsburgh for the first time with her dancing group a few weeks back...she really liked it also.

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[–] jacotodd47 (2402) 2 months ago

Yeah, Pittsburgh is a beautiful city. PNC Park and Acrisure Stadium are right next to each other. Both are terrific to watch a game.

Plenty of bridges due to the rivers. It was horrible for awhile because of PENNDOT construction. But most recently, I was in the city about 6 months ago. No construction, one was in and out. It's actually very well engineered.

And yes, correct, if you get past Pittsburgh heading East, you've got wonderful scenery. Hundreds of miles of it. It's a great state IMO, been living here for decades, no complaints at all.

Thanks for the reply.

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[–] AmeriGirl26 (15113) 2 months ago

My state has at least three, very well-known, large cities. I've driven through one of them several times (and the traffic is murder there). With the other two, I have never actually driven through the heart of either. Due to horrible traffic, I've only driven through the outer edges, and even there driving can be dicey.

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[–] GolfnGuitars (3117) 2 months ago

Yes, I know exactly how you feel. The older I get, the more I hate driving in heavy traffic. I think it's a nationwide problem, unfortunately...but it's a royal pain to drive in it anymore.

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[–] AmeriGirl26 (15113) 2 months ago

Strangely enough, the worst traffic-jam-troubled city I've ever visited was not on the West Coast. It was Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My grandparents lived there for over 20 years, and for several summers as a kid, I'd come to visit. So of course, we had to go to the city to enjoy some of the fun stuff and that always involved 3-hour traffic jams going in or out.

I once asked grandma why the city had so many traffic jams. She explained it was because the city was old, with the old streets clashing with the new ones. I looked up when it was founded, and she wasn't joking about its age. I believe Pittsburgh was founded in 1780, which is extremely old for an American city. Most are only 150-200 years old. Some aren't even a century old yet.

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[–] GolfnGuitars (3117) 2 months ago

Interesting! From what jacotodd47 said in his response, it sounds like Pittsburgh had heavy construction at one time, so maybe that's why the traffic was so bad (Traffic in Columbus is really awful now because of so much construction and road closures).

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[–] AmeriGirl26 (15113) 2 months ago

Pittsburgh is always having construction done on it.

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[–] [deleted] 2 months ago

I do nearly twice a week.

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[–] GolfnGuitars (3117) 2 months ago

Awesome! Sounds like you have either a job or some sort of obligation to drive there. Wishing you continued safe travels!

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[–] [deleted] 2 months ago

I have a mom who always needs us to drive through during rush hour. 😆

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