Pajiba

I live in Costa Mesa, CA. And....socal kinda sucks in my opinion. I'd take you to the Detroit Bar, because it's the one bar in the area I've managed to find that's worth going to. And probably the Gypsy Den Cafe...and....then we'd go to LA or something, because seriously, there's nothing to do down here.

I live in Portland, Oregon. If I can't find something to entertain you in or within 2 hours of PDX, you are either a very boring or very tedious person. For the adventurer athletes We've got Beach, Mountain, River,all within a few hours drive. You could Snow Ski/board in the AM at Mt. Hood and be surfing in Lincoln City (world surfing champ event held there just a few weeks ago) by late afternoon. X-games are held in the Columbia River Gorge just east of PDX. Best wind on the planet, no joke. Plus, I do the horse thing, so I could probably hook you up there too.

We have quirky fun restaurants and bars (although since I have no life I would have to make a few phone calls to see what is hip) and a thriving coffee shop culture.

We have a great museum and a thriving art scene. First Thursday of every month all of the galleries and the Portland Art Museum are open to the public free admission. Like a bar crawl, only artsy!
We have a world renown zoo and famous public Rose gardens for the gardening set.

For the Pervs, Portland has more strip clubs per-capita than any other US city.

Plus I live here, so you know it would be fun!

Currently I live in Austin. And in the 2 1/2 years I've been here, I've never once been to 6th street. Hey, poor grad students gotta eat, and that doesn't leave a lot of money for going downtown or going to shows. The only entertaining thing I do here is go see movies at the Alamo Drafthouse and to cute bars in East Austin when I'm feeling rich and need liquor.

However, if I went home to Louisiana for a spell and someone visited me THERE, I would take you on a much better tour. If you really just HAVE to see Bourbon, I guess we could do that, but I much prefer Frenchman or Uptown. We would find all my favorite restaurants and I would convince you to eat an oyster. We would go see the Rebirth Brass Band play at the Maple Leaf (which is a practically religious experience) and then eat some more. Because it's all about the eating.

Here in Decatur, GA (liberal suburban Atlanta mecca) we could take advantage of the mild autumn weather by biking the Stone Mountain Trail (or, my weekend preference, play Frisbee golf on the impeccably-manicured Agnes Scott University campus until we get kicked off). Bonus if you show up during the Decatur Book Festival, the largest independent book fest in the country. Then head downtown for a pitcher of potent homebrew on the deck at Twain's.

Then it's a two-block walk to Leon's Full Service for some quality grub, including bacon dipped in homemade peanut butter. Read that again, please. They don't take reservations, and it can get a little crowded, but we'll kill the time by playing twilight bocce on their outdoor course while we wait.

Then around the corner to the Belgian bar at the Brick Store Pub, where they have a dozen or more high-test brews on draft (one is my limit, though, lest I begin feeling smashy). A little live music at Eddie's Attic (heavy on the acoustic crooners). Top it off with another short stroll to The Chocolate Bar just to make doubly sure all that earlier exercise goes completely to waste. Absolutely no vehicle required all day long.

I teach in Milledgeville, a teeny tiny town south of Atlanta. I want extra-special, I go to Atlanta or Savannah. I want cool, I trek up to Athens. Shopping? Macon. Antiques? Here ain't bad, and Madison's alright too. In Milledgeville proper, you can get some hot boiled peanuts and fresh produce at any of the roadside stands along highway 441, have a halfway decent cup of joe at Blackbird Coffee, and surprisingly good sushi down the street from the college. The main past-time on the evenings and weekends, though (at least when the weather is nice) is to hang out by the lake with neighbors, drinking beer, playing guitar, swimming, and grilling stuff. Not necessarily a wild and crazy place, but I like it.

Here in my town (Winter Haven, FL) there's a place called Tanner's Pub. The food's great, the beer's top-notch and there's live music on weekends.

Apart from that, swab-o. Bupkis. Not even an adult bookstore, because this is one of the notches in the Bible Belt and because the Powers That Be ran all adult businesses out of the County over ten years ago. You have to go all the way west to Tampa or east to Orlando to have any real fun.

Also, here's a hint: If you see a hooker in my county with all her teeth intact, stay away - it's probably a cop.

Ok, so I've yet to really comment here, but I read this site all the time. Yay me for sounding like a creepy stalker!

Now, as to where I would take someone if they came to visit me in my small suburb of DC. Well, for cool friends that I'm trying to impress, I would take them to 'Palace of Wonders' on H Street NE. It's this fantastic burlesque bar, grimy and covered in weird circus freak memorabilia. Plus the ladies are awesome. The last troupe that I saw perform were some Patsy Cline look-a-likes from Pittsburgh.

Plus, I got the bonus entertainment last time of watching my boyfriend staple a dollar bill on the MC's nipple. Crazy times, people, crazy times.

Oh Squeeziee total jealousy over here over the Eddie Izzard show!!

I've seen him before, but you can never have enough Izzard!

Representing the non-american team... Me, live from Berlin, Germany!
crickets chirp
Yay.
Should anyone come by, there are nice spots around every corner. I'd prefer the Quasimodo.

I live in Cotati, CA (Sonoma County). If you wanted to go someplace cool, you wouldn't come here. However I'm about 15-20 minutes away from better places, in either direction. Petaluma is to the south and that's where I grew up. There's lot of really good restaurants and some not so good bars (animal heads on the wall anyone?). To the north is Santa Rosa, which is pretty much the same but bigger. And it's only about an hour from San Francisco, which has an endless supply of stuff to do. All in all, not a bad place. Oh, and there's lots of wineries so we could always get drunk. Good times.

I live in Edinburgh, Scotland. It's a capital, but it's not much of a city. Don't get me wrong, it's gorgeous and there's plenty of history but it feels like a big village. Or a few villages stuck together.

I'd take you to the top of the Mound, to see where the old town meets the new. We wouldn't go into the new town though (it's not fairly new, it's nearly over 300 years old as well, but that's considered new in Edinbraaa). We'd go for a pint at Sandy Bell's on a Thursday night, or at the Brass Monkeys when a film's on and lie with everyone on the massive mattress. If it's a Saturday, we'd go to the Big Red Door, the non-venue cabaret made by old performers of the local Beltane festival. Someone's usually nude. And wonderful.

We'd climb up Arthur's Seat, the former volcano that rises in the middle of the city. When you're walking through that valley, all the sounds of the city disappear and you could be in the middle of the Highlands, except you're really only ten minutes away from a ned on buckie.

It's fairly fucking expensive to live here so at night, we'd do a little freeganism, and raid the bins behind the posh supermarkets. We'd go home, wash out whatever crap maybe sticking to the wrappers and have a feast.

Then I'd take your clothes and fuck you.

The end.

I'm living in Williamsport, PA. If you visit in August, I will take you to a Little League Championship game. It's our town's international claim to fame that the game started here & the championship is held here every year.

But if you're not into baseball, I'd probably just take you to downtown Williamsport. We'd start out with dinner downtown at Franco's, a fantastic little Italian restaurant where the owner himself might be your waiter. You can buy some of the amazing homemade pasta sauce to take home as a souvenir of your trip, if you'd like. Then we'd walk to either the Community Arts Center to catch a $3 movie or a concert, or maybe over to the Community Theatre League to watch a local production. After the show, we'd walk (we have a great downtown, no need to worry about driving!) over to the Bullfrog Brewery to sample their brews and maybe catch a band or two. If you're still up for more after drinks at the Brewery, we can walk to the Cell Block. It's a bar that's located in an old prison that was built in 1800. It's a little crowded most nights, but if it's a summer night, we can sit in the open courtyard and share a few drinks.

Here in Orlando, it can be a hot, muggy, disgusting mess. But if you know a local you can avoid all of the awfulness and get everything for free (or at least discounted!).

You would need a few days, but we would hit up the Beer Garden, Cigarz Bar, Stardust, a kick ass coffee shop that has the BEST selection of movies in town, the Enzian, a small indie theatre that plays its movies outside in good weather, and of course the theme parks where they encourage you to drink copiously. They even have beer carts while you while in obnoxiously long lines!

Orlando can suck (traffic, tourists, weather, construction, idiots, and crime) but I fucking love it here sometimes. If any of my Pajiba peeps want to come visit, let me know. I got the hook up...

Little Rock, AR what what!

The benefit of a small (ish) town is that people get to know you, so first we'd go to The Flying Burrito, which is kind of like FreeBird's mentioned above, except better. There, we'd get cheap extras on the burritos, and have my friend the bartender try her latest invention on us. Depending on the mood tonight, we could go see a friend of mine open for Brian Posehn at Juanitas, which has the best fucking cheese dip I've ever had, OR go to what I call "my gay Cheers" where I get drinks comped because I perform there; there we'd listen to AR Blues Hall o Famer John Craig, who was the touring guitarist for Ike and Tina in the 70s.

Alternately, we could go see a show at The Weekend Theater, and see former professionals acting for the love of it.

Point is, there's stuff to do.

Semi-lurker here (I de-lurk every once in a while). I'm a Texan by birth but I now live in lovely Nyack in Rockland County, NY. It's kind of a hippie little suburban village. If I had a Pajiban here I'd have them park their car in front of my house and we'd walk into the village (I love not having to drive too much). Then I'd take them into all my favorite little artsy boutiques and antique shops, browse through our little Carnegie library, and then stop for pastries at Patisserie Didier Dumas or for brunch at Strawberry Place. I've been told there's nightlife here but I didn't move here until after I had a couple kids, so I haven't experienced much of the nightlife. If Nyack doesn't suit you, we could also take a bus or drive 20 miles south to Manhattan, or drive 10 miles north to a state park for some hiking and beautiful scenery.

Perfect time for this since I have lots of visitors this weekend.

I live in Cambridge MA, recently relocated from Canberra Australia. Yay international moves!

This morning we all trooped down to Toscinini's for bizarrely flavored ice cream and coffee (B3: brown butter, brownie, bourbon, Guiness, Cardamon/Pistachio, Molasses Graham Cracker Lime.

Then to the studio to play test videogames (entertainment we you are a game designer)

Strolled to Harvard for chocolate at Burdicks and to see Fantastic Mr Fox. Love.

Then wandered around harvard and finished with cocktails at Upstairs in the Square (all made of liquors I've never heard of) So pretty on the inside.

Burgers at Tory Row (best burgers.)

Back to my house for more games, cake my cousin made, and Australian wine. Beatles Rockband is being pounded on in the other room as we speak.

This is a house of nerds.

s. pisaster, I am about to blow your mind wide open. I'm from Long Beach, and used to work in Costa Mesa, and because of that, I will now impart to you the greatest knowledge I can:

Tacos and Tacos

It's on 19th and Anaheim, in the same little strip mall as In 'n' Out. They serve the best carne asada tacos in Orange County. Everything they serve is good, in fact...but I don't bother going for anything besides the tacos.

i won't say where i live because i don't want to see my home town destroyed again because of me.

mmmm tacos....I will check it out Munkymack.
MsMomo you're just a couple towns away from me I think.

I'm in little ol' Franklin, TN. 20 miles south of Music City, USA (Nashville). I'm a Yankee transplanted to the south, so I love experiencing the southerness of it all.

When you come here, we'll go to Puckett's for a burger and sweet potato fries. Then I'll show you the Wal-Mart where I saw Miley Cyrus and the nail salon where I had my pedicure with George Jones.

Then we have to head to TrashyNashy for a night of HonkyTonkin' and people watchin'. You have to enjoy a 'Holler and a Swaller'! We'll also spend a day at Arrington Vinyards (owned by Kix Brooks) which is a beautiful setting that also makes pretty good wine.

Yeehaww! Y'all come down, y'hear?

DeistBrawler and Lainie, gig 'em and howdy! Class of '92 here. If we were still in Aggieland we'd go to Gina's in old downtown Bryan for dinner, and then Dudley's for drinks. (I was a liberal hippie Aggie. Yeah, we exist.) Oh, wow, Freebirds opened while I was there.

Seriously, Guess Who? You can't find something to do in Austin? Please let me get you in touch with my friends there. Lots of Sunday afternoon gaming and drinks and food and plenty of interesting, weird folks. I should be in Austin sometime in December. Let me show you some fun in Austin so you don't leave hating it so much. I'm not kidding. Also, I'm heading to Miami on Tuesday so tell me what I can't miss.

In Dallas, please, please go to Oak Cliff and go to La Calle Doce (get the ceviche) or Gloria's and then drive around Kessler Park and look at the most beautiful homes and then drive a few minutes over to the Belmont Hotel for cocktails. (If you ask nicely I'll show you Bonnie Parker's and Clyde Barrow's graves. One of which is spittin' distance of the Belmont Hotel.)

I most recently left Philly where we would've stayed in South Philly and hit the Taco Truck and then Ray's Happy Birthday bar and we would've walked from my house to a lot of the locations of The Sixth Sense, if you were of a mind to.

Now I'm in Fort Lauderdale (just left Orlando) traveling North America in a Winnebago. Not sure what to do here 'cause I'm only here for a week and then it's Key West, and then off to Tampa, then Atlanta, then Memphis, then down to New Orleans, and then back to my homeland of Texas, then over through the Southwest, and then up the West Coast with absolutely no real time frame or limit to how long we'll stay in one place.

I'm a Yea on the poll.

Hey, anyone interested in showing me their town when I roll through there? I'm writing about this adventure and could use the material.

Shonda if you’re going to visit Miami just me careful, you don’t want to end up on an episode of “The First 48.”

Gigi, you are wise indeed. I go to school in Cambridge and take everyone who visits me to Burdicks.

But, if y'all came to visit me at home in Columbia, MD, we'd probably end up getting amazing Afghan food at a local place then driving into Baltimore to see a movie at the Charles Theater (small, old, beat up, indie, Best Popcorn Ever). Baltimore also has some great small music venues. And there's a stereotypical greasy diner open way late where we'd have to stop.

Also, I totally vote for a "where are you" comment diversion.

Sansho1: I used to live in Decatur myself, I was just there this October for a family visit..lovely place but missed the Netherlands, so am back in little old Amsterdam once again.

You're all welcome to visit. Stroopwafels are on me. I assure you, once you have one of those, you'll never want to leave this place.

First off, Layne, thanks for the Lawrence, KS memories. Did my doctoral work there and loved it, and my dog and I loved that 60-acre dog park.

barf, I want to come a visit you, partly because of your description of Malta, and partly to find out why a "laid back romantic" picked the screen name, "barf."

And if anyone wants to come to my current home town, Rochester, NY, which I love, I recommend coming for the Jazz Festival. Four days of international eclectic jazz with a great street vibe. We'll also do a biking day on the Erie Canal, maybe catch a recital at Eastman, and get some Greek food at a great little place near my work.

Louise, I assume Chuck Mangione is a mainstay at the jazz festival? I lived in Rochester almost 40 years ago, and our claim to fame was that we lived down the street from his father's gas station....

Okay that last post didn't work out quite right. I meant to say that I spent many a summer on the beach in Seal Beach, munkymack. Of course I was like 11, so we ate at the Jack-In-The-Box.

I am in your house.
I have isolated the specimen,
and it is juicy.
You are not alone,
I am in your closet.

(Tu n'est pas tout seul, je suis dans l'armoire).*

Good thing I moved away from my hometown a couple of years ago. If you can find him, Dave Sim is there, but...I don't think invitations are being sent out. There's probably a bunch of super-vintage 'The Kids of Degrassi Street' alums here, busking for BLTs or something. The sound at The Centre in the Square is incredible, but this city is woefully soft on WWII criminals. What could be causing that (ahem, used to be called Berlin, cough)?

Now, I'm in a swinging town with endless sources of entertainment. I currently live in Toronto--budget NYC for those who can afford it, hungry, hungry codeine pills for those who can't and can't face that. Speaking of which, if you visit the old Hogtown, do so before January 3rd. The TTC is raising its fare to $3.00, and I'd be remiss if I didn't warn you that on that day, the entire city will pull a 'Trojan Women' at Union Station in response.

*language law requirement.

I was hoping someone from Seattle, WA would represent since I just relocated here a few months ago. But, if someone was coming to town, here's what I know:

Pike's Place market is a fun touristy spot, what with the throwing of fish. There seems to be a Thai food place every block, and they all seem delicious. Scarecrow Video is humongous and, even though it's about $4.50 a rental, they have everything you could want and more. And just pick up a copy of The Stranger and find a concert/art show/whatever to go to.

Australia, Malta, Scotland, England, Southern CA, New Yorkers,
Southerners, an RV-er, Texans, Toronto-land - Canadia...?
What a group! ;-)

I've never been further E in the US than Austin TX twice and St Paul MN.
Intl style: Cabo San Lucas Baja Mexico (twice, again) and Vancouver BC
for about 3 hrs, setting out on an Alaskan cruise. This is all so interesting
to me.

@ s pisaster: I'm about 9 mi N of you. Tacos and tacos is the shizz, btw.

Speaking of Sunset Beach. That Jack in the Box is *still* there. Don't miss
though, Captain Jack's for dinner - best King Crab meal in So CA.

Testing my namesake a little here..

I'm in Manukau, Auckland. It's NZ's Biggest city (1.4m people), but not the capital.

It's probably one of only 4-5 cities in the country with an actual major nightlife. The main CBD is packed pretty intensely with bars, pubs, and clubs. Unfortunately, it's mostly clubs these days.
Those are probably pretty much the same all over the world, except for maybe two or three NZ songs cropping up. No reason real reason to check them about unless you're a danceaholic.

The live music scene is much, much better, and if you're up with the play then there's about 15 good gigs a night, depending on what you're into. With most of those being within walking distance of each other. One of the more bohemian spots is The Wine Cellar, an underground cluster of apartments with a few walls knocked down and filled with couches to make a sectioned bar. The have a few microbrews on tap and obviously, a decent wine selection. For everything else, the standard venues are The King's Arms, and The Dog's Bollix.

But that's all in the evenings of course. During the day there's all the beaches. I've seen photos of beaches in the states and they must be pretty damn sparse, since they all look like mosh pits on blankets with some ocean attached. Not in Auckland. There are so many beaches here you can spend all day on one and bump into maybe a dozen people the whole time. My old house in Howick was about ten minutes drive from at least 4 beaches. My new house, probably 15 minutes, and I moved to a whole new suburb. And in NZ, beaches mean Beer and Cricket. So that's where we'd start. Most of playing beach cricket is standing around drinking, so I'm sure any newbies would do just fine.

Then, I have hook-ups through work for free tickets/hot food/cold beer in the pricey seats at one of the flashier cinemas in the area. But unless it's got a same-day worldwide release, you probably saw whatever films we have a few months ago in the states. It's a pretty tidy cinema and it's in the middle of Botany Town Center, one of the biggest outer shopping centers in the southern hemisphere, 200 shops.. thanks wikipedia.

Then dinner in town at a fairly hidden place called the Kiwi Music and Pizza Bar. It's upstairs above Queen Street, the main st of the CBD, and you can watch thousands pass you by almost completely unnoticed while you have a few more pints and some of the best semi-gourmet pizza around.

Then the Live Music for a few hours at the bar/ musicscene of your choice. By this time, we should be pretty drunk, and whatever happens afterwards is totally in your court. Probably go to Scotland..

Trouble, I've been to Stardust! I was in Orlando for exactly one day (passing through) and a friend made sure I went there. I loved it. Good coffee and awesome movies.

Shonda,
I don't know what you're looking for. Haha. When you come through Atlanta though I've said some of the more alternative crowd things. If you want to go touristy it has plenty of that shit too.

Mona, I so miss stroopwafels! I lived in Haarlem for 2 years and loved it. I'm still homesick, if you can be homesick for a non-hometown. There's a chocolate shop here in Nyack run by a Dutch woman so I go pick up stroopwafels there, but it's not the same after they've traveled all that way. I miss the big hot ones from the Saturday market.

Anna von B, you make me want to just rush right down to Oakland to enjoy the north Jersey sights. Good to know Nyack's nightlife reputation has spread as far as your Nanuet workplace.

I live in a little town called Ramsbottom, in the North of England. Its pretty much a shit hole, cause there is nothing for anyone from the ages of 10 - 50 to do. Its a very touristy town, boasting a working steam engine train line. This brings in many trainspotters, much to my annoyance and confusion. Fun Fact: I thought ALL trains were steam still, until I was 14 and went to London on an electric train...

There is a decent sized town, 20 minutes on the bus, but buses are so expensive, and they stop running about 11pm, nightlife is pretty much nonexistant. And all the pubs are either full of teenagers (and I mean young teenagers!) or old people (and I mean OLD people).

To get to the nearest gig or concert playing, its 1 and 1/2 hours on public transport, and it would have to finish by 10pm at the latest to ensure getting home.

It is a fairly pretty town tho, with lots of hills and gorgeous walks around town. And we do have some excellent traditions, such as the town hosts the 'World Black Pudding Championships' where anyone can compete at throwing black puddings at Yorkshire puddings. Its fun, honest.

So in summary, If you were to visit here, I would take you on a walk, then through the town to look at all the overpriced independent shops, and then back to my house by about 4pm, and I refuse to take you any further afield because of the bus prices.

I hope I sold it to you.

So I'm the only one exiled to Indiana? Really? Where is Dammit Janet when I need her? I know she hails from this area.

I'm in West Lafayette, IN and if you're not a Purdue student there are 2 things to do here: Fuck and All. The only thing that is possibly interesting is the Triple XXX diner (nope, not that kind of diner) that was featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" last year on the Food Network.

None of the bars are that interesting, other than the famous Harry's Chocolate Shop. It was a prohibition era speakeasy and now it is packed to the gills night and day with drunk students. I guarantee every college in America has a bar like it. Graffiti covering every square inch of the walls, cranked up "oldies" from the 90's, etc.

The plus to staying here is the cost of living is CHEAP. But there is nothing to do, which is why we are "planning" to move back to Denver after the kids get out of school. Hopefully in 9 years. I'm from here originally, but lived in Denver for 8 years. Moved back home when Telecom went BOOM and I was tired of leaping from one sinking ship to the next. It's nice being closer to family, but it also sucks because I'm closer to family. You know how that goes.

I'm from Bombay, India. Its a pretty big city with a lot of pubs, clubs and restaraunts. There is a decent theatre scene as well, with plays in English, Hindi and a lot of regional languages. Live music from jazz, to classical western, classical Indian, metal and Hindi pop isn't too difficult to find. If you're into Bollywood, there are always the latest releases.

If I had to take a foreigner out here, I'd start with a tour of the fort area and show off the pretty colonial structures of the city, take them to lunch at Cafe Mondegars or Leopolds, where tourists and locals mingle - good food and good beer. If art is your thing, then there are shows one catch at the Jehangir art gallery. Loads of shopping - high end to street stalls. Dinner could be at a swanky five star or street food. Then off to a club - some specialising in Bollywood remixes and others with a more international flavour.

There is just too much that I can think of. Its a pretty exciting place and I couldn't imagine living any where else.

Jo 'Mama' Besser
Kitchener? Gross. I can't say much though, I've spent all my time either in Cambridge or Guelph.

Louise, I chose the name barf in an absolutely random way. Whenever I want to choose a screenname I tend to pick the first word which comes into my head. I don't care whether it's a noun, pronoun, verb, adjective etc. barf was the first word which popped into my head when I first posted on pajiba and I've stuck with it.

It's kinda appropriate I guess seeing that I have barfed many times in my life. Obviously a result of too much drinking. I don't get drunk enough to barf often these days though.

I also like it because it's similar to Bart from the Simpsons.

Although I did say I'm laid back and romantic I do love my hard rock, metal and violent films so that might also explain to you the seeming contradiction.

Hope I answered your question. :-)

SHONDA SHUT UP! CLASS OF 92 HERE TOO! Whooop. I lived there from 88 to 93 (the student teaching took a bit longer). I had a love-hate relationship with College Station.

Nowadays I live in one of the more tolerable burbs of Dallas, but if any one of you jokers came here, I'd take you first to Prince Lebanese Grill in Arlington, Texas (motto: Largest City in the US With No Public Transportation, REPRESENT). It's in an old converted Sonic and the Lebanese/Greek food will knock your fucking socks off. All you will do is moan.

Then we'd need to go out of town to hit a real old dance hall, maybe one of those old German ones in the middle of nowhere Texas. OR a real honky tonk, none of this Gilly's shit. Someplace where you can get right up close to the band and you want to dance all night and everyone wants to dance with you. Then when you stumble outside, you can marvel at the stars before you vomit and pass out.

Awright.

Or if you want to do it up Dallas style, we could like eat and shop and shit.

I'm from the suburbs outside of Philadelphia, PA, and currently live in West Philly.

First I would take someone walking around Old City, where I work. This is the location of much of the touristy historical stuff in Philly, but it's really worth it. We can walk past Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, go to Elfreth's Alley (the oldest residential street in the country), and then throw pennies on Ben Franklin's grave.

Then I'd walk us up to the Reading Terminal Market, which is one of if not the oldest market in the US. There we can try Amish baked goods go wine tasting at Blue Mountain Vineyard's outlet, and get any sort of food your heart desires, from cheesesteaks, Thai, sushi, ribs, and fried chicken. It's insanely diverse, and so crowded and fun.

Then I'd make you go to the Mutter Museum for medical oddities. It's a funky place where you can find a dresser of things people have swallowed, John Wilkes Booth's thymus gland, and a very large colon.

Next, if you BEGGED me, we could go to the art museum and do the Rocky steps. Well, you could do them, I will stay at the base and eat a soft pretzel while you jump up and down like a crazy person.

Nighttime...man. There's still so much I haven't done myself. There's the three Ritz theater locations that feature all of the newest indie movies. There's shows at the TLA or the Troc for pretty cheap. I would insist on getting a beer at the Khyber, the diviest dive bar on earth with some of the best beer selections. For dinner, we could fancy it up at one of Jose Garces' (the newest Iron Chef, WHOO!) places, likely Amada or Distrito. Or we can go to cheaper places that I love, like The Jamaican Jerk Hut on South Street, Belgian Eulogy Tavern, or Local 44 in my neighborhood.

There's great cheap plays at the Lantern Theater or those by 1812 productions. In the summer there is free Shakespeare in the park by my house, or $10 concerts at the Mann where you can picnic with wine while listening to the Philadelphia Orchestra. And there's just walking. Philly is a great city for strolling around. I still find bars and restaurants that I've never seen before. I am constantly surprised by my city.

Zuzu, I read your post and wondered why you were gonna wait to turn 21 before going on a night of pajiba debauchery. Then I remembered that in the great land of the free people can vote, drive and buy porn at 18 but they cannot drink. I burst out laughing. Sorry.

Here's something interesting for you. In Malta we DID NOT HAVE a legal drinking age until about 3 years ago which means that a 6 year old could get legally drunk without any repercussions from the police. We just had a legal age for buying alcohol (16 years old) and still shopkeepers and bartenders ignored this law. A couple years ago it was changed to a legal drinking age. Now there's even talk of raising the drinking age to 18, not that the law still wouldn't be ignored. As they say the law is an ass. Yours is even a bigger ass!

I live in a crime-ridden cesspool.

Guaranteed good time.

Peach Pie paints a glorious picture of Canada's West Coast, but her post also embodies what I despise about it. I'm here in Vancouver, Canada's most-overpriced and in some ways, overrated city, for grad school, specifically for a newer program with a focus that is only offered in a few universities, so I'm not exactly here by choice. Believe it or not, I miss my beloved, frosty Edmonton, Canada's underrated gem of the North (Northern-most major city, at 20 000 inhabitants, Yellowknife can hardly be considered one...).
The truth is, not all Canadians loathe the snow, if fact, I miss the shit out of it. I loathe the rain on the West Coast probably as much as most West Coasters hate the snow. I would never have a family here, because what is a childhood without the fluffy stuff? Moreover, what is parenting without a snowy winter? I might actually have to plan activities for my kids, rather than suiting them up and ushering them outside. So, as soon as I can, I hope to leave the outdoor-performance-gear-clad (even for dogs!), self-righteous-recycling (but don't think of "polluting their landscape" with wind energy)-enthusiasts that call this place home in my Albertan dust (and please don't bring up the oil sands...at least until Van and Vic stop pumping raw sewage into the ocean, or as the locals call it, "Grossean").

As for Edmonton, a place to start would be Tasty Tom's for lunch, followed by a walk in either the Mill Creek ravine, or any of the other vast expanses of riverside and forest parks. I believe that Edmonton has the most kms of city greenspace than any other in North America, so eat it Stanley Park. Would then go to Whyte Ave and frequent any of plethora of pubs, shops and restaurants to whatever suits my guests fancy. Would then finish the evening with some late night improv at the Rapid Fire theatre. So do come to my former, and hopefully once again, hometown, it's not near as bad as everyone says!

Archvillian My inlaws live in VA Beach. Literally all they do is go to the beach. That's it. Every single day that it isn't raining. (When it's raining they just stay home.) I would have loved, in all the visits over the years, to have seen something else--anything else--in the area. But no. They go to the beach. Pack a lunch. All day. I realize they are obsessed with sand or something, but not everyone is and even people who love the beach want to do something different sometimes. They are so weird.

So it was nice to read that there ARE other things to do in that area.

Lainie, my advice, pop those suckers in a microwave for about 50 seconds and I promise you it'll be just like the ones you used to get at the Saturday market in Haarlem. :)

I live in the murder capital of Canada, Winnipeg. Also the coldest city in the world with a population over 600,000. Coincidence?

So far this year, the coldest it has gotten is about -10'c, but within the next couple of weeks will probably drop to -20 (-15F for the rest of you) and won't get higher than that until March. Our record low is -57'c with the windchill factor (or -70.8F).

Having only lived here for a relatively short while and having a toddler, I could take you to some crazy happening spots, like the Children's Museum, the Airport Museum (it has a great indoor airplane themed playground), and a number of other indoor kid-themed places.

Apparently, we have a fantastic ballet Company, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, but I have yet to check it out. Lack of a babysitter makes it hard to get out of the house (if any of you Pajibans live in Winnipeg and want to make a few bucks babysitting the cutest 2-year-old girl in the world, let me know. The hubby & I are 2 years overdue for a date).

Once our two rivers freeze over, the city makes a skating path; several kilometres of groomed trails complete with trees and benches, warming shacks, a snow maze and (of course) a curling rink. It's pretty neat, but you have to be willing to brave the cold. If you put enough layers on, and make certain you have no exposed skin, it really isn't that bad! Except for when you breath in... you can seriously feel your lungs freezing.

Now I know it sounds exciting, but don't everyone come rushing up here at once!

Queens reprazent! Wait, is it really just myself and Jessica, waaaay back up there?

Come to the House of The Rising Sunnyside and we'll hop out into the farther reaches of my beloved borough and get the finest Thai in town, in Woodside. Then we'll go to the surreal, neglected World's Fair ground a bit farther out, in Flushing, and poke around. I do love to stroll, so at some point we'll hit Jackson Heights for fun thrift and saris, and patronize one of the little theaters for some Bollywood goodness. (Plans would vary by season.)

I'm still discovering the city, myself, having moved here 9 mo. ago from Bostonland...

Asheville, NC, and you're welcome to come spend your tourist dollars, but please don't move here. We're running out of mountainsides as it is.

Oh - and it's not the Virginia Highlands. That's like saying you like to visit the Cambridge or the SoHo.

I'm a relatively recent import to Green Bay, WI. If you don't like football or beer I'm not sure how to entertain you...and neither is anyone else here. There are a couple of half decent places to eat and no shortage of shitty shitty bars. Really, it's all about heading out into the woods and entertaining yourself camping, hiking, ice-fishing, etc. The only intriguing place I can guarantee taking you is the Green Bay Curling Club....I'll teach you to curl while we consume massive quantities of beer, then we'll drink some more beer and come hang out at my place in front of the fire, drink some beer and play scrabble. Sometimes, I drink enough beer to forget I'm in fucking Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Long time reader, first time de lurker..

What, no one hails from beautiful Cleveland?
Actually I live about 25-30 miles south of Cleveland. Small town, still has a quaint town square with really cool little diners, shops, and a coffee shop. In the summer is the "rally in the alley" where there's a different cover band every weekend (free) and proceeds ostensibly go to charity (band's choice). This weekend was the Candlelight walk, with a parade and a.. candle light walk through the square.

Let's go to Sully's, the pub on the square, and watch the Browns lose.
Or we could go to Cool Beans and get coffee and pastry.
On the other hand, we could go to Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or Target.

Yep. full of contradictions. Can't say much for the "nightlife" around here, as I'm home most nights with my kiddoes, but I have always wanted to try Paul's Pub & Sub.

Another Melbournian here. One thing the others haven't mentioned is the countless independent and boutique cinemas. Rooftop Cinema especially. When the season is in swing (March to September) you'd have to go to an AFL match. It's unlike anything else in the world. Melbourne is consumed with football.

I have lived my entire life in Columbus OH. My neighborhood is bizarre and lovely, it's called German Village.

You can take a walk in my neighborhood and the architecture and gardens will steal your breath. There are Biergartens and handfuls of independent restaurants in a walk, two good delis, an adorably pink cupcake shop, a diner that is unrestored and in full greasy glory, two competing artisan chocolatiers, a fake German restaurant, a real German restaurant, and my favorite of all, The Thurman Cafe, which has gigantic cheeseburgers, smartassed waiters, and thousands of real dollar bill tips plastering the entire wallspace.

If it's summer I would take you to the Drive In Movies, and Flea Market and Bowling Alley where I grew up. And you would have to inhale the breadth of my white trash glory and know I am Hardcore Columbus Ohio!

Snuggiepants!!! Ahhhh, GET. THE. FUCK. OUT! I was there from '89 to '92. (See, this is why the poll/spreadsheet thingie is needed. Here I've been reading Tightbritches over there forever and we probably shared glasses, classes, and asses at TAMU.)

"I had a love-hate relationship with College Station." Me too, my friend, me too. Please, please contact me.

Prince Lebanese Grill: Oh yes, yes, yes, YES! (I lived in Irving right before Philly.)

"Then we'd need to go out of town to hit a real old dance hall, maybe one of those old German ones in the middle of nowhere Texas." Oh, you mean, like, Gruene Hall?

"Or if you want to do it up Dallas style, we could like eat and shop and shit." Well, yeah, since Mi Cocina has a spot in the Galleria.

Hey Lindsey with an 'e', don't think I won't take you up on that invite.

And Stacey D? I lived at the NE corner of Lazelle and E. Whittier St in the blue house, upper half, for a while. (The upper bay window was in my bedroom.) LOVE German Village.

@TylerDFC I was born and raised in Lafayette and subsequently escaped for Minneapolis/St. Paul. The best thing about Lafayette is the variety of different restaurants there, which a lot of other towns that size seem not to have. I was really brokenhearted when Sofra closed, though, because I love Turkish food and that place was a gem.

So I currently live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and boy howdy is there a good amount of stuff to do here, especially if you like food. For breakfast I'd take you to Cafe Latte in St. Paul on Grand Ave and we'd have scones, creme fraiche, and preserves. Might take you to the botanical gardens at Como Zoo, if we were in St. P, and then we'd head to the Walker Art Center to look at some weird modern art.

For lunch we'd do Brasa in Northeast Minneapolis. We would eat a lot of delicious local organic meat, probably the pulled chicken and beef roast, and then we'd eat a ton of delicious homemade chips, salsa, and guac. Then spend a while wandering around St. Anthony Main, maybe check out the Stone Arch Bridge. This is assuming it's not winter, 'cause it does get awful cold in the winter. While we were in Northeast we'd check out some of the galleries and maybe go visit Zak Sally at La Mano 21, he has some good stories.

Then we'd head back to Uptown, the area which I call home, and catch a movie at the deliciously decrepit Uptown Theatre. They only have one screen, and the walls there have this weird pseudo-Greco-Roman mural on them. Usually they play one of the relatively small-distro films. I saw movies like The Hurt Locker and 500 Days of Summer there.

For dinner we'd hit up happy hour at Azia at 26th and Nicollet. Cheesy name, delicious $5 cranberry wontons and sushi rolls. Then we'd head downtown to First Ave or 7th Street Entry to catch a band, maybe the Annex for drinks.

There's also the Mall of America. I work there, so it's not a big deal to me, but if you dig shopping or people-watching, it's good for that.

Shonda:
Bring it! I ain't afeared of you! It wouldn't be the first Winnie tied up at my hitchin' post. I come from travelers, wandering gypsies all. Find me on FB, in the Pajiba group.

I live in Costa Rica, and a visit to me includes some white water rafting, some ziplining across the forest canopy, a couple of rainforest walks, a dip in a volcanic hotspring and way too many Imperiales at the beach. And if you don't know what an Imperial is, well, you need to get that fixed like right away. Si!

Snuggiepants- I've never understood the fascination with beaches myself, probably because I was raised within walking distance of a couple of excellent beaches on the Pacific coast of Panama.

Next time you're planning to be in the area, check out the local paper (Virginian-Pilot) online for concerts and other activities. Hell, within walking distance of the beach, there are several dozen bars and nightclubs, and a few of them have live music pretty regularly. Speaking of live music, there's an Irish pub about three miles from my house that has live music and dancing every weekend.

So you see, despite the plethora of Jethros here in the Shallow South, there are good times to be had in Norfolk.

Tater: Bringing 'Jibs together since 10.28.09.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

I live in a white suburban hell in Western Washington. What used to be farms and woods is now housing developments as far as the eye can see. But I am 20mi from Seattle, so I would always take someone down to the waterfront, maybe ride a ferry for a day trip. Eat at one of a million Ethiopian restaurants and maybe hit up the Central Cinema for cheap movies and beer. But I also live 20mins from the country and the farms and the woods and mountains and rivers and giant waterfalls. Or just do a tour of depressing towns that logging and mining have left behind.

I live in Muskoka Lakes, Ontario, Canada. Very small community surrounded by lakes, lakes and more lakes. Some of my Canadian counterparts may know where Muskoka is. In the summer months, there is no place on earth like this. If I were showing a foreigner around, well I'd take them to all the beautiful lakes we have and out for a cruise on the RMS Segwun (an old Royal Mail Ship)to see Lake Muskoka and to The Kee to Bala. We also have some of the finest resorts in the world.

Doylestown, PA

cute little town about 25 miles from Philadelphia

NYC is about 2 hours away

the beach is about 1.5 - 2 hours

snowboarding is about an hour away

And i can walk to pretty much anything in town.. really cute little artsy fartsy downtown area, a bunch of bars and stuff, and really good beer, a couple museums and boutiques and super good thin crust pizza

i love living here

Bothari,
You are right about Free State being overrated. I think the only people that go there are middle-aged out-of-towners and out-of-touch alumni. There's always such a long wait, and the food is just ok. I dislike that it gets so much attention when there are so many awesome hole-in-the-wall places. Sorry this has been so dash-tastic. Haha.

lil_a, I'm from the Silicon Valley too! specifically in Milpitas. Yeah, I lived in Nerdsville, full of engineers and Asians and no art scene for miles around.
I went to high school in Saratoga so I'd first take you to Falafel Drive-In for some cheap Mediterranean food and the best banana smoothies you'll ever have. And Silicon Valley has a froyo shop at every corner, so you'd have to hit up Yogurtland.
I'd say the best use of your time would be a trip to one of my favorite cities: Santa Cruz. No trip to SC is complete without a stop at Cafe Brazil, amazing Brazilian food. Then we'd go on a hike on the cliffs above the beach and slowly make our way down. As the sun sets, head back to the boardwalk for some light dancing outside one of the restaurants. Then we'd drive back north along the coast, warm wind and all.
San Francisco's a short BART ride away, and what can't you do there. Gotta go to Haight-Ashbury, ride the cable cars, Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 for those mini Italian donuts, Ripley's Believe it or Not museum BEFORE lunch.

I'm in DC now, which is much more interesting than Milpitas, but Northern California still has a lot to offer.