Where did you grow up?

What a great thread. It's so interesting to hear where people came from.

I grew up in the small town of Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. I've moved away a couple of times but always end up back here. The last time I moved away was in the 1970's. It is a paradise here. It has grown from around 7,000 people to almost 20,000 but it still feels like a small town. It is 60 km (40 miles) from Vancouver, a world class city, and 40 km from Whistler, a world class year round holiday destination.

Squamish, British Columbia - Wikipedia
 
Did I mention small rural town Western Illinois. I’m a few years older than my bride. So no HS sweetheart thing. Everyone knows everyone when you live in a small town. Growing up my best friend thru JR High and HS and 45+ years later still best friend..... has a younger sister. Her best friend thru school and beyond was my future bride. No. We weren’t set up. We just happened all on our own. Script that one.
 
Sorry. Me again. Small town USA. Not a lot happens in a small town. My little hometown is no different. However we did get kinda known around the state as playing some pretty good small school football. Thru the 90s into 2000s, my alma mater put 3 first place and 3 second place trophies in the trophy case. When they weren’t playing championship game they were going deep into the playoffs. It was fun stuff.

We also are know for a having a couple female CW singers. One from the 70s. Suzy Bogguss. And another from early 2000s. Margo Price. I was in HS a couple years ahead of Suzy. My youngest graduated HS with Margo. Check them out on You Tube.

Also check out the Grammy’s tonight. Margo is up for best new artist.
 
For the most part the Marquette area.
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1909...
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for you movie buffs this movie was filmed there....
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NIFTY thing--- for those who DONT still live where they grew up-- Ive been "driving" through Malvern Ohio-- via the INTERWEBS---(googlmaps to be exact) amazing how VERY LITTLE has changed -- what used to be a grocery is now a real estate office the old post office is a sign shop etc....but -- all the "way points" and mental markers are still there -- the school I graduated from in 87 STILL LOOKS exactly the same---my Friend Jimmy Thompsons farm is STILL THERE-- Still operational as it has been since 1888 ---- wow

Great fun--- who says you cant go back I just did :)
 
I’ve been back home a few times.

Some things haven’t changed, some things are better. The neighborhood where I grew up is really run down. It’s kind of sad.
 
eSGEe said:
NIFTY thing--- for those who DONT still live where they grew up-- Ive been "driving" through Malvern Ohio-- via the INTERWEBS---(googlmaps to be exact) amazing how VERY LITTLE has changed -- what used to be a grocery is now a real estate office the old post office is a sign shop etc....but -- all the "way points" and mental markers are still there -- the school I graduated from in 87 STILL LOOKS exactly the same---my Friend Jimmy Thompsons farm is STILL THERE-- Still operational as it has been since 1888 ---- wow

Great fun--- who says you cant go back I just did :)
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It's funny, the last time I was "home" was three years ago for my mother's funeral, and it was the first time in years that I tried to navigate around town to find things (for a long time the only reason I went there was to visit my parents, so I would go straight to their house from the airport and back again with little in between) and I was shocked at how different it is now vs. when I left 20+ years ago. I was getting lost in the neighborhoods that I knew with my eyes closed.
 
Where did I grow up? Well, this is a trick question cuz I've still haven't grown up... :dood:.

But, I was born and raised in the City of the Angels (Los Angeles, California) and its surrounding areas. Ages of 14 thru 27, I mainly resided in Santa Monica and the west side of L.A. till I left in '86. Crazy crazy area. Can't imagine what it's like to live there these days.

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Left my hometown in 1986 and moved to Groovy Beach. Been here ever since, and never regretted it.

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Grover Beach may not be much to look at, but it's quiet and within a few minutes of other cool little towns and small cities. The Pacific Ocean is less than a mile from my house, so I get some of this at times:

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syscokid said:
Grover Beach may not be much to look at, but it's quiet and within a few minutes of other cool little towns and small cities. The Pacific Ocean is less than a mile from my house, so I get some of this at times:
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Hey man, it's plenty to look at - we head up your way a couple times a year. One of my wife's favorite places to wind down for a few days is Pismo.
 
gball said:
Hey man, it's plenty to look at - we head up your way a couple times a year. One of my wife's favorite places to wind down for a few days is Pismo.
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Pismo is cool, and about a mile and a half away. Pismo's bread and butter is tourism. They have a few festivals thru the year and the summer traffic that brings in the bucks. Grover is just a funky sleepy town. There's not much character to it, but that's OK. For a beach town in California the property values are not as extreme as something compared to like any other beach cities/towns along southern California or the northern area like around San Francisco.

Another town next to Pismo Beach and Grover Beach is Arroyo Grande. In the "Old Village" of Arroyo Grande, there is a very cool little guitar shop called Lightning Joe's Guitar Heaven. Have you been there yet?

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Kerry Brown said:
What a great thread. It's so interesting to hear where people came from.

I grew up in the small town of Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. I've moved away a couple of times but always end up back here. The last time I moved away was in the 1970's. It is a paradise here. It has grown from around 7,000 people to almost 20,000 but it still feels like a small town. It is 60 km (40 miles) from Vancouver, a world class city, and 40 km from Whistler, a world class year round holiday destination.

Squamish, British Columbia - Wikipedia
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Looks like a beautiful area. I love the rock face.
 
syscokid said:
Where did I grow up? Well, this is a trick question cuz I've still haven't grown up... :dood:.

But, I was born and raised in the City of the Angels (Los Angeles, California) and its surrounding areas. Ages of 14 thru 27, I mainly resided in Santa Monica and the west side of L.A. till I left in '86. Crazy crazy area. Can't imagine what it's like to live there these days.

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Left my hometown in 1986 and moved to Groovy Beach. Been here ever since, and never regretted it.

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Grover Beach may not be much to look at, but it's quiet and within a few minutes of other cool little towns and small cities. The Pacific Ocean is less than a mile from my house, so I get some of this at times:

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Your first map has my friends' house on it. A bit above Santa Monica, they live in Sullivan Canyon, just north of Sunset. It's a really nice place and somehow it hasn't been burned down yet. Only a matter of time though, probably.
 
syscokid said:
Pismo is cool, and about a mile and a half away. Pismo's bread and butter is tourism. They have a few festivals thru the year and the summer traffic that brings in the bucks. Grover is just a funky sleepy town. There's not much character to it, but that's OK. For a beach town in California the property values are not as extreme as something compared to like any other beach cities/towns along southern California or the northern area like around San Francisco.

Another town next to Pismo Beach and Grover Beach is Arroyo Grande. In the "Old Village" of Arroyo Grande, there is a very cool little guitar shop called Lightning Joe's Guitar Heaven. Have you been there yet?

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I think I just added something to the "to do" list for our next visit. Actually, that list is pretty short as our getaways tend to consist of doing nothing for half the day and taking a walking tour of the local watering holes for the other half.
 
gball, you should travel with me and my girl. She always plans all sorts of excursions along our routes.

For instance on our trip to Savannah GA from Md, we first went to Ashville NC, ate BBQ for late dinner and stayed in a nice hotel till the AM when we went on a tour of the Biltmore. Then it was off to Charleston SC where we had another nice night in a Hotel and a Horse drawn carriage historical tour of Charleston. Next we cruised on down to Daytona FL and had about 4-5 days down there the week before Thanksgiving. After Daytona we headed north to Savannah where she had a conference for a couple days and we even got to have a nice cookout and oyster roast at one of the confererence attendee's places that was local to Savannah. Oh and we got a nice sight seeing bus tour around town as well. After that we headed to the Outer banks and Nags Head NC where she booked a nice cottage for us and a cool Hummer ride to scout for wild horses that are similar to the ones on Assateague and Chincateague as they roam the beaches and grassy areas near a place I think was called Duck NC. Then of course we had to head home before Thanksgiving only to face 3 months of crap winter weather.

So as one can see, my trip life with sweety is anything but boring. PS, in Fla I got a nice day trip to go meet up in Lakeland with Esgee, hack, VoxAc30 and some burgers and guitar ogling.
 
chilipeppermaniac said:
gball, you should travel with me and my girl. She always plans all sorts of excursions along our routes.

For instance on our trip to Savannah GA from Md, we first went to Ashville NC, ate BBQ for late dinner and stayed in a nice hotel till the AM when we went on a tour of the Biltmore. Then it was off to Charleston SC where we had another nice night in a Hotel and a Horse drawn carriage historical tour of Charleston. Next we cruised on down to Daytona FL and had about 4-5 days down there the week before Thanksgiving. After Daytona we headed north to Savannah where she had a conference for a couple days and we even got to have a nice cookout and oyster roast at one of the confererence attendee's places that was local to Savannah. Oh and we got a nice sight seeing bus tour around town as well. After that we headed to the Outer banks and Nags Head NC where she booked a nice cottage for us and a cool Hummer ride to scout for wild horses that are similar to the ones on Assateague and Chincateague as they roam the beaches and grassy areas near a place I think was called Duck NC. Then of course we had to head home before Thanksgiving only to face 3 months of crap winter weather.

So as one can see, my trip life with sweety is anything but boring. PS, in Fla I got a nice day trip to go meet up in Lakeland with Esgee, hack, VoxAc30 and some burgers and guitar ogling.
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How many "biggest ball of string in the world" has she treated you to?
 
chilipeppermaniac said:
gball, you should travel with me and my girl. She always plans all sorts of excursions along our routes.

For instance on our trip to Savannah GA from Md, we first went to Ashville NC, ate BBQ for late dinner and stayed in a nice hotel till the AM when we went on a tour of the Biltmore. Then it was off to Charleston SC where we had another nice night in a Hotel and a Horse drawn carriage historical tour of Charleston. Next we cruised on down to Daytona FL and had about 4-5 days down there the week before Thanksgiving. After Daytona we headed north to Savannah where she had a conference for a couple days and we even got to have a nice cookout and oyster roast at one of the confererence attendee's places that was local to Savannah. Oh and we got a nice sight seeing bus tour around town as well. After that we headed to the Outer banks and Nags Head NC where she booked a nice cottage for us and a cool Hummer ride to scout for wild horses that are similar to the ones on Assateague and Chincateague as they roam the beaches and grassy areas near a place I think was called Duck NC. Then of course we had to head home before Thanksgiving only to face 3 months of crap winter weather.

So as one can see, my trip life with sweety is anything but boring. PS, in Fla I got a nice day trip to go meet up in Lakeland with Esgee, hack, VoxAc30 and some burgers and guitar ogling.
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When we first got together our trips were a lot like that. As we've gotten older we've started to realize that when we need a getaway its because things are getting too hectic and our goal is usually to do as much decompression and relaxing as we can, so we stare at the ocean from a bar in Pismo or Waikiki, stare at a pool in Palm Springs or Las Vegas. Stare at a drink in all of the above...

Cool fact - I spent two summers living on the outer banks (summer of '83 and '84) in Kitty Hawk and my job was in Duck. The place was called Ocean Beach Campground, and it long-gone but of course I know the place well. Here's a slightly ridiculous brochure from the place:

Ocean_Beach_3.jpg
 
Not sure, DONP, but we also have been to KC, St Lou, Nashville, Louisville, Lexington, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and seen all manner of historical, man made, and natural wonders over the past 4-5 years. I am trying to work in making plans to get her on a nice Alaskan cruise someday soon, since I have been and took 3 buddies in 2008 and had a blast.
 
Gball, It was my first trip to the Outer Banks. Pretty cool 1 night, next day event. The Hummer ride was cool as we drove on that road that is still a road despite it being SAND.
 
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