For me, probably the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, Israel. The whole experience evoked tremendous emotion, respect, and awe. Actually, the whole Jerusalem experience was awesome in and of itself.
To add to my list: The glaciers of Alaska. The view from the top of the World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty Being in the Rose Garden the night that Maurice Cheeks helped that little girl sing the national anthem. Seeing Elton John and Billy Joel tour together.
Not what I would call an “amazing” experience but I did have an experience 4 years ago that blew me away and really showed how small and interconnected the world is……..I was in Vicksburg MS and went to my car (hotel parking lot) to have a quick and quiet doobie. There was a younger guy who was also going out to his car (for a cooler of beer). When he saw my license plate, he asked me what part of Oregon I was from. So I told him and he told me he had also lived in Oregon for several years, but closer to Salem. So I told him I had worked for the city of Salem but actually worked in Keizer. He told me that Keizer was where he had actually lived. So I told him I had worked at the treatment plant. He said his dad (originally a MS native) had worked at the treatment plant(??!!!???). Turns out I had supervised this kid’s dad for 8-9 years. The dad was an ironclad asshole and a chronic problem the entire time he was employed at the plant. It took forever to pry that barnacle loose. So I told the kid I had known his dad, that we hadn’t gotten along and that if his dad knew we were talking, he would expect the son to punch my lights out. I was actually prepping to run like crazy if things went south. The kid laughed like crazy, shook my hand and told me that he had never gotten along with his dad either and was glad to finally meet the devil he had heard such terrible things about as a kid. Then we sat in that parking lot shooting the breeze until his beer was all gone……..interesting experience 2500 miles from home.
My first acid trip. Far deeper than watching my child be born, or the Apollo 11 landing on TV. It's like watching your IQ get raised 20 points.
Birth of my kids! Championship Parade Watching St. Helens pop it cap while on the Columbia Jumping out the cargo door of an Horizon Dash 8 that made an emergency landing at SeaTac When I was a teenager and seeing a set of hooters and some for the first time
I've got a few: 1. Shaking the hand of John F. Kennedy; 2. Shaking the hand of Richard M. Nixon; 3. The Apollo landing on the moon; 4. The tearing down of the West Berlin Wall; 5. The flight of John Glenn; 6. A street fight at an Oktober Fest in where each guy had a hold of the other guys hair and as they rolled in the street they tried to bang the other guy's head into the concrete curb. I was stoned and all I could think was no, no, no: 7. Driving through the redwood tree when I was a toddler and again on my honeymoon; 8. Seeing the Redwoods the most awesome sight second only to a visit to the Vista House on a clear sunshining day; 9. Looking down on the face of Hoover dam; 10. The video of the World Trade Center getting attacked by two airplanes; 11. Looking out over New York City from the top of the Empire State Building; 12. Watching a show at the Radio City Music Hall with the band rising up and playing before some show; 13. Seeing the truly giant sturgeon at the Bonneville fish hatchery before some vandal got in there at night and killed the giant fish with a knife; 14. Catching my first steelhead; 15. Visiting the South China Beach in S. Vietnam; 16. Watching the dive bombers and 50 cal. machine guns during the Tet in S. Vietnam. I will think of more later.
Or puking over the rail of the Santa Maria (probably too embarrassed to admit that one). Or surviving Krakatoa…… Wow……we could overwhelm the Coronavirus and Carmelo threads combined just on this alone………
It took my sister and I 7 years to scatter my dads ashes; mainly me being at a place where I was ready. He died on my 22nd birthday (5/11/2011), while I was on my way to pick up his ashes from the memorial center that morning, I found myself behind this car. Edit: Almost my birthday thought 8 years - will be 10; but this was taken in 2018 not 2019. Was only 7 years.
Aside from cats? Not counting anything seen on TV so moon landing not on my list. Seeing things I had known existed but had never previously seen as they were very small or very far away. My senior microbiology class when I saw viruses through electron microscope and took micrograph. I still have that photo. Looking through a telescope at Saturn's rings and the two moons of Mars. As far as entertainment, seeing the Beatles in concert and being in the stands when the A's won the World series.
1. Standing near Ellis Island and just imagining all the people that came from such terrible situations to find a better life. 2. Waking up on the train as the sun comes up over glacier national park. 3. Mackinac Island, Michigan. 4. The wave. 5. Coming in to Gastown in Vancouver, BC on the watertaxi.
My father died less than a week before I turned 21. Then on the plane back from Vietnam for his funeral, they played a song on the piped in radio about how great my dad is and it had me sobbing. Some asshole 2nd. Lt. chewed me out for not having my cunt cap in the Guam airport while we refueled. I left in a bit of a chaotic hurry and lost my hat before leaving country. Turned 21 on the airplane going to Alabama to be with my relatives down there so we could console each other.
