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  #1  
Old Posted Feb 26, 2021, 1:16 PM
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Shh, it's a secret! (Your city's hidden gems)

I was inspired to start this thread after learning about this thing right here:

Airside Garden

That's the Airside Garden at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, smack by the runway. Feel free to walk around and explore it, because Google was nice enough to put the whole thing on Streetview. Meanwhile, here's a view from above in which you can see this lovely little oasis tucked in there snug between the terminal and the runway, which means it's a good place to hang out and watch the planes come and go.

I had no idea this thing existed until I flew to Florida and back earlier this month and saw signs in the terminal about it. It's worth noting that the terminal itself also features fountains and statues, which are kind of a trend all across Greenville and Spartanburg, if you think about it... These are a pair of cities that adore a good fountain, statue, or both, and both cities are littered with them both.

However, discovering this little garden makes me wonder what sort of exquisite, charming, weird, or interesting things are tucked away off the beaten path in your city.

Let's discuss!
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Old Posted Feb 26, 2021, 4:37 PM
iheartthed iheartthed is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc View Post
I was inspired to start this thread after learning about this thing right here:

Airside Garden

That's the Airside Garden at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, smack by the runway. Feel free to walk around and explore it, because Google was nice enough to put the whole thing on Streetview. Meanwhile, here's a view from above in which you can see this lovely little oasis tucked in there snug between the terminal and the runway, which means it's a good place to hang out and watch the planes come and go.

I had no idea this thing existed until I flew to Florida and back earlier this month and saw signs in the terminal about it. It's worth noting that the terminal itself also features fountains and statues, which are kind of a trend all across Greenville and Spartanburg, if you think about it... These are a pair of cities that adore a good fountain, statue, or both, and both cities are littered with them both.

However, discovering this little garden makes me wonder what sort of exquisite, charming, weird, or interesting things are tucked away off the beaten path in your city.

Let's discuss!
Is this inside the secured area of the airport? As someone who has spent an obscene amount of time stuck in airport terminals, I would love it if more of them had outdoor access from inside the airport's secured area.

The Delta Sky Club in JFK's Terminal 4 has an outdoor patio, but it's only accessible to people with access to the club. Per Delta's website there is also one in ATL, but I haven't personally used that one.

Last edited by iheartthed; Feb 26, 2021 at 5:07 PM.
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  #3  
Old Posted Feb 26, 2021, 4:46 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iheartthed View Post
Is this inside the secured area of the airport? As someone who has spent an obscene amount of time stuck in airport terminals, I would love it if more of them had outdoor access from inside the airport's secured area.

The Delta Sky Club in JFK's Terminal 4 has an outdoor patio, but it's only accessible to people with access to the club. Per Delta's website there is also one in ATL, but I haven't used that one personally.
Yeah, it's past security. When I was trying to find out more information about it, one article said it's one of just a handful of outdoor spaces to be found at any American airport past the security checkpoints.
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"To sustain the life of a large, modern city in this cloying, clinging heat is an amazing achievement. It is no wonder that the white men and women in Greenville walk with a slow, dragging pride, as if they had taken up a challenge and intended to defy it without end." -- Rebecca West for The New Yorker, 1947
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  #4  
Old Posted Feb 26, 2021, 11:58 PM
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The North Kenwood historic district is something largely unknown to most people:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8144...7i16384!8i8192

A lovely street to walk down.
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  #5  
Old Posted Feb 27, 2021, 12:06 AM
IluvATX IluvATX is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc View Post
Yeah, it's past security. When I was trying to find out more information about it, one article said it's one of just a handful of outdoor spaces to be found at any American airport past the security checkpoints.
LAX has an outdoor patio/smoking area past security.
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  #6  
Old Posted Feb 27, 2021, 12:10 AM
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Elevated Acre at 55 Water Street. Kind of a poorly kept secret.

https://untappedcities.com/2020/09/2...-secret-plaza/





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  #7  
Old Posted Feb 27, 2021, 5:09 AM
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Well there are tons, but in the interest of keeping the thread manageable I'll pick just one.

In 1958 the US Capitol was renovated. Several of the original columns and other stonework were replaced. Some of the original pieces are prominently displayed in the National Arboretum, and well-known to locals if not to every out-of-town tourist. But others... were simply dumped in a quiet corner of the Rock Creek Park forest, and mostly forgotten. But if you know just where to look, you can find them:

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Old Posted Feb 27, 2021, 6:50 AM
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One of my favorite spots is the Zilker Clubhouse in Austin. Once you click on the link below you'll see why. Even if the gate is closed to the driveway, there's a pedestrian walk around letting you in.

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1...px8wEnoECCIQCA
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Old Posted Feb 27, 2021, 10:54 AM
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The best secret in the Twin Cities is in downtown St Paul - the spectacular art deco interior of the Ramsey County courthouse. A lot of locals don't even know about it:

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  #10  
Old Posted Feb 27, 2021, 11:26 AM
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Royal Holloway College 1881, London outskirts. Most Londoners have never heard of nor seen this place.



Juliet McKee, www.julietmckeephotography.co.uk, www.fmj.co.uk







https://su.royalholloway.ac.uk


www.liftec.co.uk




It sits by 40 sq miles of royal parkland that is Windsor Great Park and Windsor Forest, notoriously hard to get to/ find, with lengthy and confusing public transport access.
The grounds by the Virginia Water lake include Roman ruins, waterfalls, cenotaphs and rhododendron forests. The Valley Garden in May, when it becomes ahuge wonderland of blossoms,
is literally one of the world's most beautiful places imaginable:




https://www.windsorgreatpark.co.uk/e...valley-gardens


https://cdn.theatlantic.com

Sarah Fripp, www.sarahfrippmorrisphotography.com, Paul Bonnington, http://www.bonnington.org/photograph...nia-water.html







www.virginiawater.org.uk





One edge stops at Windsor Castle, the Queen's 1,000+ room holiday home






It ends (the 3 mile haunted Long Walk) at a ginormous statue of George III -the sculptor hanged himself of it after he forgot the stirrups


Last edited by muppet; Mar 4, 2021 at 8:15 PM.
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  #11  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2021, 8:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SIGSEGV View Post
The North Kenwood historic district is something largely unknown to most people:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8144...7i16384!8i8192

A lovely street to walk down.

WOW! Beautiful!!
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  #12  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2021, 9:29 PM
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BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir

BAPS_001 by jmancuso, on Flickr
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  #13  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2021, 12:44 AM
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Houston's Underground Cistern

The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern was an underground reservoir built in 1926. When they were building Buffalo Bayou park, they discovered the cistern. The Buffalo Bayou Partnership bought the cistern and decided to use it to display various public art exhibitions.


https://buffalobayou.org/visit/destination/the-cistern/


https://buffalobayou.org/visit/destination/the-cistern/


https://www.interiordesign.net/proje...de-resistance/


https://www.interiordesign.net/proje...de-resistance/


https://www.interiordesign.net/proje...de-resistance/
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  #14  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2021, 9:14 AM
Will O' Wisp Will O' Wisp is offline
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Junipero Serra Museum





A lot gets made of made of the gorgeous Spanish Revival architecture in Balboa Park, but this equally amazing example just a few miles away on Presidio Hill is much less well appreciated. A shame too, it's one of the nicest places in San Diego to watch the sunset (and around here, that's really saying something!)
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  #15  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2021, 4:14 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Double L View Post
Houston's Underground Cistern

The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern was an underground reservoir built in 1926. When they were building Buffalo Bayou park, they discovered the cistern. The Buffalo Bayou Partnership bought the cistern and decided to use it to display various public art exhibitions.
That looks amazing! It appears there have been some interesting exhibits...the one that opens this month sounds intriguing.

Copenhagen has a similar cistern gallery that features some pretty impressive exhibits and music events.
https://cisternerne.dk/en/
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Old Posted Mar 2, 2021, 4:53 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cirrus View Post
Well there are tons, but in the interest of keeping the thread manageable I'll pick just one.

In 1958 the US Capitol was renovated. Several of the original columns and other stonework were replaced. Some of the original pieces are prominently displayed in the National Arboretum, and well-known to locals if not to every out-of-town tourist. But others... were simply dumped in a quiet corner of the Rock Creek Park forest, and mostly forgotten. But if you know just where to look, you can find them:

Whoa thats bad ass. You would think people would have hauled that stuff away and sold it.
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  #17  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2021, 8:32 PM
badrunner badrunner is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by muppet View Post
Royal Holloway College, London outskirts



ummm... this is the opposite of secretive or hidden away. It's the loudest, most obnoxiously garish building I've ever seen.
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  #18  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2021, 8:47 PM
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^ Ok, but had you heard of it before seeing it in this thread? I had not.

There are probably way better examples of hidden gems around Southern California, but the first thing that popped into my head is the large public art installation by famed artist Isamu Noguchi called "California Scenario". It's in Costa Mesa (Orange County) behind a totally nondescript 80s office building, and across a giant road from the huge South Coast Plaza mall. I only found it because I had heard of it and knew where to look. You walk along a little sidewalk next to the building, and suddenly this beautiful installation appears. It's really surreal.







And here's the setting, including the building the piece sits behind:

street view:
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.6884...4!8i8192?hl=en

aerial:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/No....8822393?hl=en
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  #19  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2021, 8:50 PM
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^ Ok, but had you heard of it before seeing it in this thread? I had not.
Some things are better left unseen.
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  #20  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2021, 8:53 PM
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It's a beauty!
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