Sunday, November 27, 2005
Why Washington is the best state ever!!
Derek and I occasionally participate in a message board for other Eastern European adoptions. It is known as FRUA. Every Friday everyone posts on a thread called "Friday Silliness". Due to the extended wait times, most parents decided that we needed a little humor in our lives. Hence Friday Silliness. This week we extended Friday Silliness to "Holiday Silliness". We recently posted Jeff Foxworthy's "You know you are from the Northwest when". This got us thinking... you know, the best stuff comes from Washington! So here is my list of things that originated in Washington that make it great. I dare you to post a comment telling me why your state is better than Washington. Come on... I dare you!!
1. Starbucks
2. Microsoft
3. Boeing
4. Costco
5. Taco Del Mar
6. Dick's Drive-In
7. Tim's Cascade Potato Chips
8. REI
9. Eddie Bauer
10. NORDSTROM
11. UPS (The big brown truck, not the school. Although the school is pretty cool too.)
12. Almond Roca
13. Pike's Place Market
14. Microbrews (ok, they didn't actually start in WA, but we started that trend)
15. Grunge music (I know this is passe, but you can't argue with old Pearl Jam)
16. Dale Chihuly Glass
So lets hear it. Why is your state better than ours?
Lisa
* The original list of Why Washington is the Greatest state was created totally out of my head. No internet intervention here people. With a little creative searching I am going to expand on the list.
** Although Starbucks may have been a rip-off of a California based company, the original is still at Pike's Place Market. I can also say that coffee from this Starbucks is much better than any other Starbucks I have been to.
*** Similarily, Microsoft is based in Redmond, but as many of you know Bill's Windows program is clearly an Apple rip off.
Here are a few other Seattle firsts/ originals/ greats:
J.P. Patches
The first espresso cart
The Space Needle
The Monorail (please don't judge us by the fact that the 2 trains crashed together this weekend)
Muzak (ok, so elevator music isn't that great, but I bet you didn't know it was from Seattle!)
The Wave (not started in the Kingdome like most think, rather started at Husky Stadium)
First US Team to ever win the Stanley Cup (the Seattle Metropolitains beat the Montreal Canadians in 1917)
I should stop right there since the hockey card trumps all other cards, but just to drive home my point here are a few more.
The classic Happy face
The first Hydroplane boat
World's first gas station
More glass blowing studios than anywhere else in the US
Seattle International Film festival is the largest in the country
Largest % of Library card holders (We are not only artsy, we are smart too)
Largest WiFi network in the world is at the Microsoft Headquarters
Pacific Northwest Ballet has the hightst per capita dance attendance in the US (and I have a friend who plays in their orchestra)
Northgate mall is the first covered shopping mall
Ok, I think that helps up my status.
Bring it on!!!
1. Starbucks
2. Microsoft
3. Boeing
4. Costco
5. Taco Del Mar
6. Dick's Drive-In
7. Tim's Cascade Potato Chips
8. REI
9. Eddie Bauer
10. NORDSTROM
11. UPS (The big brown truck, not the school. Although the school is pretty cool too.)
12. Almond Roca
13. Pike's Place Market
14. Microbrews (ok, they didn't actually start in WA, but we started that trend)
15. Grunge music (I know this is passe, but you can't argue with old Pearl Jam)
16. Dale Chihuly Glass
So lets hear it. Why is your state better than ours?
Lisa
* The original list of Why Washington is the Greatest state was created totally out of my head. No internet intervention here people. With a little creative searching I am going to expand on the list.
** Although Starbucks may have been a rip-off of a California based company, the original is still at Pike's Place Market. I can also say that coffee from this Starbucks is much better than any other Starbucks I have been to.
*** Similarily, Microsoft is based in Redmond, but as many of you know Bill's Windows program is clearly an Apple rip off.
Here are a few other Seattle firsts/ originals/ greats:
J.P. Patches
The first espresso cart
The Space Needle
The Monorail (please don't judge us by the fact that the 2 trains crashed together this weekend)
Muzak (ok, so elevator music isn't that great, but I bet you didn't know it was from Seattle!)
The Wave (not started in the Kingdome like most think, rather started at Husky Stadium)
First US Team to ever win the Stanley Cup (the Seattle Metropolitains beat the Montreal Canadians in 1917)
I should stop right there since the hockey card trumps all other cards, but just to drive home my point here are a few more.
The classic Happy face
The first Hydroplane boat
World's first gas station
More glass blowing studios than anywhere else in the US
Seattle International Film festival is the largest in the country
Largest % of Library card holders (We are not only artsy, we are smart too)
Largest WiFi network in the world is at the Microsoft Headquarters
Pacific Northwest Ballet has the hightst per capita dance attendance in the US (and I have a friend who plays in their orchestra)
Northgate mall is the first covered shopping mall
Ok, I think that helps up my status.
Bring it on!!!
8 Comments:
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My state is The Great State of Pennsylvania. Here are a few Pennsylvania firsts...
Pennsylvania Firsts:
Hospital, Library, Zoo, Newspaper, Nation's Capitol, all motion-picture theater, television broadcast, radio broadcast, educational public-television station, paper mill, druggist, locomotive for railroad use, high-speed multi-lane highway - the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Banana Split, electronic computer built, commercial use of computer, cable television, educational public television station, government low-interest, long term business financing program
I have to add that the Banana Split might have been enough... and I apologize for the whole television thing...
falcon
Bubble gum, Vaseline, zippers, Groundhog Day, Little League baseball, the state police force, the gas stations...
and crayola crayons...
oh, and these...
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
* Daily Newspaper – Pennsylvania Packet – 1784 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Commercial Radio Station – KDKA – 1920 – Pittsburgh, Allegheny County
* Public Television Station – WQED – 1954 – Pittsburgh, Allegheny County
* American Theatre – Walnut Street Theatre – 1809 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* All-motion Picture Theatre –The Nickelodeon – 1905 – Pittsburgh, Allegheny Counnty
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY
* World’s First Oil Well – Drake’s Well – 1819 - Titusville, Venango County
* Commercially Packaged Toilet Paper – 1857 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Windproof/waterproof lighter – Zippo – 1930 – Bradford, McKean County
* Slinky – 1948 – Hollidaysburg, Blair County
* World’s First Gas Station – Gulf Refining Company – 1913 – Pittsburgh, Allegheny County
* Jeep – Bantam Car Company – 1940 – Butler, Butler County
* Commercially useful nuclear power plant – 1957 – Shippingport, Beaver County
EDUCATION
* American Public School – 1698 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* American University – University of Pennsylvania – 1779 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Institute of Art – The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts – 1805 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Library – The Philadelphia Library – 1731 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Medical School – University of Pennsylvania – 1765 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Fully Electronic Computer – University of Pennsylvania – 1946 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
FINANCE
* United States Mint – 1792 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* American Stock Exchange – 1790 – Philadelphia,Philadelphia County
* Savings Bank – 1816 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* First Christmas Club – Carlisle Trust Company – 1909 – Carlisle, Cumberland County
* Modern Retail Bank – Philadelphia Savings Fund Society – 1780 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
FOOD
* Pretzel baked and bakery – 1784 – Lititz, Lancaster County –
* Brewery in the United States – Yuengling Brewery – 1829 – Pottsville, Schuylkill County
* Commercial bubble gum – 1928 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Carbonated water – 1807 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
GOVERNMENT & MILITARY
* Capital of the United States – 1777-1778 – York, York County
* American Flag – 1777 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Military training camp in the United States – 1792 – Beaver County
* American convention – 1787 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Meetings of Congress – 1774 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* First Fire Fighting Company – 1736 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
HEALTH & SCIENCE
* Oxygen discovered – 1774 – Joseph Priestley House – Northumberland, Northumberland County
* Independent Hospital - Pennsylvania Hospital – 1751 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* X-Ray taken – University of Pennsylvania – 1874 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Polio Vaccine – University of Pittsburgh – 1955 – Pittsburgh, Allegheny County
* Robotics Institute – Carnegie Mellon University – 1979 – Pittsburgh, Allegheny County
HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES
* Groundhog Day – 1884 – Punxsutawney, Jefferson County
* Memorial Day Observance – 1864 – Boalsburg, Centre County
* Mothers Day – 1914 – 11-year campaign led by Ann Jarvis – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Flag Day – 1912 – Allentown, Lehigh County
* Official Thanksgiving Day celebration – 1817 – Snyder County
SPORTS & LEISURE
* American Zoo – Philadelphia Zoo – 1874 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Oldest Golf Course in continuous use in U.S. – Foxburg Country Club – 1887 – Foxburg, Clarion County
* Professional Football Game – Jeanette vs. Latrobe – 1895 – Latrobe, Westmoreland County
* World’s Fair – 1876 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* Flower Show – 1829 – Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
* World Series – Pittsburgh vs. Boston – 1903 – Pittsburgh, Allegheny County
* World Series Night Game – Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore – 1971 – Pittsburgh, Allegheny County
TRANSPORTATION
* Turnpike in the United States – 1795 – Lancaster to Philadelphia
* Iron Bridge in the United States – 1839 – Brownsville, Fayette County
* Superhighway Toll Road – 1940 – Pennsylvania Turnpike
* Iron Steamboat – The Codurus – 1825 – Susquehanna River – Wrightsville, York County
* Steam Locomotive to run on a railroad track in the United States – The Stourbridge Lion – 1829 – Wayne County
* Electrically Powered Street Car – Scranton Suburban Railway –1826 – Scranton, Lackawanna County
* Hard Surfaced Runway – Allegheny County Airport – 1931 – West Mifflin, Allegheny County
* State to put its website on state license plates – 2000 – Harrisburg, Dauphin County
... but it is late and I'm tired.
best,
falcon
Electricity Firsts in Pennsylvania
1752 - Philadelphia
Benjamin Franklin uses a kite and a key to prove that lightning is electricity
1846 - Philadelphia
An office of the Magnetic (Morse) Telegraph company is established
1868 - Cumberland Valley
Daniel Drawbaugh invents an electric clock
1875 - Philadelphia
The world's first radio operates, invented by Boys' Central High School professor Elihu Thomson
1877 - Philadelphia
Professor Thomson becomes the first cook to use electricity, boiling an egg using a coil of silver wire immersed in water
1878 - Philadelphia
Shoppers browse under electric lights for the first time, at the John Wanamaker store
1880 - Chester
The world's first ship with an electric lighting system, the S.S. Columbia, is launched
1883 - Sunbury
The first central power station using the Edison three-wire, double-voltage system begins operating
1885 - Pittsburgh
Westinghouse Electric develops the alternating current, allowing long-distance transmission of electricity for the first time
1891 - Bessemer
The Carnegie Steel Company installs the first electrical steel mill equipment at its Edgar Thomson Works
1903 - Scranton
A breakthrough in mass transit - the first experimental trolley coach line, with cars powered by a two-wire, overhead system, is installed
1920 - Pittsburgh
The electronic mass media debuts when radio station KDKA begins broadcasting regularly scheduled programs
1924 - Pittsburgh
Television is born, with the first complete system developed by Vladimir K. Zworykin in the Westinghouse research laboratories
1928 - The Mid-Atlantic
The first major electric utility power pool, the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection, is formed
1941 - Philadelphia
Medical science leaps forward when a University of Pennsylvania electron microscope magnifies the influenza virus 65,000 times, allowing it to be photographed for the first time
1957 - Shippingport
America's first commercial nuclear power plant begins generating electricity
1977 - Shippingport
The first water breeder reactor begins operation
In fact, I'm using it right now to post this!
best, falcon
Washington State: Great state, was born there (Tacoma), lived in Puget Sound area for 26 years. So I can confirm most of the original list of good things about Washington State.
Pennsylvania: Also a great state... Didn't see, though, where Falcon mentioned Three Mile Island - another Pennsylvia landmark :)
But for Greatest State... I'd have to choose the State we moved to when we left Washington State:
Virginia is for Lovers!
Just a few notable folks from Virginia (short list):
Politicians?
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Patrick Henry
Woodrow Wilson
James Monroe
Zachary Taylor
John Tyler
Athletes?
Arthur Ashe
Fran Tarkington
Sam Snead
Musicians?
Ella Fitzgerald
Pearl Bailey
The Carter Family (most influential country musicians)
June Carter Cash
Patsy Cline
Roy Clark
The Statler Brothers (get the “country connection” in Virginia?)
The Newtons… (Wayne and Juice)
Others?
Robert E. Lee, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
Pocahontas
Booker T. Washington
Warren Beatty (and his famous sister)
Things to see and do?
Experience 4 amazing, beautiful and distinct seasons – hot lazy summers, fall colors and dry leaves blowing around the yard, snowy winters and white Christmas’s, flowers/trees bursting in the Spring
Blueridge Mountains, Skyline drive when the fall colors arrive
Floating on a lazy afternoon down the Shenandoah River
Picnic in Harpers Ferry by the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers
Walk around inside the amazing Luray Caverns
Visit Arlington Cemetery, watch silently as the Sentinels change guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Walk around Mannasas (Bull Run) and Appomatox – where the Civil war started and ended
Have lunch in Middleburg, center of the Virginia’s rolling green horse country
Enjoy Jamestown (first settlement in the New World), Yorktown (where the American Revolution ended), or Williamsburg, where the fundamental concepts of our republic were formed
Like navy ships and the like? The US Navy’s entire Atlantic Fleet is based here (Norfolk Naval Station has everything from subs to carriers)
Spend a week at Chincoteague Island (quaint fishing village), swim in warm ocean water, and visit the wild ponies on nearby Assateague Island (Misty is not there anymore though)
Great art gallery in Alexandria in
what used to be the biggest Torpedo Factory in the US
Other interesting tidbits?
Got a friend who works for the “State Department”? – he/she probably works for the CIA, headquartered in Langley, Virginia … or maybe at the Pentagon – also in Virginia
Remember the Dew Drop Inn from “The Waltons”?
Antiques galore, some you can buy from 200 year old farms
You like peanut butter? Peanuts were first grown in Virginia
Thanksgiving? Started in Virginia
The worlds only Oyster Museum is in Virginia (although I much prefer Willapa Bay oysters to Chesapeake Bay oysters)
I have traveled the US coast to coast and I believe Virginia is the most beautiful state in the Union.
True, it is not Pennsylvania, but it also was a colony. True, taxes are too high there, but every original state has had 200 years to figure out how to fleece us thoroughly.
Washington...
I see I shamed you into extensively revising your remarks! I like Washington. Great state. Also pretty beautiful. California has sent a great many fruits, nuts and flakes your way over the past 20 years, but then look what they did to Montana (I've lived there too). You should be proud.
BUT
neither of you has Hershey.
In closing, I confess last night to liberal cutting and pasting. It was late. Again, sorry we created that TV thing. It is truly a barren wasteland. But what would your childhood have been like without slinkys and crayola crayons? Hmmmm? Or gum? Or trips to the zoo? Or little league, or the world series? Or petrochemicals? Or electricity?
I am just really efficient. I have 3 (very part-time) jobs. I ring in our church handbell choir (although I have been given a mandatory rest period due to previous surgery) and I have an impending international adoption.
That being said, I also have access to our church's laptop that has a wireless internet card. And of course Derek had to go and install a wireless internet router in our house. Therefore, the newness of sitting on the sofa and surfing the internet has not yet worn off. Yes, I indeed have way too much time on my hands.
Guess I should think about doing some of that work stuff.
Home to the Rock & Roll Hall of fame
Indians & browns
The flats
We experience all four seasons
Home of the orginal stadium Mustard
World Class Cleveland Clinic
Awesome Metro parks
Thats all i can think of for now-