If the girls visited your town...

[starrynight]

...what do you think they would do? Who would would enjoy what? Would anyone not like it at all?

I'm from Seattle, so I'm in an interesting situation; some of the BSC actually DID visit my city in SS #14! I think Kristy and Abby would enjoy all the sports, and Dawn and Claudia would probably like the Pike Place Market. Not only are there lots of organic foods, but there's a lot of handmade jewelry and crafts. Claudia would also likely enjoy the Seattle Art Museum, and the Seattle Asian Art Museum. There's some pretty swanky shopping downtown that would appeal to Stacey, and I bet Mary Anne would like to take a Harbor Tour or ferry ride or go up in the Space Needle (anything touristy). I can't see anyone but maybe Logan not really liking the city; there's a lot of variety. I think Logan might not be crazy about it because he just doesn't seem like a city guy to me.

[blossom114]

Hmmmm...well i'm originally from st. Louis..so I prefer to talk about that place rather than Houston...
St. Louis is a big sports town... Kristy would probably want to see a Cardinals game, or a Rams or Blues game depending on the season (did she ever mention liking hockey or football?) ...ABby too.
Claud would love the art museum
Mallory and Jessi would LOVE to go to Grants Farm and see the Clydesdales...and the zoo too of course.
I'm sure Mary Anne would go up into the arch and start quoting facts about how it's the tallest national monument in the country, and it's 630 feet tall, and the bases are 630 feet apart... i'm starting to sound like her...
i really dont know about anyone else....
Stacey would probably like the GAlleria Mall...and start comparing the "metrolink" to NYC's subway...even thoug it's aboveground...

[aln1982]

^ Hmmm. I'd have to think more about this but right away I think MA would love my town since it's a "quaint" little tourist town on Lake MI. Stacey would probably be bored, Claud might enjoy the art fair we have every year, and Mal and Jessi would love coming to visit me to see my horses ;D
Not sure about Dawn or Kristy, though. Dawn probably wouldn't find enough health food and there are no big sports events or anything, though we are fairly close to Chicago and Detroit so maybe Kristy could take a day trip.
This is a very interesting thing for me to consider. Now I'm imagining showing the BSC around my town (okay, I'm very weird, I know ;D)

[ringdings]

Claudia, Abby, and Stacey have already visited Philadelphia in Claudia and the World’s Cutest Baby. Claudia would go back for the museums (really nice ones), there are sports teams for Abby and Kristy (another baseball cap for Kristy─don’t know why she didn’t go in BSC in USA), lots of historic sites for Mary Anne, quaint little streets for Mallory and horse-drawn carriages for her and Jessi, some nice boutiques for Stacey, and a great ballet troupe for Jessi. Our mayor recently made an announcement to have the city reduce greenhouse gases, so Dawn will be happy about his commitment to the environment. Philly also has a large concentration of colleges, so lots of cute boys for the obligatory holiday romance.

[mckay]

I live in NYC, so they've been here often! One thing that never happened though, is Dawn visiting the organic food market on saturdays in Union Square Park. I guess it probably didn't exist when the books were written.

[aln1982]

I forgot that Dawn might like visiting the beach in my town but would probably be really disappointed because the lake is much different than the Ocean and there is no surfing ;D
I'm not sure about Abby. Other than soccer and Elvis, what are her interests?

[Lauren]

I think Claudia would like the Dogwood Art Festival we have every April, Kristy would like all the sports at UTenn, and Stacey would go crazy over all the college guys.

[alula]

I grew up outside of Chicago (and don't really feel especially settled any place else yet), so like starrynight, I had a few of the BSC in my city in SS #14, although I don't think they did it justice. (And I thought it was really rude of everyone else to be such brats when Claudia was at the Art Institute.)

Kristy: There's lots of sports in Chicago, but the most historically interesting place, especially for a baseball fan, is Wrigley Field (as opposed to U.S. Cellular Park, or whatever it is the White Sox play at now). Because I'm kind of a brat myself, I'm imagining Kristy getting into a loud argument with a Cubs fan, because really, Cubs fandom isn't so much about the play as it is a way of life.

Mary Anne: MA seems to have kind of a soft spot for things like going to the top of the Sears Tower, riding the ferris wheel at Navy Pier--very tourist-y things. I also have a feeling she would really like the Colleen Moore fairy castle ( www.msichicago.org/exhibit/fairy_castle/fchome.html ) at the Museum of Science and Industry. God, I loved that thing when I was little.

Claudia: The Art Institute again, of course, (the rest of them can go down and hang out in the children's room if they're going to act like babies--it was just ranked the best in the nation), but there are a bunch of other good art museums, too--the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Terra Museum of American Art, and all the college and university museums, especially the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago.

Stacey: Lots of shopping, of course--I have a feeling Stacey would particularly like Michigan Ave, which isn't really my thing, but there are lots of privately owned boutiques if you get off the Magnificent Mile. A lot of really neat upscale consignment shops and vintage stores, too, although that may be more a Claudia thing. It's possible Stacey might try to be snobby about Chicago as compared to New York. This is a foolish thing to do. (Although our mass transit is worse than NYC, and I will stipulate that.)

Dawn: The Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium both have pretty heavy conservation/environmentalism slants in their exhibitions, as does the Brookfield Zoo (which technically isn't in Chicago proper, but whatever). There are a bunch of companies that do Chicago "ghost" tours, too--I've never been on one in Chicago, although I've been in other cities. Again, I'm a brat, and it would be pretty funny to get her onto one of the Upton Sinclair-styled tours of the meatpacking history of Old Chicago for the lol factor. (No, I've never taken one, but my brother had to for school. I've never even read The Jungle all the way through.)

Mallory: Eh, what does Mallory do when they go places? Besides spend all her money on hair dye and make-up? In theory, Chicago has a terrifically rich literary history, but if Mal's still in her mice-in-hightops phase, she might not really appreciate that so much. I'm sure she could find some guy in a trenchcoat to suspect of being a mobster or something. (I'm serious--when I've traveled abroad and said I was in Chicago, one of the first things people say, still, is "Oh, Al Capone, yes?" and depending on how good their English is (or my whatever is), helpfully mime shooting a gun. So I can totally see Mal getting into Mafia fantasy spying).

Jessi: There's a lot of good dance in Chicago, and the Joffrey Ballet, as I understand it, is running in pretty close competition with the ABT this season. There are also a lot of black people, and you know, I hate to just say it like that, but Jessi's black. Seriously, though, there are lots of African and African-American focused theaters and dance troupes and concert halls, as well as museum exhibits and tours and stuff.

Abby: I feel old, because I don't remember if they have an age restriction for all the shows at Second City (I know some of them do--it's not 21, because I went when I was in my late teens), but there are a bunch of other Chicago-based improv troupes, too.

[ringdings]

^^alula, I was just going to add that there are a lot of black people in Philly, and an African-American museum, so Jessi would feel very comfortable there.

[starrynight]

You know, now I really want to read a BSC in Chicago Super Special....there'd be plenty of stuff for them to each have their own storyline.

[sotypical42483]

I live right outside of Phoenix. Me and Kristy could go to basketball games (not sure if she likes basketball at all but I don't want to sit through baseball! lol). There are tons of malls for Stacey/Claudia. Stacey would love Scottsdale Fashion Square. I'd go there with her! Dawn would probably enjoy the heat, but there isn't a beach for her. We could head up to a lake though. I have no clue what Mal/Jessi/Abby would enjoy. Oh wait we have the Grand Canyon for Abby! duhhh Oooh I'd take Dawn to my fave restaurant, Green. Oh the other girls would die It's all vegetarian, she would adore it.

[Lauren]

I think Jessi would enjoy the Kuumba Festival we have each June and maybe seeing Ramsey place. Mary Anne would probably go to Fort Dickerson, White's Fort, and World's Fair Park. Abby might enjoy the music scene here. Not really sure what the rest of them would enjoy here. Guess they could go to Dollywood if nothing else interested them.

[bscfan81]

The girls would probably ALL be bored if they came to my town. With a population of about 5,000 people, the place isn't exactly hopping.

If they came in the fall, Claudia and Mary Anne would love Home Crafts Days, while Kristy would probably hang out at one of the local football games. Stacey would be bored out of her mind, Dawn would probably organize a mass clean-up of the park (which isn't that bad), and Mal might like the John Fox Museum, since he was an author from our hometown.

I'm not sure about Logan, Abby, Shannon, and Jessi.

If they arrived in the summer, they all might like the Trail of the Lonesome Pine Outdoor Drama. Beyond that, I'm clueless.

By the way, Gracie: how close are you to Dollywood? I live about 3 hours away, in VA.

[Lauren]

^
We're about 45 minutes from Dollywood. We haven't had a chance to go there yet though.

[aln1982]

starrynight said:

You know, now I really want to read a BSC in Chicago Super Special....there'd be plenty of stuff for them to each have their own storyline.

That does sound great! I live about 2.5 to 3 hours from Chicago is all so I suppose the BSC could go there if they visited my town. I think Stacey would definitely want to stay there the whole time while MA might just want to stay here. If Andrew Brewer came along, he would want to stay in my town to see all the boats (I'm thinking of his fascination with boats in Shadow Lake) ;D