Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with offbeat

Down and Out in Paris and London

the NATURAL — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:45:12 -0800

LondonFilter, ParisFilter: I'll be in London and Paris for about a week, starting next week. What are the coolest, most-offbeat, least-overplayed activities/destinations for a young (21) traveler? Yeah, yeah. The Louvre, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London -- all that stuff is great, but I'd like to do and see things during my two weeks in Paris and London that hinge on me being young and fun. (Disclaimer: I'm not discounting the value and coolness of museums, but on limited time and money, offbeat is better.)

So, MeFites, what can I do? Ideally these activities will be within the Paris and London metro areas, moderately easy to access via tube (or whatever France has), and edgy but not dangerous. (i.e., I shan't be buying hard drugs under bridges like Russell Brand.)

Bonus points for good food and good photo ops (for my Rebel XT, you see).

Cheers!

Setting up weird-news email alert for just OR and WA?

gottabefunky — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:49:34 -0800

How can I set up an automatic email notification thing for news-of-the-weird type stuff as it happens in Oregon and Washington (not DC)? Google alerts doesn't seem this customizable. CNN news alerts do, maybe. Any other options?

Hey! Let's wear food service hairnets to an art gallery opening!

Stewriffic — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:00:38 -0800

Please help me compile a list of offbeat things to do with a friend or friends, to serve as a reference for when I'm sick of the same old plans. I've had some of the best times of my life doing harmless, silly activities with friends, but my creativity quotient is running low these days. I'm getting bored with the "go to a museum" "go to a book-signing" "volunteer" "get a beer" "take a walk" "shoot pool" "go bowling" outings and would like to get some ideas.

Apparently, xkcd had a list of date ideas that would serve as a good example of the kinds of things I'm looking for. I can't find it online, but check out this blog post, which references it.

Please don't limit your responses by geography--urban, suburban, rural scenarios are all good. I have access to all of these things. Also, though I'm approaching this as friend-level activities, feel free to list good stuff for dates, as well.

Surely there's weirdness in NE PA?

killerinsideme — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:45:33 -0800

Some weekend this January or maybe February my boyfriend and I will be making our way from our home in Philly to Stroudsburg, PA to partake in some indoor go-karting activities (as a belated Xmas gift for him), and to get the hell out of town to a destination other than relatives. It's a bit of a hike and, like I said, we need to get out of the city for a bit. If we tried to make a weekend of it, is there some offbeat stuff we could do as we make our way along 476N to Allentown, 78E past Bethlehem to Easton, and 209N to Stroudsburg (and back)? I mean goofy museums, odd shopping, strange places to stay, weird photo ops. I saw a billboard for an Unclaimed Freight store and I'm checking roadsideamerica.com, but I'm not coming up with much as you can see and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Seeking Offbeat, Non-Chain Lodging within 2 hours of L.A.

Scram — Sat, 20 May 2006 12:56:43 -0800

For a late June, post-wedding escape from L.A., my groom and I would like to find an off-the-beaten-path town/hotel. Our requirements must be odd, of which ...because I've searched the archives, but haven't seen a question quite like ours here.

After our complex and batty wedding, we'll want to get away for a couple of days. We don't need to go far from L.A. (120 mile radius), or do anything especially spendy, but we do want to find a neat place to sleep with interesting things nearby to explore.

Our ideal day might include roaming around a garden, hitting a few thrift stores, grazing on carne asada tacos from some fabulous shack (or anything involving dumplings), driving around checking out old signs, hiking up to a hot spring and exploring an area that's not yet succumbed to the mallifaction of chain stores and neo-Tuscan stucco condos.

We're architecture geeks, so historic lodgings would be ideal, though we're a bit scared of frou-frou Victorian bed and breakfast decor. Weird is good: haunted, eccentric (but not boring) proprietors, pet llamas, former mental hospital, sleep in a jail cell (anyone has any experience with this place?), and similar.

So if you have any leads on neglected, charming, oddball Southern Californian destinations, we'd love to hear em. Thanks!

Offbeat New Years fun in NYC?

gottabefunky — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 17:20:19 -0800

What's something nontraditional, offbeat, fun, and ideally artistic and cheap to do in NYC on New Year's Eve? This is for a small group of early-30-somethings, mostly visual artists and writers, always up for something unusual, and if it involves good tunes, dancing, art-making, or the like, all the better.