If you are a tourist and you know it (and proud of it), clap your hands!
 

All this anti-tourist and anti-tourist trap stuff is getting on my nerves.

I am a tourist - and PROUD OF IT!

I am also a traveler and proud of it.

Clap, clap!

Well, I sort of agree with you.

I really do feel sorry for the people who are so "anti tourist" that they avoide the best offerings of places because they think they will be too touristy. The reason most places are famous and popular with tourists is because they are so special!

And the idea of avoiding restaurants because tourists go there is sooooo archaic. There are many, many very wise tourists these days who have already sought out the best restauarants in certain locations. To think you you are going to a city and discover the perfect restaurant that other tourists don't yet know about is a real long shot.

And frankly, I have no reason to be embarrassed or ashamed if someone spots me walking down a street somewhere far from home and suspects that I am an American tourist. NONE.

Bravo, Encore, clap, clap, clap!

People on this board make fun of me all the time for loving Pedro's South of the Border and it doesn't get any more touristy than that.

Sometimes ultra-touristy is just what the doctor ordered :)

My husband chooses Bubba Gumps in Monterey for his birthday dinner every year. He loves it and we always have a really good time.

Aw GoT...we love ya even if you do love that place. :)

Actually, it's probably been 40 years since I've been there and I don't remember the spot at all, or what was there, just the signs leading up to it.
You should start a thread on "Why to stop at South of the Border".

Every time I read, "I want to avoid the touristy parts of town, or touristy restaurants" I scratch my head for the very reasons given above. Those spots are touristy for a good reason. Well, there are some exceptions, I guess. I would have you avoid River St in Savannah after a quick pass through to look at the historic buildings...then GTH outta there!! And that mountain town in TN that begins with a G and ends with a G. LOL

I agree completely, OO - with River Street and G....g. I used to think the same about Myrtle Beach, but I've enjoyed my business trips there this year. Of course, I used to trash Panama City Beach, but my Buckhead friend (old Atlanta money) is considering investing there. He swears it is ungoing revitalization. Old money like that tend to avoid the manufactured enviroments such as Seaside, Watercolor, etc - for better or worse.

I despise the threads on the Europe board on how to dress so you won't look like a tourist in Paris, etc. Chances are, locals will just assume you are a tourist - no matter what you are wearing. I agree with Neo - what in the WORLD is the problem with that!?!? They are very happy to have you there, spending euros. No. Big. Deal.

I LOVE you guys!!! My thoughts exactly....I can't wait to be a TOURIST in NYC!!!!
Shadow

I want to be a tourist in SO many places!!!!!! Yea, the Europe thing is just out of hand sometimes. I often think of someone going to Paris for the first time: "did you go to the Eiffle Tower, or the Louvre, Sacre Coeur etc?" Answer: " Well, no, they are just too touristy." I mean COME ON!!!!! So, clap, clap, clap!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, the fashion posts on the Europe board that always end in a snotty "well, if you want to look like a tourist" get to me. Who cares - I am a tourist and having a great time!

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Personally, I think a lot of touristy places are overrated and too crowded. I prefer to blend in with the locals and go far off the beaten path.

But I have to admit, some touristy places are that way because they really are worth visiting.

At the same time, some of these places that USED to be nice have been overrun with scheming merchants trying everything & anything to make an extra buck off innocent tourists. I don't care for that at all, and avoid these people/places like the plague.

I say, to each his (her) own. Do whatever you like - it's YOUR vacation! Only you know what appeals to you.

(a half a clap?)

=D> =D> My name is AnnMarie and I am a tourist...it's been five weeks since my last trip... =D> =D>

GoT, DH and I drove by that place a hundred times, we've taken pictures of the funny billboards leading up to it but never stopped. You have inspired me--the next time we find ourselves on that section of I-95 we are stopping at South of The Border! Would Pedro keed you? ;-)

Has anyone noticed that it's always &quot;trainers&quot; that get the bad rap on the Europe board...no one ever says &quot;running shoes&quot; are gauche? Is there a distinction? Trainers certainly <i>sound</i> worse (as in training wheels for a tourist! LOL)

I had never heard of trainers before frequenting these boards...?? If they are good enough for NYers to walk around NYC in, why aren't they good enough for European cities? (Trust me, I'd read enogh here to be totally paranoid and left them home. :) )

OO, your post reminded me of a conversation I had with a NYC born, bred, gonna live there 'till I die man I met at skate camp. He bought a pair of sneakers, or whatever they're called these days!, to walk around in while in Aspen--I asked him if he wore sneakers in the City and he bristled! Shudder the thought!! I found his reaction amusing.

Totally agree about the dressing to match part, full clap for that one, I'm proud to be a tourist and who I am, regardless of where I am.

But on the other touristy count, only about a half a clap. I'm totally on the same page as travel addict on that one. I just went to Niagara Falls, for instance, and wish I would NOT have stayed at the Falls there- even with a Fallview room. I should have seen it, participated in a few of the activities, and left for the River and other areas. I should know better by now.

I too, just about 50% of the time, but maybe even a little more, like the areas away from the main tourist drag much more than the &quot;parts&quot; you hear fawned on in print and here. Another great example is center (and it HAS changed) Strip in Vegas. I despised staying in that area, I felt like I was in a people zoo.

I could name a few more in Europe etc. but I won't.

Navy Pier and Fisherman's Wharf- two other places that made my eyes glaze over. And nearly everything with T-shirt, jewelry, ice cream, and fudge shops predominating in the entourage.

Now there are some places that HAVE lived up to their hype, but not by any means all of them. Public taste is not discerning, IMHO.

I never heard the word &quot;trainers&quot; until I read Harry Potter - possibly an English term? Either way - trainers, tennis shoes, running shoes, sneakers - saw plenty of people wearing them in Germany this summer, saw plenty of them in the stores.

Honk Honk! Honk Honk!!

I LOVE Pedro's South of the Border, lol. It was the only thing that kept me from dropping my kids off on the side or the road on the way to Myrtle Beach! ;) They were very entertained by the billboards, lol. :D