Branson MO. We only went there because my nephew was playing in an all-star basketball game at College of The Ozarks but I thought it might be fun. It was July last year and it was SO CROWDED I couldn't even believe there were so many people in one little town at one time!! I never need to go back there. Believe me, I didn't go there with high expectations to begin with and left amazed at how far below my mediocre expectations it was!

TEXAS

Brooklyn and Queens

Nashville, Opryland and Austin, TX. A half hour in each place is more than enough.

Obviously, much of this a matter of opinion, but I agree with some and disagree w/others:

Orlando -- agree
Germany -- disagree (the whole country's bad?!?)
Massachusetts -- disagree (the whole state's bad?!?)
Cape Cod -- mostly agree
Baltimore -- disagree; there are some great neighborhood spots
Clearwater -- agree
Quebec City -- disagree
Morocco -- mostly agree, but you have to be prepared for a different culture
Hershey -- mostly disagree. Of course you hated it -- the park was closed.

And I'll add:
Los Angeles -- I don't understand why people live there or visit
Anaheim -- there is no there there
Jacksonville -- ugly sprawl
Myrtle Beach -- over-built condos ringed by ramshackle trailer parks

You go Rick!! Cape Cod was the pits!! My family still says "Remember taht horrible vacation..." Hotel was $225 a nite for less than HJ. The "gracious host" tossed a packet of powder mix at my daughter at breakfast when she inquired if there was hot chocolate. The beach was all rocks with 10 miles of parking lot (when we LIVE 500 feet from the Atlantic Ocean and the most beautiful beach in NJ in teh summer, why did we drive?) the ocean was 55 and we had to explain why men were kissing and holding men walking down the street when we went to a whale boat in P'Town. The food was fast food with a few sea food thrown in for $$$$

Travel boy: People live in Los Angeles because the weather is good all year round -- and an hour from the beach, an hour from the mountains and snow, and an hour from the desert! And we don't worry about the rest of the world.

We were extremely disappointed in Asheville NC and somewhat let down by New Orleans.

Asheville did a great job of piquing my interest, but once you got there you realize it's just a little one horse town. Part of our Asheville trip was going to the Great Smoky Mountain NP (we loved it), which brought us through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg....YIKES! Why would anyone go to either of these cities on purpose?

New Orleans had a certain weird sleaziness that didn't settle well with me. We LOVED the food there, but the overall experience was disenchanting.

I have to agree with Quebec. While I thought Quebec City was lovely-- though touristy--one day was enough to see it. It might be a pleasant cruise stop. Montreal was less than anticipated and I was disappointed. I must temper this against my expectations. I have traveled to Western Canada on several occasions, as well as Alaska, and I was expecting more incredible vistas. The drive from Montreal to Quebec City was over terrain as flat as a pancake.

Montreal reminded me of Seattle without the Mt. Rainer. Some beautiful churches etc...but they were contained in a very small area of the city.

Other disappointments--the whole Orlando/Disneyworld experience and Baltimore--there may be a few nice areas, but as a whole --bleah.

New Hampshire's white mountains also were much shorter than I imagined.

Hell in Grand Cayman, a total pit! There is NOTHING there except a shop & a post office.

French Lick, IN - The hotel was nice, but there was nothing else there. The only restaurants were at the hotel & the golf club. We literally drove 1 hr to go to a movie theater.

Oklahoma and Boston...

1. Gatlinburg - rather visit a prison
2. Myrtle Beach (though environs are spectacular, check out Pawleys Island)
3. Delaware - grim in all respects
4. Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada
5. Utah, I just don't like the people
6. Houston for humidity and concrete
7. Dallas for lack of trees and class
8. Bari, Italy
9. Athens, Greece (violent and dirty)
10. Santiago, Chile (yellow air)
11. Taiwan - nice people, horrid place
12. Singapore - Stepford Wives Revisited with 100% humidity, leaves Houston in the dust for sheer wetness
13. Grand Intercontinental Hotel in Paris -- mean and nasty, terrible experience, almost ruined Paris after 25+ trips there
14. Any hotel in London that costs less than 250 BPS per day
15. Puerto Rico starting right at the airport
16. Aruba -- Germans who get up at 5AM to mark their chairs around the pool with a towel, very plastic, too windy, cold water, nothing Caribbean
17. Lima, Peru -- a real pit
18. White Castle restaurants
19. Madrid, Spain in anything less than a 5 star hotel
20. Anything remotely Disney

Have you travelled anywhere that you actually enjoyed?

If I only had six months to live (and who knows these days):

1. St. Barths and I might just stay there for the duration
2. Any European capital on a first class, 5 star budget
3. Israel, to revisit Jerusalem and Bethlehem (if it will ever again be possible)
4. San Francisco and maybe for the duration also
5. Brazil, all of it, any of it
6. Zermatt, St. Moritz, Meribel, Seefeld, Austria, Grindelwald, Lech and many other Alpine destinations
7. The Grand Canyon
8. Just driving across the American West with a great collection of CDs, some money in my pocket and no schedule at all
9. Kyoto, Japan (at least once, maybe not again in my remaining six months, ditto Hong Kong)
10. Venice and maybe for the duration
11. Berlin
12. St. Petersburg and I have never even been there yet
13. Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, ditto #12
14. The Hamptons
15. New York City on a 5 star budget
16. Lake Michigan
17. Yosemite Park
18. Los Angeles on a 5 star budget
19. Scubing diving on the Great Barrier Reef
20. Big Sur, maybe for the duration

Does that help?

You're so amusing Rick, with your constant Cape-bashing. No wonder you didn't like it, you visited the crummier towns, didn't have a clue as to where to stay, when to go (duh, the water is 55 degrees, big surprise if you go in May!), and couldn't even find the gorgeous, world class, always rated in the country's top ten beaches by Dr. Beach - National Seashore. How can anyone go to the Cape and be so off course so as to miss the charming towns like Chatham, Wellfleet and Brewster and end up instead in P-town?

Also, you don't stay in a motel at the Cape-Unless it's the Chatham Bars Inn, Wequassett Inn, or one of the other few fine lodgings. To get the real Cape experience you rent a charming, shingle cottage. You really missed the boat Rick when it comes to visiting the Cape. I bet you didn't even bike the rail trail. It's like going to Honolulu and thinking you visited Hawaii. Big disappointment, but that shouldn't be a surprise.

You know where Fodors is. Next time use it.

People live in Los Angeles since there's always something going on in town. Just wanted to point out that the weather forecast for tomorrow is 80 degrees in LA! Yahoo!!!

Kath,
I wouldn't change any plans because someone did not enjoy a place. I did not like my visit there so Quebec City is just not my thing but many people including my friends really love it.
It is just my personal opinion. Go and have fun
Some people don't like SF, for instance, I loved it

I sort-of figured my criticism of LA would draw some flack, and it's just the type I expected -- "We have better weather than you do!"

Only in LA is the weather considered a top cultural attraction.

BTW, the person who called Delaware "grim" must have missed Del.'s seashore. It's beautiful and one of the most underrated on the East Coast.

After a wonderful safari in Kenya, we decided to stay at a beach resort on the Indian Ocean near Mombasa--a complete waste of time. We did, however do an overnight from there to the island of Lamu, which was unique in every respect.

I was quite unimpressed with San Francisco. As a previous poster alluded to, the filthiness of the city is a big turnoff. I was surprised at how SF shuts down fairly early at night. I also have been to San Jose on business, and I was pleasantly surprised. It is a cosmopolitan city. I do get the sense that there are lots of people with significant money given the fact that people appear to be fashion and car conscious. That is not necessarily a bad thing. I like the fact that the weather was nice and the proximity to the ocean, about 40 minutes to the Monterey Bay Area.