Is there anything wrong with tourist traps?

[bcla]

I know there's that negative connotation of places that are really just made for tourists. Near where I live I've taken the family to Fishermans Wharf or Chinatown in San Francisco. There are of course functioning parts of those places. Fishermans Wharf still has operating fishing boat fleets and Chinatown still has tons of regular grocery shopping. Grant St is where most of the kitschy touristy stuff is, while Stockton St and nearby is where the locals actually go to shop.

I just found myself doing the semi-local tourist stuff, and for all the ridicule that it gets, these places are kind of fun. I know there's a lot of discussion about "authenticity", but sometimes it's just fun to engage in the silliness. For instance, I took the family to a well known chain restaurant (let's just say it's based on a movie) and frankly had a good time. The interior was supremely cheesy and the menu was overpriced (we saved by coming in for happy hour). However, the service was fine and the food was actually quite acceptable.

 

[mjkacmom]

I'd say no, since these boards are based on one of the best known tourist traps on earth.

 

[Squirlz]

Heck no! I love Gatlinburg, and Duval Street in Key West.

 

[ronandannette]

I know there's that negative connotation of places that are really just made for tourists. Near where I live I've taken the family to Fishermans Wharf or Chinatown in San Francisco. There are of course functioning parts of those places. Fishermans Wharf still has operating fishing boat fleets and Chinatown still has tons of regular grocery shopping. Grant St is where most of the kitschy touristy stuff is, while Stockton St and nearby is where the locals actually go to shop.

I just found myself doing the semi-local tourist stuff, and for all the ridicule that it gets, these places are kind of fun. I know there's a lot of discussion about "authenticity", but sometimes it's just fun to engage in the silliness. For instance, I took the family to a well known chain restaurant (let's just say it's based on a movie) and frankly had a good time. The interior was supremely cheesy and the menu was overpriced (we saved by coming in for happy hour). However, the service was fine and the food was actually quite acceptable.

One person's "tourist trap" is another person's iconic experience. We covered all the bases in Europe recently - and got some feedback that places like the royal palace in Monaco and the Trevi Fountain in Rome were "tourist traps". OTOH, the literal definition of "made for tourists" are those private island port stops many cruise ships make and so many people love. We've got no interest in them.

 

[aristocatz]

My DH & I just visited a tourist trap seafood joint in the town where my parents live. We have tons of family out there, and I grew up spending my summers in that area, so I don't consider myself a tourist. My parents offered to watch our kids for the night, so we thought we'd check it out. Food was awesome-fresh off the boat, beer was cold, beautiful view, and the employees seemed to have their crowd control skills down to a science, so the wait was short. Prices were surprisingly reasonable for a restaurant on the main strip of a beach town during the summer.

The only frustrating part was......well, the tourists! Parents not watching their kids, kids extra hyper because they are on vacation, grown-ups not watching where they are walking, talking loud, drinking too much because they are on vacation, etc... We expected this atmosphere because its a tourist trap restaurant.

 

[amberpi]

Heck no! I love Gatlinburg, and Duval Street in Key West.

I'll be in Gatlinburg next week! My best girlfriend owns a cabin up there so we'll go up for a few days randomly pretty often.

 

[amberpi]

I love a good tourist trap - like Vegas, Gatlinburg, WDW.

I HATE the Nashville honky tonk scene though. Of course, I don't care for country music, so that's part of it.

 

[mamacatnv]

I know there's that negative connotation of places that are really just made for tourists. Near where I live I've taken the family to Fishermans Wharf or Chinatown in San Francisco. There are of course functioning parts of those places. Fishermans Wharf still has operating fishing boat fleets and Chinatown still has tons of regular grocery shopping. Grant St is where most of the kitschy touristy stuff is, while Stockton St and nearby is where the locals actually go to shop.

I just found myself doing the semi-local tourist stuff, and for all the ridicule that it gets, these places are kind of fun. I know there's a lot of discussion about "authenticity", but sometimes it's just fun to engage in the silliness. For instance, I took the family to a well known chain restaurant (let's just say it's based on a movie) and frankly had a good time. The interior was supremely cheesy and the menu was overpriced (we saved by coming in for happy hour). However, the service was fine and the food was actually quite acceptable.

Nope - one man's trap is another's treasure. Personally. I hate Fisherman's Wharf, (Pier 39) it is sooooo crowded with IMO sub-par food and cheesy shops but I enjoy the promenade along the water towards the Ferry Bldg (Bay Bridge) some really great restaurants, views and the Exlporatorium. I also enjoy the majority of the wharf to Ghirardelli Square.

Cable Cars are a treat and China Town is my favorite place, although like you mentioned, we avoid Grant St and stick to Stockton or the back alleys - I love to wander thru the Chinese markets, the abundance of things I have never seen never ceases to amaze me and our favorite restaurant is on Washington St. We have enjoyed several of the City Tours walking Tours.
That is me. My DD loves Pier 39, she loves the sea lions and the street performers. I admit, when I was younger, I too enjoyed these things.

I think it all comes down to whatever floats ones boat and makes them happy.

 

[SallySkelington]

I'm all for tourist traps, since I'm usually the tourist.

Personally, I think they're fun. It's rare that I find one I don't like.

 

[rastahomie]

As others have said, the difference between a Tourist Trap and a legitimate destination is your point of view. *ahem* Walt Disney World!

Even admittedly cheesy tourist traps I love! I'd love to get to Gatlinburg again! And Vegas! The Wisconsin Dells are on my Bucket List. Also Solvang, CA.

However, I make it a point to avoid Branson like the plague. As The Simpsons famously said, "Branson is what Las Vegas would be if it was designed by Ned Flanders."

 

[loves to dive]

I love em, I try to mix my trips up with the tourist thing and then seek out the out of the way local stuff. I think the only place I will not go is Cherokee, NC although I do love the living village just not the tourist part of town. It makes me sad.

 

[MillauFr]

Pier 39 in SF is equivalent to the Seattle Waterfront. There are a couple decent places but most stores are junky stores selling poor quality t-shirts and crappy knickknacks. There are plenty of people shopping there though. I don't understand the draw at all.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We like some of the tourist traps. Even the local ones. We also generally find some out-of-the-way places and have a good time there, too. On our annual lakes vacation when the kids were growing up we regularly hit some of the tourist traps but also discovered local swimming holes, rope swings under covered bridges, hidden paths and diving docks, etc.

Speaking of San Francisco, I think we hit all of the tourist traps and we loved it there. (As I said on another thread, to us it was a lot like Boston.) I do remember driving in Chinatown one evening and a guy was beating a woman up in a parking lot! We also took a helicopter ride and the pilot purposefully scared the crap out of me. Aside from that, though, it was lots of fun, and I would love to go back again.

One that comes to mind more recently... South of the Border! We had actually never driven to FL before except this once when DS was looking at a college down there. It was sort of last minute, so we drove. The only thing we really knew about South of the Border was that we'd seen a lot of their bumper stickers on cars up north, and it seemed like an ok place to stop. Unfortunately our drive brought us there around 4:30 in the morning, and once we got there we were like this doesn't really seem the way it was presented in the pictures, lol. Nonetheless, we were able to get coffee from a freshly-brewed pot in the gas station, so that made us happy! We did skidaddle rather quickly, tho!

 

[bcla]

Pier 39 in SF is equivalent to the Seattle Waterfront. There are a couple decent places but most stores are junky stores selling poor quality t-shirts and crappy knickknacks. There are plenty of people shopping there though. I don't understand the draw at all.

I have my favorite places there. I grew up in the Bay Area and I frankly don't need any of the things that the tourist shops sell. However, some of the food can be good, even though it's overpriced. It's also got the Bay Area's highest concentration of kitschy chain restaurants associated with tourist destinations, like Rainforest Cafe, Joe's Crab Shack, Hard Rock Cafe, Bubba Gump's, etc. There was the only Hooter's in San Francisco, but that closed shop. And if you're there at just the right time there are a bunch of cheap happy hour specials (a previous topic). McCormick & Kuleto's at Ghirardelli Square has a great $5.50 burger and fries.

The walk along the waterfront is great though. There's a small beach along San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.

 

[mousehockey37]

What's wrong with tourist traps....

THE TOURISTS!

The past 3 places I've lived were either near, in, or around Tourist trap locations, and it's the tourists that get to be the problem. It's mostly on the roads because, well, as tourists do, they gawk around, don't pay attention, have little idea where they are going, and then above all else... They have the vacation entitlement. This just isn't a Disney thing, it's a vacationers everywhere thing. Disney just takes the cake with it because we're always hearing the stories start with "I paid so much to.....".

Unlike Disney though, the tourist areas I've lived around were all seasonal, and after Labor Day things wind down and people went away. The places return to "normal", roads are drive-able again, you can go shopping once more, etc.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I've lived my whole life in either Orlando or NYC, so I've learned to live with tourist traps and the tourists that are there year-round.

I think it depends on the quality of the trap. I will never understand why someone would eat at the Olive Garden in Times Square when you have some of the best local Italian cuisine in the country nearby (but I also find TS aggravating most of the time).

Personally I love kitsch, so things like Gatorland, Weeki Wachee, anything retro would pull me in. And I love theme parks.

 

[L&Lfan]

I always thought it was Grant Avenue, San Francisco from Flower Drum Song...but are y'all telling me it's Grant STREET???
Or are there 2 different places?

 

[L&Lfan]

My local tourist traps...the Atlantic City and Ocean City boardwalks. The only boardwalk I go to is at WDW.

 

[powellrj]

What is great about a tourist trap, is most of them know how to handle the crowds. I hate going someplace that doesn't know how to handle the crowds that come with a tourist trap.

When traveling anymore, I would't hit up an Olive Garden, but I will check out Yelp or the Travel Channel and see what they recommend.

This summer I have begged my DH to take me to Shipshewana, which is a huge Amish flea market and eat at the The Blue Gate. It is nothing but a pure tourist trap, but its been years since I have been there and I want to go back. Everytime I mention it he groans and says why.

I also wanted to go to Tuesday at the State Fair. I was begging anyone to take me and I was paying for everything. All you would have to do is drive me. Everyone told me its too tacky. Its $2 day so admission is $2 instead of the normal $12 and all the snack vendors have to offer something for $2 at their stands. I love it. We visit the booths and eat lots of things we normally wouldn't because its $2. DD finally said she would take me and we had a wonderful time. Our favorite was a Mac Daddy Grilled Cheese sandwich. Something I wouldn't try normally, but for $2 we gave it a shot. It was great!

 

[MillauFr]

I think it depends on the quality of the trap. I will never understand why someone would eat at the Olive Garden in Times Square when you have some of the best local Italian cuisine in the country nearby (but I also find TS aggravating most of the time).

Agreed. Times Square has many of the same shops as the typical American mall. Plus why eat at Olive Garden when you can go to Guy Fieri's American Kitchen and Bar in Times Square. Wasn't that rated the best restaurant in NYC according to the NY Times? LOL