Most disappointing place you've been to
Jul 15, 2014, 2:18 pm
#31
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 646
Yikes! I absolutely love Arches and the other red-rock parks in southern Utah and northern Arizona. They are among the most beautiful places I have ever visited. I understand why your experience was bad but I urge you to reconsider and try another visit.
Here are some tips for a better trip that apply to all US National Parks
Here are some tips for a better trip that apply to all US National Parks
Inside the park, you just had to crawl along behind the other cars, stop, exit, back to car, repeat.
It was bad timing, no doubt, as far as crowds and weather, and also the closure of the main attraction. But the noise people made. The noise.
It was also very difficult to find a camping spot, as in any at all at first, or a nice one later one. Especially with the BLM restrictions in the area, which are quite understandable considering the hordes of neanderthals with no respect for nature, but punitive towards people like myself. If you do find a spot in one of the campgrounds further out - $15 to sleep on gravel? Excuse me?
I did eventually manage to find one spot where camping was legal, as far as I could see, and free, as God intended.
But it added to the hardship because I had to pack up camp and redo it every day, just didn't feel comfortable leaving my tent there.I think by now I might hate most national parks in general, now that I think about it. Zion, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, now Arches. It's the masses of people that I can't stand. I just like peace and quiet. I live in a cabin in the woods, you see. I watch the animals, and the animals watch me. I listen to the wind. I watch the moon rise and I watch the sun set. I watch the leaves change colour. I listen to the owls at night. To the birds by day. Mostly, to the wind.
These travels to see other places are akin to a normal city person going to visit a crowded subway car for vacation, and standing squeezed in there all day. A car where smoking is allowed and people talk on their phones.
I tried to take Arches in stride, but after several days I gave up.
Jul 15, 2014, 2:41 pm
#33
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: MHT
Programs: UA
Posts: 121
Most disappointing place you've been to
This thread.
On serious note, all aforementioned destinations have certain attractive features and obvious, or not so, negatives. All depends of personalities, individual interests, wallet size, managing expectations and so on.
On serious note, all aforementioned destinations have certain attractive features and obvious, or not so, negatives. All depends of personalities, individual interests, wallet size, managing expectations and so on.
Jul 15, 2014, 4:41 pm
#37
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: WN A+ CP, UA 1MM/*A Gold, Mar LT Tit, IHG Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 6,284
I can't recall visiting anywhere I'd consider a complete bust. Partly that's because I try to avoid the worst tourist traps. But I think the biggest reason is because I try to have reasonable expectations going in.
Take the notion of a romantic dinner for two in a beautiful city. A pleasant evening stroll leads us to a little cafe with an intimate outdoor table, candlelight, delicious food, soft music in the background, quiet moments with your companion.... Yes, we've all seen that scene in movies. That's the point-- it's fantasy, not real life. In real life, the cafe may be crowded, the food may be so-so, the street is full of delivery trucks belching exhaust and taxis honking their horns, and even the stroll over there involves stepping over unconscious people on the sidewalk, aggressive panhandling, and being pursued by tireless scammers who can hawk fake luxury goods in 5 languages but seem don't understand "NO" in any of them.
That's where expectations matter. If you go in expecting it to be like a movie, you'll be disappointed. If you go in with world-wise expectations, aware of and prepared to endure (or realistically minimize) the unappealing aspects, and knowing what good things to expect, you'll enjoy it a lot better.
Just one example I'd give of this from my own experience is Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Driving out to the monument you pass through Keystone, a small town whose photograph might as well appear in the Wikipedia entry for "tourist trap" as it is full of every stereotypically crummy and overpriced restaurant, motel, and gift shop you'd expect to find in such a place. After getting through that you reach the monument, whose parking lot resembles the local shopping mall during the Christmas buying season. After you pay to park and hike to the park entrance, you pass through a food court area guaranteed to make every child within your earshot cry for an ice cream cone. Only after running that gauntlet do you see the postcard view of the mountain. But still, you're shoulder-to-shoulder with 200 other people. Yeah, there's lots of stuff to hate about that experience. But I went in knowing that, prepared to avoid or ignore it to the greatest degree possible, and I had a nice half-day visit there.
Take the notion of a romantic dinner for two in a beautiful city. A pleasant evening stroll leads us to a little cafe with an intimate outdoor table, candlelight, delicious food, soft music in the background, quiet moments with your companion.... Yes, we've all seen that scene in movies. That's the point-- it's fantasy, not real life. In real life, the cafe may be crowded, the food may be so-so, the street is full of delivery trucks belching exhaust and taxis honking their horns, and even the stroll over there involves stepping over unconscious people on the sidewalk, aggressive panhandling, and being pursued by tireless scammers who can hawk fake luxury goods in 5 languages but seem don't understand "NO" in any of them.
That's where expectations matter. If you go in expecting it to be like a movie, you'll be disappointed. If you go in with world-wise expectations, aware of and prepared to endure (or realistically minimize) the unappealing aspects, and knowing what good things to expect, you'll enjoy it a lot better.
Just one example I'd give of this from my own experience is Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Driving out to the monument you pass through Keystone, a small town whose photograph might as well appear in the Wikipedia entry for "tourist trap" as it is full of every stereotypically crummy and overpriced restaurant, motel, and gift shop you'd expect to find in such a place. After getting through that you reach the monument, whose parking lot resembles the local shopping mall during the Christmas buying season. After you pay to park and hike to the park entrance, you pass through a food court area guaranteed to make every child within your earshot cry for an ice cream cone. Only after running that gauntlet do you see the postcard view of the mountain. But still, you're shoulder-to-shoulder with 200 other people. Yeah, there's lots of stuff to hate about that experience. But I went in knowing that, prepared to avoid or ignore it to the greatest degree possible, and I had a nice half-day visit there.
Jul 15, 2014, 5:11 pm
#38
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Miami, near the US
Programs: AA EXP, HH Gold, SPG Gold, Hyatt Plat, Avis Select, MHC, Amex Plat
Posts: 102
Mont St. Michel - it's difficult and time consuming to get there and while nice to look at-at a distance-it's full of souvenir shops and bad food.
Jul 16, 2014, 7:45 am
#43
Join Date: Mar 2007
Programs: QFF Gold, Flying Blue, Enrich
Posts: 5,366
Yep, I find California to be very ho-hum with the added bonus of undrinkable coffee.