try again

We lived for a while in Hop-town, Ky when I was a little kid......and I remember our family going into Nashville around Christmas to shop and how exciting and busy it was. I like that city, just like I always like St. Louie. Some cities have a lot of character.

I suspect most people overlook the treasures of their own backyard. I think it's a neat thing to set time aside for day-trips of local discovery like people used to do. Perhaps it shall come back into style with the escalating price of fuel.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation does good walking tours of the Loop and one by boat, but the neatest thing I've found is a tour they do of the lakefront parks and museums via Segway. That's the one I'd do just for fun, although I've visited most of the individual sites on the tour many times already.

Here is a link that might be useful: Segway Tour

Well right now the answer is very easy. The Azalea Trails are going on right now in Tyler & everything is just beautiful. Every year I drive the trail route with my camera and take pictures. It's a wonderful way to greet the spring.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tyler Azalea Trails

I don't feel a bit guilty...there's a huge Amish-tourist complex here in Middlebury, IN, and an even bigger touristville built up around the auction/flea market in Shipshewana, about 7 mi to the North.

To my mind, everything is over-priced and way over-rated: Das Dutchman Essenhaus makes millions on their overcooked, unseasoned "family style" dinners, way overly sugared pies made from trucked-in fruit, and noodles produced in a factory from the same eggs and flour you can buy at Meiijer's .

I'm just not impressed with meat cooked dry served with packaged gravy, and veggies that need a DNA test to postively identify them...

One time in the 17 years i've lived here, the smell of frying chicken got to me, and i stopped by the menu/take-out area to get some...ick..worse that KFC, and a lot more expensive.

Like Andie, I also live in Tyler. One of our chief industries is roses. We have an incredible rose garden that is open to the public. When I taught pre school we always went there on field trips. Now that I am retired with lots of free time, I never think to go.

Ditto, Lynnie. My kid lived in Amish Country, and like you, she lived and worked in the thick of it off the beaten path. It's not the same place as the touristy Amish Country of our area, where cutsie names appear over the very same types of restaurants. We went to eat in one ONCE with friends who swore it was good. Pasty noodles floating in pasty gravy with pasty bread. I about OD on carbs.

I don't blame the sect for pandering to the tourists, who come to gawk at them and run their buggies off the road because the horse can't go any faster. It's at least more environmentally friendly than Disneyworld.

LOL Lynnie. We checked out the new mega market place late last summer. Talk about a tourist trap!!! Only thing i bought was 2 bull-frog tadpoles. The veggies were mundane and waaaay over priced. I do better at the farmers market down the street from me. What a wasted trip that was!!!
Also had my 1st and last trip to Essenhaus that month....retch and spew and gack gack gack.
There are many great historical tourist attractions here in town. Most of which ive never set foot in. Boo hiss on me.

I live in what some might call tourist heaven. My city, Haifa, is north on the coast (perfect for those long range missles from Lebanon) and close to ancient places right,left and center. We love having friends come to visit and just last week took a few around, all within 20 min. of the city. The Galilee mountains are 1/2 hour away, the Sea of Galilee 40 min. Jerusalem is a good two hours south and like any other local, I haven't been there for years......too far for a day trip, all sorts of excuses, but we literally never go more than once every few years, usually for a political demonstration! "Tourist spots" around here are called such for a very good reason: most of the locals get jaded and don't take the time, but everywhere you turn, city or countryside, there's something that at least 500 or 1000 years old. Of course, the modern stuff is different (let's all go look at the Wall being built between villages, shall we?) Y'all welcome anytime!
But Chicago now, my real city, my home, well that's another story. I can get excited just riding the train, hanging on the street corner, just being there, feeling like a long-lost puppy finding a friendly porch. Took DG around for the cool tourist spots when she came for a visit with me some years ago, and it's still so very exciting to see it through another's eyes - what a fabulous city. Now, look, you've got me all wistful..............batya

Batya, I know what you mean. About 10 years ago I spent a week in Chicago with a friend as we were seeing Wagner's entire Ring cycle that week (another total story). During the day we were at loose ends, so we did the tourist rounds of Chicago & just had a terrific time. The museum of Science & Industry is just as wonderful now as it was when I was six years old and the Field Museum & the aquarium are much, much better.

I have to admit that I'll never get used to the El's being named as colors. To me they will forever be, the Lake St. Line, the Ravenswood, the Howard Street, etc.

Andie--you endured, I mean saw, the entire Ring series in a single week? I saw one of them. I'm a lightweight when it comes to opera, but I found it impressively tough going.

Yes, doesn't the Ravenswood Line sound so much better than the Brown Line? I occasionally do the museums, the walking tours etc. in Chicago even without guests. I can even appreciate Navy Pier for short bursts of time (ideally on bike), as long as I'm not looking for a meal. But it takes having guests to do things like go have lunch up at the top of the Hancock. And for 12 years, I lived close enough to Wrigley Field to hear the crowd roar, but I saw no more than two innings of a Cubs game.

I think my favorite thing is in summer, some of the museums have Thursday evening programs with live music and cocktails. The Shedd Aquarium, in particular, has "Jazzin' at the Shedd." They set up little white-clothed cocktail tables around the big old circular Caribbean reef tank, they turn down the lights, and one can nurse a gin and tonic or whatever while watching the rays suck up against the glass. Plus it's a chance to see the fishies without having to look through a wall of school children.

But there's plenty I haven't done, too. This summer, we're looking at going to more of the free Grant Park concerts and movies, at the very least. And maybe stand around on some hot night and watch Buckingham Fountain change colors.

Since we're in a rural area (Ozark National Forest) We've a lot of camping and swimming areas to go to. Eurika Springs is not far. A beautiful small town tho very touristy.Also has the Passion Play all summer. Wine country SW of us.Historical towns around. Plenty of mountains and scenic places we go.

I live north of the Wine Country (Napa & Sonoma), south of the Redwoods and east of the Coast. I suppose I am neither here nor there.
All spots of interest are at least one hour or more away, there is not even a good place to eat in town; the Inn is a registered historial place, but sells only so-so pizza.
If visitors want exitement, there is a Casino on the Rez, I have never been because I don't care for "gaming", the new euphemism for gambling.
Generally visitors enjoy being here anyway, they think Casa Lilo is a good place to hang out, offering congenial company and food of gourmet quality, prepared by Chef Joann, the Grill-Monster - eh master.

I know most people don't think of Ohio when they think of vacations, (unless you are a roller coaster freak, we have lots of those big boys), but we have a big tourist industry. I am located at the "gateway to the largest Amish population in the world" and yeah, there are some real tourist traps but also some cool things, just get on the county/township roads for some great scenery. We have lakes and history. And we are getting more and more wineries. What do I visit? The Secrest Arboratum in Wooster. The pottery museum in Crooksville (lots of Roseville stuff), umm, state parks, and we still have some of the best nursuries around, like Wade and Gatton.

Sorry, if I am going overboard,. I use to be on our Mainstreet board and worked for an Appalachian Economic Development District. Tourism is seen as the salvation of the area. Not sure if I agree, but we do promote it. I read an article where there are folks promoting old stripmined areas to visit to rock climb and to see the "pre-evniromental era" Or some funky term like that. And we have the ohio-erie canal bikeway.

I had a part time job in college as a tour guide at a local historic home. Sometimes I morph back into that. The tours were suppose to tak 30 minutes. Mine always took an hour if the people were interested.

Dirt Diver, yes, by the time we got to Götterdämmerung I felt like I had climbed Mt. Everest!

I've never been to Navy Pier. I'm so old I remember it as the location of university of Illinois before they built Circle campus. However there is no excuse for living close enough to Wrigley to hear the crowd & not go to games there on a regular basis. Could this be their year? It will be the 100th anniversary since they won a World Series.