Biggest tourist trap in Nevada
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20 members have voted
June 8th, 2017 at 6:22:48 AM
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I've been reading this thread since it's inception, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around the phrase "Tourist Trap".
Oh, sure, I know the phrase and have used it many times. But what exactly is it?
I think it's a place designed to lure tourists into spending money for overpriced food and/or souvenirs, and/or to waste time looking at something that fails to live up to the hype. A knee-jerk response to the poll would suggest that all of the items listed are tourist traps. But are they?
A great example, someone mentioned South Of The Border. It's just south of the North/South Carolina border on I-95. For those unfamiliar, zoom in on Google Earth. When I was growing up in the 60's it seemed like half the cards had a SOTB bumper sticker. When traveling on I-95, there are billboards every few miles, starting over a hundred miles away. It is an overgrown, glorified truck-stop. But is it a trap? Sure, there are a lot of options to purchase overpriced crap, and the food is pricey, but it was right next to the highway interchange. So how much of a trap is it? After my first visit, with my wife about 15 years ago, we laughed and swore we'd never return. But we ended up stopping again a couple times. So was it an overhyped tourist trap, or just a convenient place to stop and stretch the legs? Frankly, if it wasn't for frequently stopping at the J&R Cigar Shop (which was more like a huge, single vendor flea market), about 90 miles north on I-95, we would have stopped at SOTB more often.
What about Disney, or for that matter, any theme park? Once there, you're a captive audience. You know the food options will be pricey and can't easily leave to eat cheaply, and it's very hard to avoid the myriad of souvenir shops. But it's not like you don't know all that going in. So is it a trap? Most offer lockers, so if you want to eat cheap and brown-bag it, you don't even have to carry it all day. Some ever provide picnic tables. And even though it's hard to avoid looking in all the shops, purchasing is easily avoided.
Primm? As luck would have it, I went there for the first time last week. Much like South of the Border, it's an overgrown truckstop - without the hundreds of miles of billboards. But there's nothing even remotely touristy or trappy about it.
Vegas? It's only a tourist trap to the uninformed. Those in the know, know that there are fine options for hotels, restaurants and gambling outside of the tourist trap strip. Hell, even on the strip there are cheaper options. So how is the strip a trap?
On another forum, a few months ago, there was a Vegas Haiku contest. I won it with the following submission:
She takes every cent,
Returns only memories,
I must return soon...
How can anything that evokes such passion be a trap?
Oh, sure, I know the phrase and have used it many times. But what exactly is it?
I think it's a place designed to lure tourists into spending money for overpriced food and/or souvenirs, and/or to waste time looking at something that fails to live up to the hype. A knee-jerk response to the poll would suggest that all of the items listed are tourist traps. But are they?
A great example, someone mentioned South Of The Border. It's just south of the North/South Carolina border on I-95. For those unfamiliar, zoom in on Google Earth. When I was growing up in the 60's it seemed like half the cards had a SOTB bumper sticker. When traveling on I-95, there are billboards every few miles, starting over a hundred miles away. It is an overgrown, glorified truck-stop. But is it a trap? Sure, there are a lot of options to purchase overpriced crap, and the food is pricey, but it was right next to the highway interchange. So how much of a trap is it? After my first visit, with my wife about 15 years ago, we laughed and swore we'd never return. But we ended up stopping again a couple times. So was it an overhyped tourist trap, or just a convenient place to stop and stretch the legs? Frankly, if it wasn't for frequently stopping at the J&R Cigar Shop (which was more like a huge, single vendor flea market), about 90 miles north on I-95, we would have stopped at SOTB more often.
What about Disney, or for that matter, any theme park? Once there, you're a captive audience. You know the food options will be pricey and can't easily leave to eat cheaply, and it's very hard to avoid the myriad of souvenir shops. But it's not like you don't know all that going in. So is it a trap? Most offer lockers, so if you want to eat cheap and brown-bag it, you don't even have to carry it all day. Some ever provide picnic tables. And even though it's hard to avoid looking in all the shops, purchasing is easily avoided.
Primm? As luck would have it, I went there for the first time last week. Much like South of the Border, it's an overgrown truckstop - without the hundreds of miles of billboards. But there's nothing even remotely touristy or trappy about it.
Vegas? It's only a tourist trap to the uninformed. Those in the know, know that there are fine options for hotels, restaurants and gambling outside of the tourist trap strip. Hell, even on the strip there are cheaper options. So how is the strip a trap?
On another forum, a few months ago, there was a Vegas Haiku contest. I won it with the following submission:
She takes every cent,
Returns only memories,
I must return soon...
How can anything that evokes such passion be a trap?
I invented a few casino games. Info:
http://www.DaveMillerGaming.com/ —————————————————————————————————————
Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
June 8th, 2017 at 7:36:29 AM
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Quote: DJTeddyBearI've been reading this thread since it's inception, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around the phrase "Tourist Trap".
Oh, sure, I know the phrase and have used it many times. But what exactly is it?
I think it's a place designed to lure tourists into spending money for overpriced food and/or souvenirs, and/or to waste time looking at something that fails to live up to the hype. A knee-jerk response to the poll would suggest that all of the items listed are tourist traps. But are they?
Yes
Quote: DJTeddyBearVegas? It's only a tourist trap to the uninformed.
Well yeah. That's the point. And I think it's fair to say that the majority of tourists are uninformed
