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Frostwerks posted:What. Fallout joke I'm guessing.  Edit: Oh hey, new page, so have some random pictures from the blog (http://secretfunspot.blogspot.com/) that inspired this thread.   Nckdictator has a new favorite as of 22:15 on Dec 26, 2014 |
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Dec 26, 2014 22:05
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Thread needs this speech from American Gods:quote:"It's perfectly simple," said Wednesday. "In other countries, over the years, people recognized the places of power. Sometimes it would be a natural formation, sometimes it would just be a place that was, somehow, special. They knew that something important was happening there, that there was some focusing point, some channel, some window to the Immanent. And so they would build temples or cathedrals, or erect stone circles, or…well, you get the idea." Here in northern England we have the Forbidden Corner, which I almost feel doesn't belong since it's actually good.    Being a big, maze-like garden full of random interesting poo poo. It's hard to get in to because people flock there (apparently you have to book in advance now) and hard to get out of, because they'd rather you just wandered for a few hours stumbling into stuff and don't provide a map. There's an underground bit with a devil statue and satanic music playing, along with lots of uncomfortably small tunnels and a statue of a kid that pisses on you when you walk past.  also this guy.
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Dec 26, 2014 23:01
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Saint Drogo posted:Thread needs this speech from American Gods: This place looks amazing.
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Dec 26, 2014 23:33
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Saint Drogo posted:Thread needs this speech from American Gods: Editing that into OP, it fits!  
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Dec 26, 2014 23:40
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StrangersInTheNight posted:I think the tourist trap is more all the loving signs to see Rock City, rather than Rock City itself - I immediately see the barns & mailboxes in my head by just mentioning it, just because they're so ubiquitous. My mom, who is incredibly afraid of heights, climbed up to Rock City just to get one of those drat mailboxes (which broke pretty quickly). It's just a Southern Thing, those signs are - and if you have one you're in on the joke/culture. We sure as hell didn't stop. I think I've been once when I was a kid--the whole "seeing X states" thing, right? 
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Dec 27, 2014 00:13
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 I have never seen anything like the tourist traps you're describing here. But this thing up there, the Hobro Mini Zoo, is the closest thing I have experienced. They've been renovating it for a few years and it's appearently an okay attraction now? I visited it once back in the late 90's, back then it was this really decrepit little garden with a tiny lake and a few animal shacks and cages that looked like they were from the gbs Russia.jpg thread. Everything was slightly rusted or decaying, the one slide they had was terrible and the main entrance/dining hall in the picture looked like it came from another decade. On top of this, the zoo is located in Denmark, so everything is cold, grey and terrible when it's not summertime. I'm pretty sure that back in the day all of their income was visits from a nearby school and confused tourists who saw the sign near the main road advertising a "zoo" instead of a field of grass with caged birds. It's no all American Mystery Shack though.
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Dec 27, 2014 00:18
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Peggy's Cove is allegedly one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world. Bus loads of tourists swarm it every summer and ask where we store the rocks in the winter. 
PK has a new favorite as of 07:26 on Dec 27, 2014 |
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Dec 27, 2014 02:20
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Look At  All  This  Big  poo poo  Basically if you've got a building with a public toilet in it and you have the cash to put a giant fibreglass statue of ANYTHING on top of it, here in Australia you have a bona fide moneymaker. One of the more famous is the giant mango pictured here:  Which was "stolen" in February as part of a publicity stunt for Nando's Some of my friends who've visited these monstrosities say it's an "Aussie thing" but I've lived here my entire life and I still don't get it.
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Dec 27, 2014 05:21
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Quote is not edit 
PK has a new favorite as of 07:28 on Dec 27, 2014 |
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Dec 27, 2014 07:25
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El Estrago Bonito posted:This sort of crosses the line between Tourist Trap and beloved local landmark: There's actually another version of this place where I grew up in British Columbia, Canada. I don't think there's any link between the two though. http://www.enchantedforestbc.com
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Dec 27, 2014 08:43
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Spergminer posted:
For some reason Denmark has dozens of these things, the one that sticks out in my mind is Billund Terrarium (why go there when Legoland is around the corner? I shall never know!) which was an old shed with some cold reptiles and some mystery place that i still have dreams about because it was that weird and desolated. There's also a huge amount of car-museums in the country, all going bankrupt as of late. For my local tourist traps i have to and dig up poo poo like this:  Alkmaar Cheesemarket, during the summer they spend half an hour to explain the act of selling cheese and then some dudes run around with cheese. they then manage to drag this out for 2 hours and then everyone wonders why they even went to Alkmaar. There's more like this around the country, i don't know if they're as sad as this one, it's not even historical or an actual market. It's also the only thing deemed cultural enough by local politicians to support, ignoring everything about the city that is interesting and not embarrassing. edit: in the back there's a sign that says "kaasmuseum", visiting the cheese museum is a double feature of poo poo after "enjoying" the cheese market. DONT TOUCH THE PC has a new favorite as of 10:30 on Dec 27, 2014 |
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Dec 27, 2014 10:28
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Scorchdog posted:Big things You know what the worst part is, I can tell you where pretty much all of these are. The Big Axe, I'm not so sure.
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Dec 27, 2014 11:46
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Picnic Princess posted:I'll post some local ones: Thought this was the "FUTURE BIRTHPLACE OF JAMES T KIRK" memorial. 
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Dec 27, 2014 11:48
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Spergminer posted:I have never seen anything like the tourist traps you're describing here. But this thing up there, the Hobro Mini Zoo, is the closest thing I have experienced. There is Graceland Randers, which is a copy of Graceland built by a rabid Elvis enthusiast a few years ago.  There's a American diner inside and a small museum with some Elvis memorabilia (clothes, instruments and so on). We ate at the restaurant for my grandfather's birthday and it was actually alright. It helps that the whole thing is pretty new and shiny.
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Dec 27, 2014 12:18
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Hipster Occultist posted:There's actually another version of this place where I grew up in British Columbia, Canada. I don't think there's any link between the two though. There's actually 3 and none of them are related. The third one closed down and I only know of it because it was a very popular Urbex spot due to having a large abandoned concrete castle.
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Dec 27, 2014 14:30
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Winklebottom posted:There is Graceland Randers, which is a copy of Graceland built by a rabid Elvis enthusiast a few years ago. At least it's a house and not a giant guitar or something.
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Dec 27, 2014 15:08
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Intoluene posted:This place looks amazing. It is amazing, it's not for the claustrophobic though with all those tunnels. They only let a certain amount of people in each day and you have to book a time to go but you can stay as long as you like. Can also confirm they don't give you a map, just a sheet with lots of photos in no real order and a little note saying "when you have seen all these things you can probably go home, have fun". That house with the face on it makes vomiting noises if you brush the tonsils on the way past and farts as you exit the door in its arse. Very weird place, I loved it even though we spent ages looking for the last photo which turned out to be a skylight in a tunnel roof which we had passed half a dozen times without realising.
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Dec 27, 2014 16:53
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Hipster Occultist posted:There's actually another version of this place where I grew up in British Columbia, Canada. I don't think there's any link between the two though. Hahahaha, drat, I loved that place when I was a kid! I'm going to have to go back soon.
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Dec 27, 2014 17:12
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Knormal posted:TREES Sorry for the way old post quote. I remember driving to this place with my parents and sister when I was 9. I thought it was awesome then.
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Dec 28, 2014 07:22
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Christoff posted:Might be stretching a bit here from the OP description but is Machu Pichuu or those salt flats in, uh, Bolivia? Considered a tourist trap yet? I kinda agree with you. If I see one more pic of people jumping/doing yoga poses/stupid perspective crap in the salt flats in the andes I'll punch a baby Examples:      Also: the world's largest lugnut in Lansing, MI 
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Dec 28, 2014 08:46
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To prove Australia doesn't have a monopoly on giant animals and produce, here's New Zealand's contribution. Cromwell's giant Fruitbowl  Ohakune's giant Carrot. Prepare for carrot-related Adventure!  Tirau's giant corrugated iron Sheep (and visitor information centre)  and it's companion, the giant corrugated iron dog. Tirau loves it some corrugated iron.  And not giant, but very new Zealand: My kid and I posing with Lake Tekapos "Tribute to the Sheepdog" statue.  Which is perched on the shores of this jaw-droppingly pretty lake. Which is a tourist trap, but at least it's still a good-looking one. 
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Dec 28, 2014 09:53
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Souvlaki ss posted:I kinda agree with you. If I see one more pic of people jumping/doing yoga poses/stupid perspective crap in the salt flats in the andes I'll punch a baby I'm not sure if you're trolling me and people got quite uppity. I'm not saying they're not majestic and wonderful etc etc but isn't the definition of a tourist trap also something that becomes highly commercialized and crowded? Not just gaudy poo poo in a podunk city in the Midwest?
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Dec 28, 2014 22:22
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Christoff posted:I'm not sure if you're trolling me and people got quite uppity. I'm not saying they're not majestic and wonderful etc etc but isn't the definition of a tourist trap also something that becomes highly commercialized and crowded? Not just gaudy poo poo in a podunk city in the Midwest?  clearly not trolling. Both can be majestic and pathetic at the same time in different ways.:not trolling: some of my australian cousins always take pics in a awful looking sphinx when they travel from Sydney to Melbourne. I guess Australia is all about giant random stuff Souvlaki ss has a new favorite as of 23:58 on Dec 28, 2014 |
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Dec 28, 2014 23:32
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 On that note Petra, while cool, was impossible to enjoy because of all the vendors following you around pestering you, kids scamming you, and dudes following you on camels/donkeys for half a mile trying to get you to pay to ride them. and this thing  Nice view and a must see but it's like someone poured cement into two casts and then sealed them together
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Dec 28, 2014 23:50
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Souvlaki ss posted:
It's a real Australasian thing, it seems. Hence, the Giant Kiwi of Eketahuna  The Giant Gumboot of Taihape (Gumboot Capital of the World!)  The Giant Trout of Gore  And the Giant Kiwifruit of Te Puke. 
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Dec 29, 2014 12:24
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Geoj posted:Just as you cross into Ohio from Pennsylvania on I-76 there is a billboard advertising one of the "CHRISTmas" megastores located there. Makes me wonder how many tourists that drags in, considering the drive from that point is nearly 5 hours/400 miles. Its not like your average traveler is going to see the sign and decide to make a 10 hour side trip. That's Bronner's. Not "one of the" megastores. THE megastore. http://www.bronners.com/ Opened in 1945 it is now 7.3 acres with over 800 animated figures, 100,000 lights, and 50,000 items for sale. Over 2 million customers a year.  
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Dec 31, 2014 04:11
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Northern Minnesota has a couple of things, but people probably mostly associate it with Paul Bunyan. Here he is at one of his supposed birthplaces, Bemidji: It's kind of sad-looking, but they both had stints in insurance commercials back when we were launching our whole state insurance exchange. This isn't a paid thing either, he's just kind of hanging out up there.  Here's another, slightly creepier version of him in the near-ish town of Akeley. There are a lot of Paul Bunyans here, I guess. This image is gigantic too, for effect.  There's also Lucette, his wife, who stays in another nearby town of Hackensack. Bemidji is a decent town in its own right, but there's zero reason to go to either Akeley or Hackensack unless you're deliberately seeking these things out. My personal favorite free giant fiberglass thing in northern Minnesota has to be the Prairie Chicken of Rothsay.  This thing is 13 feet tall and pretty cool. Rothsay is, again, one of those empty circles on your road map but I'd always pass by on my way home from college. It had a decent rest stop that I could gas up and get something to eat and I liked stopping by to see this thing. Prairie chickens are strange enough anyway.
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Dec 31, 2014 05:07
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Did I just find Waldo?
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Dec 31, 2014 07:54
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You're crossing the Mojave, the majestic San Gabriel mountains to your left, the endless expanse of extinct Pleistocene lakes, cinder cones, and Joshua Tree forests to your right. You've been driving for 60 miles, the kids are restless, you need the bathroom, and everyone is hungry. The little town of Pearblossom doesn't have much, and most of the bathrooms aren't working even in the stores that are open. Is there no hope in sight? Just the ruins of Llano? But then you cross over the Aqueduct into the town of Littlerock, and there, on your right, is your savior: Charlie Brown Farms. http://charliebrownfarms.com/ This place is stuffed with weird, wonderful, wild crap that you can't get anywhere else. I'm told Archie McPhee's is similar. But I'll bet they don't have anything like the incredible smoked BBQ of Charlie Brown's; or the mountains of local produce, small-scale honey and salsa products; or have mounted knights for sale. We do our Service Dog tests here because it's busy, bizarre, and ticks all the boxes on the tests: Meet strangers, stand in lines, shop in a crowded store, have food at a sit-down place. It's wonderful.
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Dec 31, 2014 15:32
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Souvlaki ss posted:Did I just find Waldo? You found Paul Jr., their son, because apparently genetics works that way. I don't think he's around anymore, he up and disappeared with no real explanation. I haven't been to any of these towns in many, many years so no idea if they replaced him or not.
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Dec 31, 2014 18:23
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At first I thought the horns were tiny waving arms, which would have been equally adorable and grotesque.
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Dec 31, 2014 18:59
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Khazar-khum posted:Charlie Brown Farms. Speaking of Mojave tourist traps: When I was a kid we lived in Barstow for about two years so I have a good deal of nostalgia wrapped up in the Calico Ghost Town   I have no idea if it's actually good.
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Jan 2, 2015 17:23
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DarklyDreaming posted:When I was a kid we lived in Barstow for about two years I am so, so sorry.
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Jan 2, 2015 19:01
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The best thing about the Wisconsin Dells isn't even there anymore. http://www.dells.com/blog/vintage-attractions-xanadu-foam-house-future/ Xanadu, the Foam House of The Future! I remember going to this when I was a kid and thinking it was the greatest thing ever. My pre-adolescent brain couldn't even comprehend how cool living in that house would be. Also, if you go, breakfast at Paul Bunyan's is pretty much mandatory. http://www.dellspaulbunyans.com/ Go in the summer to get the full tourist trap experience. The whole town is pretty much water parks, shady tourist spots, and stores all selling variations on the same Chinese made crap.
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Jan 2, 2015 22:55
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Nostalgia4Dicks posted:Hell yeah (pretty sure those rooms/interior design existed until it closed in 1995) Hey, if you are gonna mention the Gobbler, at least link James Lilek's write up. Its hilarious. http://www.lileks.com/institute/motel/
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Jan 23, 2015 01:59
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Davfff posted:Can someone tell me what in gods name that's supposed to be? KiteAuraan posted:I believe it is the saddest plate of frijoles refritos on the entire planet. Actually these appear to be smashed purple potatoes.
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Jan 23, 2015 02:44
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Frostwerks posted:What.   Edit: Jesus I should make sure there was more on a page before I reply. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang has a new favorite as of 03:06 on Jan 23, 2015 |
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Jan 23, 2015 03:04
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Hawaii doesn't have much in the way of tourist traps, what with having actual tourist attractions and resorts and not really having the miles of open space that encourages people to build giant fibreglass monuments just to break up the monotony - but it does have Hilo Hattie, home to the WORLD'S LARGEST ALOHA SHIRT.
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Jan 23, 2015 06:23
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Zero One posted:That's Bronner's. Not "one of the" megastores. THE megastore. Frankenmuth is awesome. I go there every time we visit my girlfriend's family in Michigan and I love it. Buy some Christmas ornaments for my mom, eat a shitload of fried chicken and a giant pickle at Zehnder's, get an enormous pastry and a Sioux City Sarsaparilla. What's not to love? The craziest part about Bronner's is how freaking HUGE it is. It's like three or four football field size rooms full of Christmasy goodness. Angry Salami posted:Hawaii doesn't have much in the way of tourist traps, what with having actual tourist attractions and resorts and not really having the miles of open space that encourages people to build giant fibreglass monuments just to break up the monotony - but it does have Hilo Hattie, home to the WORLD'S LARGEST ALOHA SHIRT. I have some Samoan family that could probably wear that. We also have Sea Life Park (better known as where Adam Sandler worked in 50 First Dates), which is an overpriced and tiny crappy Sea World knockoff.
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Jan 23, 2015 07:19
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Tokelau All Star posted:Frankenmuth is awesome. I go there every time we visit my girlfriend's family in Michigan and I love it. Buy some Christmas ornaments for my mom, eat a shitload of fried chicken and a giant pickle at Zehnder's, get an enormous pastry and a Sioux City Sarsaparilla. What's not to love? It's where they keep the inventory of Mall Christmas stores year round I think.
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Jan 23, 2015 10:46
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