Vacation spots your friends talked up but you hated

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OBX -- horrible! Confederate Flags and rednecks all over the place

Is this true?

Not really. I know people on here love to bash the Outer Banks, but we love it. I can see if you stayed in Kitty Hawk or Nags Head that it may not be your thing. It's a little commercialized there and some of the beaches aren't the best, but south of Oregon Inlet on Hatteras is pretty nice. Beaches are nicer, water's warmer, there's lots of water sports on ocean and the sound. It's pretty quiet, some may call it boring, but it's perfect for us. Bashing all of the Outer Banks is like bashing all of Cape Cod. Cape Cod, like the Outer Banks, has some really fantastic spots, but mixed in are some places that aren't that fantastic. Final thing with OBX, unfortunately all of the horror stories about driving there are mostly true, but that can be said for most of the region from DC to Boston. We have our route to the beach. It's longer, but bypasses the madness of I95 and 64.

I posted a couple pages ago that the drive is really only terrible if you go on Saturday with the intent of arriving between 10am -6 pm.

I do the drive about 20 times a year and live in Annapolis it is typically about 4:45-5.5 hours, with gas and food stops.

Obviously if you are leaving weekday evening in the middle of rush hour it will take longer.

Meant to say it is only really bad if you plan to arrive between 10-6 on Saturday.

The drive is painful anytime, that is just part of the problem. That, and there are MUCH nicer beaches within or close to that distance. Since you brought it up.

5-5.5 hours is painful for a week long or more vacation? What are these other beaches you speak of?

The drive is never less than 6 hours, anytime, sadly. That, and it is just not worth it. If you like OBX, you won't like other beaches.

I posted the 5-5 hour comment. As I mentioned before , I do the drive about 20 times a year. Outside of Saturday and a severe accident it doesn't take 6 hours +. We love OBX and we vacation in Hilton Head a couples weeks out of the year. Frequently go to Miami, Siesta, Tybee, Montauck/Hamptons and Cape May. We like all of them for different reasons. I don't understand why you would say people who like OBX wouldn't like other beaches.

Yeah, that's strange. If I like the Outer Banks, which I do, I don't like other beaches. That's news to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The first time I went to Los Angeles I was like “what”??? I feel like popular culture plays it up as this glamorous and super cool place and to be honest I found it very dirty, too spread out/car centric, and not particularly pretty. I liked San Diego 10x better.

Yes - LA is the arm pit of California - You have to get out to the surrounding cities for enjoyment. People assume LA is wealthy, but many areas are the pits expecially since the California Liberals allow people to live in tents in massive groups on the sidewalks.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Hawaii

I never been to Hawaii but have never heard anyone disappointed by it... what was your experience?

I'm guessing typical American tourist who went to Waikiki.

I suspect most tourists to Hawaii, including to Waikiki/Honolulu and every other island, are American, typical or not, given that it’s a US state.

We have visited Oahu several times and have stayed out in Ko Olina. When we have driven into Waikiki/HNL, it is full of Japanese , not Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Hawaii

I never been to Hawaii but have never heard anyone disappointed by it... what was your experience?

I'm guessing typical American tourist who went to Waikiki.

I suspect most tourists to Hawaii, including to Waikiki/Honolulu and every other island, are American, typical or not, given that it’s a US state.

We have visited Oahu several times and have stayed out in Ko Olina. When we have driven into Waikiki/HNL, it is full of Japanese , not Americans.

This is true. It’s 7 hours from Tokyo and 9+ from DC.

[Anonymous]

Deep Creek Lake
Florence

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:OBX -- horrible! Confederate Flags and rednecks all over the place

Is this true?

Not really. I know people on here love to bash the Outer Banks, but we love it. I can see if you stayed in Kitty Hawk or Nags Head that it may not be your thing. It's a little commercialized there and some of the beaches aren't the best, but south of Oregon Inlet on Hatteras is pretty nice. Beaches are nicer, water's warmer, there's lots of water sports on ocean and the sound. It's pretty quiet, some may call it boring, but it's perfect for us. Bashing all of the Outer Banks is like bashing all of Cape Cod. Cape Cod, like the Outer Banks, has some really fantastic spots, but mixed in are some places that aren't that fantastic. Final thing with OBX, unfortunately all of the horror stories about driving there are mostly true, but that can be said for most of the region from DC to Boston. We have our route to the beach. It's longer, but bypasses the madness of I95 and 64.

I posted a couple pages ago that the drive is really only terrible if you go on Saturday with the intent of arriving between 10am -6 pm.

I do the drive about 20 times a year and live in Annapolis it is typically about 4:45-5.5 hours, with gas and food stops.

Obviously if you are leaving weekday evening in the middle of rush hour it will take longer.

Meant to say it is only really bad if you plan to arrive between 10-6 on Saturday.

The drive is painful anytime, that is just part of the problem. That, and there are MUCH nicer beaches within or close to that distance. Since you brought it up.

5-5.5 hours is painful for a week long or more vacation? What are these other beaches you speak of?

The drive is never less than 6 hours, anytime, sadly. That, and it is just not worth it. If you like OBX, you won't like other beaches.

I posted the 5-5 hour comment. As I mentioned before , I do the drive about 20 times a year. Outside of Saturday and a severe accident it doesn't take 6 hours +. We love OBX and we vacation in Hilton Head a couples weeks out of the year. Frequently go to Miami, Siesta, Tybee, Montauck/Hamptons and Cape May. We like all of them for different reasons. I don't understand why you would say people who like OBX wouldn't like other beaches.

Yeah, that's strange. If I like the Outer Banks, which I do, I don't like other beaches. That's news to me.

There are posters who believe that it is either "boardwalk beaches" or OBX - nothing in between and nothing else, so there is that.

[Anonymous]

Idaho and Montana in June. We were glad that we brought coats. We were also glad when we got back to my ex-husband's house in western Oklahoma where it was 100 degrees. We saw 12 western states in a week (one of our daughters wanted to take a road trip) and those two states were our least favorite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The first time I went to Los Angeles I was like “what”??? I feel like popular culture plays it up as this glamorous and super cool place and to be honest I found it very dirty, too spread out/car centric, and not particularly pretty. I liked San Diego 10x better.

Yes - LA is the arm pit of California - You have to get out to the surrounding cities for enjoyment. People assume LA is wealthy, but many areas are the pits expecially since the California Liberals allow people to live in tents in massive groups on the sidewalks.

Well like any city , there are the nice sections and the run down sections. LA is no different.

[Anonymous]

Didn't vacation there, but checked out South Beach/Miami on a work trip and wasn't impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn't vacation there, but checked out South Beach/Miami on a work trip and wasn't impressed.

I've only been to South Beach for girls trips and I've always had a really good time. I could see how a work trip would be ho hum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Hawaii

I never been to Hawaii but have never heard anyone disappointed by it... what was your experience?

I'm guessing typical American tourist who went to Waikiki.

I suspect most tourists to Hawaii, including to Waikiki/Honolulu and every other island, are American, typical or not, given that it’s a US state.

We have visited Oahu several times and have stayed out in Ko Olina. When we have driven into Waikiki/HNL, it is full of Japanese , not Americans.

This is true. It’s 7 hours from Tokyo and 9+ from DC.

That's a silly comparison. It's six hours from L.A. to Oahu. more people on the west coast go to Hawaii than D.C.

[Anonymous]

Portland, OR... everyone talks about how great it is. I thought is was underwhelming. My friend toured me around several neighborhoods and while it was nice enough- I’m not sure I got the appeal. It may not have helped that the weather was so dreary - but bad weather kind of comes with Portland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate the beach. Sand all over everything. Undertow in the ocean, relentless sun. Give me a lake house or a fishing cabin on a lazy river.

Me too. Or the mountains. In the US. Never been a huge beach person or understood the obsession with tropical resorts.

[Anonymous]

You don't like mountains or beach? What do you like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never really been disappointed by a destination, but re: Hawaii -- from DC, I can totally see how someone would be disappointed, particularly if they have experience traveling to the Caribbean. It's an incredibly long flight, and although the state is gorgeous, if you're looking for beaches the Caribbean is so much closer and cheaper. If you're looking for something with sightseeing, Europe is closer.

I grew up on the west coast and Hawaii was the "close" option, in which case I think it IS worth it. But to travel for 12 hours just for beaches? Not for me.

What's interesting when a bunch of responses is that few, if any, focus on the historical aspects of the destination. It's a little nuts to compare Hawaii with any other part of the country -- of course it takes a long time to get there, especially from the East Coast (direct flight from Dulles during the summer months on United, btw), but visiting Pearl Harbor is something unique and that hopefully everyone can experience at least once in their lives.

Putting aside the beaches and sunsets (which are comparable in many ways to parts of the Caribbean), the trip is worth it for the historical experience. Naturally, you have to be interested in that sort of thing and not looking to just plop yourself by the ocean...