Thinking of "non-touristy" things for a tourist to do is difficult, especially one from a similar western country like Australia. I'm pretty sure they have bars, restaurants, etc. in Australia. I guess a HN'er would enjoy hitting up user groups and what not.
But in reality, all the stuff that makes America "America" is considered touristy. Heck, half the stuff he lists is something I'd consider touristy.
In any event, I think a grand tour in America from any other country and not visiting a Disney park is just Plain Wrong™. :) Then again, it might be too "touristy."
Well theres "touristy", the theres "touristy". Last summer I went with a friend to visit southern Utah. We did a day in Zion National Park. It was cool and utterly beautiful. Then, because she knew the area and had friends there, we went off into the actual wilderness of the Grand Staircase. We hit some real back woods areas, explored canyons and hiked a lot of crazy places. We rarely saw evidence of other people, let alone actual people. I think in the 3 days we were out in the back country we only saw 2 other people and that was close to (what passes for) a road. When we went back through Zion on the way home, I actually experience civilization shock - there were like 20 people visible at once, and other cars!
They were both great experiences but I value the latter far more for a couple reasons:
* I would never have been able to find it, known how to do that exploration, and been too timid to do it without local knowledge.
*It was an adventure rather than a curated experience. The park is great, but I never felt like I was seeing reality. Like going to Epcot vs going to actual places.
It was still a totally touristy experience. The locals thought I was cute for wanting to go wander in the desert to see places I had to walk for a long way to get to, without knowing anything about the desert. I was still just there to see the sights. Yet different - they all were really eager to tell me about their favorite spots off the beaten path.
I guess what I'm saying is that I tend to interpret, and mean, touristy as "not really worth the effort, it's too curated and sanitized and expensive. It's designed to Disneyify some approximation of local experience and does so poorly".
Similarly when I talk to people visiting my hometown of Chicago, I always recommend the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Art institute. "touristy" yeah, but also the stuff I would do once or twice a year when I lived there, and I still try to do it every couple of years when I'm visiting the family.
For bars and the like: It's not the bar (well, some and/or some places do have atmosphere), it's the people you meet.
If your visitors are from "out of town" in some significant fashion, and if they are nice enough that you don't think they'd be an imposition, arrange to meet with some of your friends.
Any place can become magical, if you're there with good people and making friends.
(Plus, someone's always doing something, or has some time free, and maybe they'll extend an invitation. (Just don't expect anything.))
P.S. This may be a bit OT, I realize, with respect to the idea of an online resource of things to do/see.
P.P.S. This is somewhat personality dependent, but when I visit my cousin in the Bay area, we end up stumbling into all kinds of small encounters because she simply, directly -- if politely -- asks questions. If something peaks her curiosity, she simply asks. She has no fear!
Walking through Chinatown, we decide to try some tea with tapioca balls -- she's heard they're useful in dieting. She asks some questions of the server. We also end up talking with one of the other customers. A random "tourist" encounter turns into a few pleasant minutes learning a number of things and getting a bit of the local "vibe".
Multiply that by several-fold through the day, and it ends up being a pretty interesting day. Thanks, cous'!
I would take a foreign visitor out to the suburbs to see how big and spread-out everything is. Stand at the intersection of two huge roads with a little traffic and unused sidewalks. See the lawns bordering some drug store parking lot full of big cars. On the one hand, it's a waste of land, but on the other it's so spacious and open feeling.
Comments
Thinking of "non-touristy" things for a tourist to do is difficult, especially one from a similar western country like Australia. I'm pretty sure they have bars, restaurants, etc. in Australia. I guess a HN'er would enjoy hitting up user groups and what not.
But in reality, all the stuff that makes America "America" is considered touristy. Heck, half the stuff he lists is something I'd consider touristy.
In any event, I think a grand tour in America from any other country and not visiting a Disney park is just Plain Wrong™. :) Then again, it might be too "touristy."
Well theres "touristy", the theres "touristy". Last summer I went with a friend to visit southern Utah. We did a day in Zion National Park. It was cool and utterly beautiful. Then, because she knew the area and had friends there, we went off into the actual wilderness of the Grand Staircase. We hit some real back woods areas, explored canyons and hiked a lot of crazy places. We rarely saw evidence of other people, let alone actual people. I think in the 3 days we were out in the back country we only saw 2 other people and that was close to (what passes for) a road. When we went back through Zion on the way home, I actually experience civilization shock - there were like 20 people visible at once, and other cars!
They were both great experiences but I value the latter far more for a couple reasons:
* I would never have been able to find it, known how to do that exploration, and been too timid to do it without local knowledge.
*It was an adventure rather than a curated experience. The park is great, but I never felt like I was seeing reality. Like going to Epcot vs going to actual places.
It was still a totally touristy experience. The locals thought I was cute for wanting to go wander in the desert to see places I had to walk for a long way to get to, without knowing anything about the desert. I was still just there to see the sights. Yet different - they all were really eager to tell me about their favorite spots off the beaten path.
I guess what I'm saying is that I tend to interpret, and mean, touristy as "not really worth the effort, it's too curated and sanitized and expensive. It's designed to Disneyify some approximation of local experience and does so poorly".
Similarly when I talk to people visiting my hometown of Chicago, I always recommend the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Art institute. "touristy" yeah, but also the stuff I would do once or twice a year when I lived there, and I still try to do it every couple of years when I'm visiting the family.
For bars and the like: It's not the bar (well, some and/or some places do have atmosphere), it's the people you meet.
If your visitors are from "out of town" in some significant fashion, and if they are nice enough that you don't think they'd be an imposition, arrange to meet with some of your friends.
Any place can become magical, if you're there with good people and making friends.
(Plus, someone's always doing something, or has some time free, and maybe they'll extend an invitation. (Just don't expect anything.))
P.S. This may be a bit OT, I realize, with respect to the idea of an online resource of things to do/see.
P.P.S. This is somewhat personality dependent, but when I visit my cousin in the Bay area, we end up stumbling into all kinds of small encounters because she simply, directly -- if politely -- asks questions. If something peaks her curiosity, she simply asks. She has no fear!
Walking through Chinatown, we decide to try some tea with tapioca balls -- she's heard they're useful in dieting. She asks some questions of the server. We also end up talking with one of the other customers. A random "tourist" encounter turns into a few pleasant minutes learning a number of things and getting a bit of the local "vibe".
Multiply that by several-fold through the day, and it ends up being a pretty interesting day. Thanks, cous'!
I would take a foreign visitor out to the suburbs to see how big and spread-out everything is. Stand at the intersection of two huge roads with a little traffic and unused sidewalks. See the lawns bordering some drug store parking lot full of big cars. On the one hand, it's a waste of land, but on the other it's so spacious and open feeling.
I'm more of a Lego Land man myself :)
I'll be up there working in our SF office, so I'll be spending a lot of time with locals.