DISAPPOINTING DESTINATIONS

(June 2014) SmartTravel.com has come up with a list of travel destinations that don’t live up to the hype:
– Niagara Falls, New York. The Canadian side has better views of all three falls (American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and Horseshoe Falls) and it’s worth crossing the border to get them. Stopping on the American side just doesn’t cut it.
– Gibraltar. The 2.3-square-mile territory packs in a ton of tourists and gouges them accordingly. You have long waits to cross the border, and once you’ve arrived, there’s not much to see besides a boring rock, some fake British pubs, and wild macaque monkeys that like to prey on tourists.
– Hollywood, California. Aggressive people dressed up as movie characters who want you to pay them for a picture, a sidewalk with some stars on it, and a creepy wax museum.
– Nassau, Bahamas. Crowded with cruise-ship passengers. According to TripAdvisor reviews, visitors should expect to be “constantly harassed for money.”
– Statue of Liberty, New York. If you didn’t print your ticket ahead of time, you’ll wait forever at will-call. Then you’ll wait to hand over your ticket and be screened by security. Then you’ll wait to get on the ferry. Then you’ll wait to get off the ferry. Once on the island, it’s generally beyond crowded. For a statue that symbolizes freedom, there sure is a lot you can’t do on this island.
– Casablanca, Morocco. The city is now mostly office buildings and has been called “soulless” by many tourists.
– Las Vegas, Nevada. Is there any place more depressing than the inside of a casino at three in the morning? Florescent lights, a thick haze of cigarette smoke, and the stink of desperation don’t really add up to a dream vacation. Whether you’re losing your money by gambling it away, paying for obscene amounts of food at a buffet, or dropping it on overpriced show tickets, you’re pretty much guaranteed to walk away from Vegas poorer than when you arrived.
* Okay, is that it, Mr. Grumpy Pants?
* These people are either seriously jaded, or Disney is paying them to trash other vacation spots.
* How did they miss putting “South Of The Border” on this list?
* You’re really going to trash the Statue of Liberty? What do you do for brains?
* Is there any place more depressing than a casino in Vegas at 3 a.m.? I don’t know … how about this website?
* Oh, and in case you think a website isn’t a place, how about Iraq?
* Yeah, I’d hate to go to a hellhole like the Bahamas. That would be awful.
* PHONE TOPICS: Where is a place you were excited to see, but disappointed when you got there? (“Your mom’s house” is NOT an acceptable answer.)