Tourist rules for your city

[Visirale]

Bermuda shorts + Hawaiian shirt + socks & sandals = 10 points if you catch 'em in a crosswalk on I-Drive.

I fully support this message!

And if you're on I-4 by I-Drive/Universal/Disney and one of our summer downpours hits... DON'T PUT YOUR HAZARD LIGHTS ON AND SLOW TO 15 MPH.

 

[KeithBMI]

Detroit: Stay in lit areas and walk with a group.

 

[blizzard]

Not too many here but:

Always stay within the flags at the beach.
If you have never swam in surf don't go past your waist (every year we get Japanese tourists drowning from a combination of these two).
Never drink and swim.

You need a ticket for public transport here.
No you can't walk/cycle from Brisbane to Sydney.
If you are at a pub don't ask for a VB no matter how good the ads make it out to be.
And no, noone here drinks Fosters, or likes Fosters.

 

[ADbassman]

Saint Louis:

Stay away from East Saint Louis.

 

[a.green.martian]

Don't step into traffic trying to hail a cab, they're not gonna stop.

 

[jrthebassguy]

This is Houston. This is the 4th biggest city in the United States. So no, we don't all live on farms, we don't wear cowboy hats, and the only mustang I own says "Ford" on it. Nor am I a redneck, so don't immediately assume any of the above about anybody, because you're going to get strange looks if you do.

It's a big city, only slightly smaller than Chicago, and while we're friendly, there is no way in hell majority of the people know the entire city, so don't get pissed when you're talking about the northwest side of town when I live on the far east side and can't give you proper directions.

We have a lot of mexican food restaurants, and some very good ones at that. And we call it simply that, mexican food. There is no "Tex Mex" food and you've immediately given yourselves away as a tourist if you say that.

The Galleria is awesome, the museums are equally as cool, and the zoo is alright. I used to work at Space Center Houston for a few years, which is the official visitor's center for the Johnson Space Center. While NASA is infinitely awesome (as is JSC), our crappy visitor's center infinitely sucks, for the most part. There really isn't much cool to see, since our bosses won't let us show you, and consistently get non-space related exhibits. But then again, I'm slightly bitter about that place

Galveston is cool if you like brown water and random touristy shops. Oh, you mean you don't like that? Cool, me either. ...But truth be told, Moody Gardens in Galveston is worth checking out.


We're all mostly friendly people here, so try to be courteous back. It will take you a long way.

 

[heroincredible]

The city of Calgary is only to be mentioned in a condescending manner.

No way! Our one rule is to make derogatory remarks about Edmonton whenever possible.



Oh, and no, we are not a 'hick' city. Just because we have that stupid Stampede every year to bring in tourists for 10 days doesn't mean we're rednecks. I'll be more than happy to help you out with any questions you might have as long as you don't treat me like a redneck, because I'm not a redneck.

 

[downneck]

NYC: take yellow cabs, NOT livery cabs

 

[Bard2dbone]

Important one for Ft Worth (It's one city west of me.) They have a park there called the "Water Gardens". (Rent Logans Run. It's the place they swim up out of, with all the steps.) It's not a pool. It's sort of a series of big fountains. The fountains all have an incredible suction at the bottoms. We had a family of tourists decide to go swimming in the central fountain, which has an eight foot deep drain. They all died. Incredibly, their survivors sued the city and didn't even get laughed at. Trying to swim in the Water Gardens is almost as good a survivor trait as licking the third rail.



For Arlington: We are rotten with tourist attractions. We have Six Flags Over Texas, Hurricane Harbor, The Ballpark and the Rangers, and we're about to have the Cowboys and their new stadium. But we don't have transportation. Don't look for a bus. Don't look for a cab. There aren't any. Just go rent/buy a car. Arlington is a sleepy little small town of only a third of a million people. Don't act like wherever you come from is so much cooler. We don't care. Just leave your money in our city and go away.

 

[JMX]

While you are technically allowed to drink beer in public, it makes for bad style - except during carnival season when bad style = good.

Do not abruptly stop walking at the end of an escalator, in a shop entrance or any other narrow passway.

Mind the bicycle lanes - the bike(r)s here are commonly called the silent killer.

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

1. Learn to pronounce the names of the place you want to visit before asking for directions.

It always makes me laugh so much I can't answer, when American tourists ask : "Is this the way to Lie -sest - urrr square!!?? "

 

[Bard2dbone]

I thought it was 'Lester' Square. How do you really spell it?


And you should hear people mangle the names of places it Texas. Mexia is pronounced 'meh-hay-uh', NOT 'meckseeyuh'. I'm not even going to try to explain Waxahachie or Nacogdoches.

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

For my home town Brighton - don't drive in to the centre of the city in Summer as it is too congested and you will be stuck in your car for hours and the radiator will probably blow!

When walking past queues of traffic in Summer I often hear tourists asking : "Oi mate - what's the quickest way to the beach?"

To which I reply :

"Get out of your car and walk!"

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

I thought it was 'Lester' Square. How do you really spell it?

Yes - but they are reading out of their guidebook, which says :

Leicester Square

 

[Bard2dbone]

Thanks. I'd never read it. But since I know how to pronounce 'Worcestershire' sauce, I'd probably have guessed 'Lester'.

 

[ahkiatt]

Look like you know what you're doing. The local shops around are able to tell if you're a foreigner or not. Floral print shirts, sandals and socks are a dead giveaway.

 

[casualmadness]

Trust me, Seattle, along with anywhere in the Northwest is one of the most down to earth and awesome places in the country.

As a former resident of Seattle, I agree 100%. It is, IMHO, the best city on the planet.

 

[bmc]

If travelling anywhere in the Middle East, please don't mispronounce Iran and Iraq. It is not pronounced Eye-raq and Eye-ran. Nor are Italians called Eye-talians.

Italy, Iraq, Iran have their "I" pronounced the same.

 

[cheesemonkey]

This is Houston. This is the 4th biggest city in the United States. So no, we don't all live on farms, we don't wear cowboy hats, and the only mustang I own says "Ford" on it. Nor am I a redneck, so don't immediately assume any of the above about anybody, because you're going to get strange looks if you do.

It's a big city, only slightly smaller than Chicago, and while we're friendly, there is no way in hell majority of the people know the entire city, so don't get pissed when you're talking about the northwest side of town when I live on the far east side and can't give you proper directions.

We have a lot of mexican food restaurants, and some very good ones at that. And we call it simply that, mexican food. There is no "Tex Mex" food and you've immediately given yourselves away as a tourist if you say that.

The Galleria is awesome, the museums are equally as cool, and the zoo is alright. I used to work at Space Center Houston for a few years, which is the official visitor's center for the Johnson Space Center. While NASA is infinitely awesome (as is JSC), our crappy visitor's center infinitely sucks, for the most part. There really isn't much cool to see, since our bosses won't let us show you, and consistently get non-space related exhibits. But then again, I'm slightly bitter about that place

Galveston is cool if you like brown water and random touristy shops. Oh, you mean you don't like that? Cool, me either. ...But truth be told, Moody Gardens in Galveston is worth checking out.


We're all mostly friendly people here, so try to be courteous back. It will take you a long way.

well i disagree with houston as a tourist location unless you are really into museums... Agree 100% with the mexican food. We have a lot of great mexican resturaunts worth trying out. And if you are in downtown and want cajun go to Tree Beards. If you are in the mood for bbq seafood mexican or anything like that try finding a Papa's resturaunt. Though I'd say my favorite mexican resturaunt is Ninfa's and there are several through houston (not to sure about the north south and east side but i know there are a good deal on the west side. And yes houston is a large town and chance are there probably isn't one person who knows the entire town.

 

[dancehallclasher]

Speaking of pronouncing things: if you know French and go to New Orleans, don't try to pronounce anything with a French name correctly. Pronounce it as if you're from Texas and have never heard of French in your life.