I was idly thinking (my best kind) about "touristy" places, and as I like "rankings" ....
To me, touristy means a place with, well, a lot of bored tourists, shops selling tourist junk and candy, a few restaurants and pancake houses of no particular note because they can make bank being mediocre. Add in traffic and low walkability and you have .... Pigeon Forge, TN, my top tourist destination in the US of A.
Second on my ranking is Myrtle Beach, which at least has a beach.
Coming in at third is Gatlinburg, which at least has some mountains.
In fourth place for me is Sedona, AZ. It's not awful, but I wouldn't choose to return for the town.
Fifth is Mackinac Island, crowded in summer, no cars, it is bikeable, but pretty expensive.
Sixth is Helen, GA, which would be higher but few outside the state know about it. Those few are enough to make it a mini-Gatlinburg.
Seventh is New York City, which probably is incorrect, my wife likes it.
Eighth is Orlando, which should be much higher, but at least one can get away from the madding crowds there a bit. This and NYC are really too large to be classically touristy, but it's my list.
Ninth is Carmel, CA. It's "OK" I guess, but really touristy, to me.
Tenth would be Riverwalk in San Antonio. I thought it was "OK", you can walk about, but in my experience the restaurants were mundane, feeding off tourist apathy, and too many shops for junk. I probably should add Austin as a favor to Texicans.
Eleventh, for me, New Orleans, the FQ, which for me was a complete and total bust, probably my own fault. Should be much higher.
