{6A in Yarmouthport originally uploaded by rmcgervey}
{The Edward Gorey House originally uploaded by bigskyred. Edward Gorey drew the wickedly macabre illustrations for the opening credits of PBS's Mystery! series, among many other things.}
Here are some lovely photos, taken by others (we will discuss the voracity with which my camera eats batteries another time), of Main St. in Yarmouthport, from whence I just returned. It was a lovely trip, a beautiful town and area, with one nagging sidebar:
How is it that someplace so beautiful, so full of charm and history and loveliness, with so many things to do (beach, walk, antiques, art galleries, fresh seafood, ice cream, biking, fishing, gardens, etc), be so teeming with tacky tee shirt/beach towel/flip-flop shops, sad motels, greasy fish shacks, run-down bars, broken and neglected mini-golfs? Is there really that big a market for the latter? Driving down the main drag from Yarmouthport to Chatham, I was dumbstruck by the honky-tonkiness of what must have at one time been the epitome of American entertainment. The main drag in Myrtle Beach is like this as well. Crummy bars and tee shirt shops and icky motels mixed in with expensive high-rise condos on what really is otherwise a nice beach.
{Poor Tiger originally uploaded by tankengine}Dear readers, are your local tourist spots schizophrenic as well? Please pipe in.
7 comments:
Not really too much of that in Oregon. There is one beach town, Seaside, that has a main strip that has an arcade and some other touristy stuff but overall not too bad. Then there are fabulous little towns to visit like Bend, Hood River, and other beach destinations like Manzanita. I guess we're lucky!
Cape May, NJ seemed to be like this too when we visited, many beautiful Victorian Houses and then the strip by the water with the T-shirt shops and arcade. Oak Bluffs in Martha's Vineyard seems to be OK though.
Love the little general store...not much tourism in my town!
I am from Florida, so my answer is a screaming yes!! Beautiful beachy mansion bordered by paint peeled strip mall with "99 cent store" as the main attraction.
i hear you.
pve did an interesting piece on the gorey house this winter - tried to find it - but no luck - lots of ticky tacky on the cape - but lots of beauty too - tucked away into the less travelled corners
Rechargable batteries... look for those with a 2500 rating. Mine last for 100+ pictures, even with a flash.
That is the saddest one-eyed Tiger I have ever seen. And letting mini-put sights fall into disrepair should be a crime punishable by whipping.
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