Written by a AAA travel expert...
I admit it. When I saw those goofy fake “hanging off the cliff” photos I wanted one too. So I took off for Sedona, AZ and jumped on Pink Jeep’s Broken Arrow Tour to check it out. For two hours we were all over the red rock country, driving in places where there really weren’t places except right up and over the rock.
The experience was really fun, and I was glad I put aside my “that’s so touristy” attitude. Maybe you have one too. It’s easy to acquire if you’ve been all over the world, ridden the camel, snorkeled with the stingrays, rode the donkeys in Santorini, sat in the top of a London red double-decker bus, and waited countless hours in theme parks for a 4 minute ride or a glimpse of a mouse. After awhile you start to avoid what everybody else does and go for
unique and different travel experiences.
But lately I’ve revisited some tourist spots and kept an open mind. In the past few months we acted like tourists and had a ball, doing things like:
• Riding the cable cars in San Francisco and shopping Union Square
• Devoured a chocolate sundae at Ghirardelli’s’ & at Scottsdale’s Sugar Bowl in the same week!
• Hit Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39
• Rode horses and jetskis at Rocky Point, Mexico
• Watched the space shuttle launch from the Cocoa Beach Pier
• Took pictures in front of the Bodega, CA schoolhouse, cringing from a bird attack just like in the movie “The Birds”
• Cruised the Chicago River and out into Lake Michigan for a sunset glimpse of Chicago
So I’m a tourist again. You can be too, if you let your hair and attitude down. Whether it's a day trip to St Augustine or a 14-day cruise, there’s a trip for every taste and budget. And you just might find me floating down the Salt River on an inner tube with a few hundred of my new best friends, or even stopping along the roadside to see the world’s biggest ball of twine.
