[Matte]

Draft a collection of "stops" along a sightseeing road trip across the United States of America. Apologies to my brothers from the tundra, but this draft is USA-centric. Saving all the Canadian stops for a future World Tour Draft, which will be basically this draft but expanded to include the entire world. Doing this version first because I wanted to start on a smaller scale.

The idea is that it's a road trip, so everything has to be reachable via car ride. I'm leaning towards allowing a drive through Canada in order to reach an attraction in Alaska, but places like Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands are off-limits.

Areas of discussion:
- I'm open to whether or not things that require more than just pulling into a parking lot and buying tickets or whatever should be allowed (the one specific I'm thinking of is a certain giant statue that requires a ferry ride to truly experience, but I'm sure there are other examples).
- I'm open to either keeping it specifically attraction-based or expanding it to include things like restaurants.
- Undecided on whether to have required categories or not. Something like: at least one indoor experience, at least one night time experience, at least one free experience, at least one restaurant, etc.
- Leaning towards using suspension of disbelief when it comes to weather/seasons. Want your first stop to be a beach on a hot summer day and your next stop to be skiing down a snowy mountain? Have at it!

Anyone want to play?

[Road Warrior Shark]

Sounds like a hoot. I'm in you Mysterious White Rabbit

[The Canadian Content]

I’ll play. No preference on rules.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

I’m in.

[Cliffsnotes]

I’m in.

Can you provide rules clarification on sports and concert venues /events?

Like, If a chose a particular baseball stadium do I get to see a random MLB game featuring the home team? Or do I get to schedule a game against their rival? Or do I get to state it is a World Series Game Seven? Or do you just get a tour of the stadium but don’t get to watch a game.

Likewise, a famous indoor stadium/arena… do I just see the building, or get to say that I am watching The Rolling Stones (or the original cast of a particular Broadway show, or a particular ECW event)?

Finally, thoughts on once-a-year events? Such as a specific summertime music event, or a seasonal Halloween or Christmas event.

I would assume that a location with a daily performance like at Disney World is fine.

Cheers.

[MayhemNX]

I'll give it a whirl.

[DevSop]

In

[DevSop]

Most attractions involve getting out of the car to experience so the ferry ride statue should totally be allowed.

I have a question about multiple day events, are those allowed to be drafted as a single event/attraction?

[cole1982]

I'll give it a whirl. It could help me plan future trips.

[Sportsguy]

I'm in.

[Matte]

On the topic of once-a-year events, concerts, ball games, etc. I'm targeting broader events that are more along the lines of sightseeing or attractions that could be available to experience kind of on a whim during a road trip (in a timing way—obviously, you'd need to do some planning for certain events in order to have tickets and not show up to a sold out house) rather than something more narrow like New Year's in Times Square or the Super Bowl where you would kind of have to plan the rest of your trip around that event in particular...BUT, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of allowing a single once-a-year event per drafter.

Unless it's your single once-a-year event, I'm going to say no concerts or shows unless it's something like Cirque du Soleil in Vegas or Wicked on Broadway, something where it's an extended time event—been featured for long enough that it's essentially a tourist attraction or a staple of the area—that you don't have to plan a specific day of the year to go see it. I'm malleable on what constitutes an extended time event, leaning towards something like a 6 month minimum, or maybe a 3 month minimum in order to incorporate seasonal events. I'm definitely open to arguments for different lengths of time on this one.

When it comes to something like an ECW show...that brings up another topic of discussion that I missed in the OP. I'm undecided on whether "former attractions" should be eligible or if we should keep it strictly modern day. For example, a national forest that used to be a tourist attraction that has since burned down in a fire. Eligible or no? That would dictate whether something like an NXT show at Full Sail (going with the "extended time event" rule, NXT shows happened weekly at Full Sail for years) or an ECW show in Philadelphia (assuming they also happened weekly for years, I don't know what their schedule looked like offhand) would be eligible. I'm leaning towards yes, if only to have one less rule to worry about.

And with all that said, calling back to sports: I don't know what all the schedules look like, but if a team plays a home game at least once a week for three or four months, I guess a game would be eligible as a stop along your route, assuming 3 months becomes the minimum event runtime. You can't choose the opponent (that specificity would turn it into your once-a-year event), it would just be a random home game from that particular season.

As for multi-day events, I'm ok with allowing them but am thinking of putting limitations on them. Something like a two or three day maximum per event and a maximum of two two-day events or one three-day event throughout your trip. I'd also consider the option of stretching those limits in exchange for giving up later picks if anyone cares enough to get that deep into the topic.

As always, I'd love any input from the field on these rules and ideas. Otherwise, I'll just decide myself and list them as official before the draft starts up.

[DevSop]

I wouldn't limit events by # of days. There are definitely 3-5 day feativals/conventions that could definitely be part of a road trip. I've honestly found that the less rules, the better in these kinds of things and let people put together what they want the most, the voting...in theory...will take care of things that skirt the rules or just don't make sense.

As to former attractions, events...make those fair game too.

I do agree that an event/attraction needs to be something that happens at regular intervals or truly be a special event. A random Rolling Stones tour would not count but a yearly or monthly event would.

[Cliffsnotes]

Here are my preferences:

(And I’ll intentionally use ineligible examples unless they’ve already been mentioned)

(And I also agree with only current places. Let’s leave defunct/extinct places like The Montreal Forum for another time).

If we allow once-a-year events, it should still be based around a single site. So Times Square on New Years Eve would be ok. But “The Super Bowl” or “The World Series” isn’t ok, because it is a rotating or TBD site.

As for sports, I would agree that it’s ok to say “I want to see an NHL game in Montreal”, but you do not get to select the opponent, and no playoff games or all star games or anything like that.

There are a couple of Concert Venues that I would like to experience. So I think it would be ok to say I want to see a punk rock show at CBGB’s but you can’t say “I want to see The Ramones at CBGB’s” or specify it occurred in 1979.

As for multi-day events… I would vote that you get to experience one day of it. So… a day of tailgating and cheering at The Tour de France would be ok, but not three days let alone three weeks. Although the Tour changes it’s route every year, so that might be a bad example. Although I think it ends in Paris every year. And a single day at a big popular summer concert is ok, but you don’t get to select any of the artists.

Finally… I’m assuming this is mostly being done as a spectator. So you could watch the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, or the running of the Bulls in Pomplona, but not actually participate.

[DevSop]

Eh, the more rules these things get, the less interesting they are. And I think something like the Super Bowl should be fine, you just don’t get to specify the teams. Same thing with a specific sports playoff series single game. And for concerts/conventions, why would you need to specify day 1 of convention a when the attraction is going to the convention. I’ll use the example I’m thinking of…San Diego Comic Con is 4.5 days in San Diego every year. Why would I only get 1 day when it’s based on buying a badge to the whole convention mostly. If we’re excluding firmer events, I can use this example why would I only pick 1 day of Woodstock. You should get the entire thing.

[cletusegw]

I'll give it a try, whatever rules are decided.

[Matte]

I'm going with:


Sights/attractions/events must be modern, i.e. able to be seen/visited on a road trip being planned in real time. I want the focus to be on the "where" and not the "when" and don't want this turning into a "greatest historical events" draft.

My reasoning for limiting the number of days per event is because I want all of the trips to be for around the same length of time. Each draft pick is essentially one day out of your total trip. If we go 12 rounds, I don't someone having a 12-day trip and someone else having a trip that takes over a month to complete. It also demands a little more creativity because you can't just stockpile your trip full of multi-day events, you have to decide which ones you think really need multiple days to experience and which ones you can mostly get your fill of in one day.

I think I'm sticking with one once-a-year event being eligible, regardless of TBD locations and exact dates, as long as it's a certainty that it happens every year (barring any exceptional circumstances like a worldwide pandemic or something). Just pretend that the location is decided and that the event slips into wherever it would make sense on your itinerary.

And I think something like the Super Bowl should be fine, you just don’t get to specify the teams. Same thing with a specific sports playoff series single game.

To expand on this point, playoffs wouldn't meet the "extended time event" qualification to be used as a general pick, but it's a certainty that playoffs will happen every year, so you could use your once-a-year event pick on a playoff game. But that's all it would be is a general MLB/NFL/etc. playoff game. No teams or location.

As far as concert venues go, if you're looking at one that would fall into the "extended time event" thing, it would be eligible. You can't specify what act you're seeing, but you can generalize and say that you're attending a concert at the venue. If a venue is specific to rock, you can say that you're seeing a rock concert. If a venue rotates genres and artists in and out with no schedule, it would just be a general concert and you can't specify rock, rap, metal, etc.

Use common sense when it comes to spectator/participant. If you go to a concert, you're going as a spectator and won't be up on stage playing the drums. If you go to a skatepark, you don't have to sit on the bleachers and watch the locals...grab a board and skate.

[Leo]

Just to be official, since I usually do the drafts, I'm NOT going to do this one. I've got a lot going on right now and this doesn't really grab me. Thanks.

[DevSop]

I HATE the limit on multi-day events. Coachella, Comic-Con, CES, GenCon are all events you could/would road trip for but not for a single day. Hell, certain theme parks being limited to a single day is also not really the best thing to do. With the single day rule, we’re all just going to basically be drafting monuments, museums, and things that you just kinda drive to, go on a tour, and move on from. But it’s your draft.

[Sportsguy]

Oct 10, 2022 18:36:18 GMT -5 DevSop said:

I HATE the limit on multi-day events. Coachella, Comic-Con, CES, GenCon are all events you could/would road trip for but not for a single day. Hell, certain theme parks being limited to a single day is also not really the best thing to do. With the single day rule, we’re all just going to basically be drafting monuments, museums, and things that you just kinda drive to, go on a tour, and move on from. But it’s your draft.

I agree with ALL of this.

[Matte]

Oct 10, 2022 18:36:18 GMT -5 DevSop said:

I HATE the limit on multi-day events. Coachella, Comic-Con, CES, GenCon are all events you could/would road trip for but not for a single day.

And they would all be eligible, you just couldn't draft all of them. I was thinking a 12-day total between all multi-day events. So you can mix and match, but can't hoard an entire trip full of week-long vacation spots. One four-day event, two three-day events, and one two-day event. Or two four-day events and two two-day events. Or two three-day events and three two-day events. Etc. * I really just want to quell anybody stockpiling a dozen week-long festivals for a three-month road trip vs. someone else's three-week road trip.

But I'll also admit that maybe I'm just not very well-traveled (I've never actually taken a legitimate road trip like this), so one-day events are pretty normal for me where they might be weird for others with more experience. If that's truly the case and an actual road trip requires three days spent at every stop, I'll concede on the limits.

* EDIT: A better way to do it could be to just put a limit on the total length of the road trip rather than the individual stops. If we go 12 rounds, for example, a maximum trip length of maybe three weeks. Allows for any degree of day shifting between events while keeping everyone reigned in to a similar timeframe. I feel like that makes more sense because that's how you'd plan an actual road trip. "We have this many days/weeks before we have to be home, let's see what we can fit into our schedule."

[DevSop]

I think the biggest discrepancy we're having is you want more of a vacation road trip that you could take with 1 or 2 weeks off where you drive from point A to point B and make stops between those points and I'd prefer it to be, take a summer or year off and travel around the country visiting the places/things that most interest you whether they take a day to see or 4 or 5 days to experience. Setting a time frame, to me, changes it from a road trip to a vacation.


But again, it's your draft and it's a first time thing so do what makes sense to you and I'm still in. We could always do another later or add-on to it in the future versions.

[Matte]

Oct 11, 2022 14:35:41 GMT -5 DevSop said:

I think the biggest discrepancy we're having is you want more of a vacation road trip that you could take with 1 or 2 weeks off where you drive from point A to point B and make stops between those points and I'd prefer it to be, take a summer or year off and travel around the country visiting the places/things that most interest you whether they take a day to see or 4 or 5 days to experience. Setting a time frame, to me, changes it from a road trip to a vacation.

This is accurate. The disagreement here is because we just have different ideas of what constitutes a road trip. Your idea is basically the USA version of what my future "world tour draft" would be. I'll admit that I might be thinking too "real life" on this one. How many of us could realistically take 6-12 months off work to sightsee? But it's a fantasy draft. I'll concede and renege on the time limits.