My dad took us to Plymouth Rock when I was about 12. Definitely a let down.
However, I decided to secretly collect an unholy assortment of river rocks (huge) which I snuck into the trunk of our Oldsmobile Delta 88. I was planning on carving 1620 into them (that did not pan out).
My dad became concerned when the back of the car started to ride low & scrape the road. So I fessed up and we negotiated down to a few choice specimens.
I mentioned a while back that one of the greatest paintings in the Louvre is in the same room, but hardly anyone looks at it because it’s upstaged by the little lady.
Did you walk the caldera? The big one. Was too much for me, but did it.
My wife and I are divers. Or used to be. We did snorkel with Manta Rays in Hawaii at night. That was actually incredible. They came withing 6"s of you. They weigh ~ 1 - 2 thousand pounds. I could easily touch them.
So I withdraw the ‘meh’ comment. The Manta Ray snorkel was quite incredible. The volcano caldera sucked though.
Philly Cheesesteak
I got one from one of the best places in Philadelphia and had it as classic a style as I could so completely not a tourist cheesesteak. Very underwhelming.
Now on the other hand, a Chicago meat sandwich dipped …
Agreed on this one. I was not whelmed at all by the Mall. This was 16 years ago.
I was slightly underwhelmed by the San Diego Zoo, presented as one of the best in the US or the best. It was costly, even with my Navy Discount at the time compared to the Bronx Zoo which was at least as good or maybe better. This was almost 40 years ago though, so things may have changed. I know the Bronx Zoo got more expensive in many ways and isn’t as good.
Think your talking the Italian Beef. The best.
Agree. But I don’t do zoos. I had to go with my boss at the time on a business trip, so I suppose that did not help.
It wasn’t even that crowded when we went. I got a good look at it and wish I didn’t. Some things are better left with their mystique intact. It’s like waiting a month to open that huge Christmas gift only to find a dozen pairs of socks.
Now THAT is cool. I wish I noticed that! It’s like a classical Where’s Waldo. I’ll definitely spend some time examining that next time I’m in Paris.
Mount Rushmore. Looked great from a distance, but when you are right up under it in the parking lot… Meh.
That fish market in Seatle. Big Fuckin’ Deal. A bunch of ticky-tacky overpriced crap venders and the occasional junkie laying in their own filth. Why did we come here?
I feel kinda guilty about this last one… I got my Mom’s Ford Escape when she died. I didn’t like it when I drove her around for the last few years, and I like it less now. But, it has new tires and ridiculously low miles. I figure I’d better get used to it.
Was underwhelmed with a horseshoe sandwich in Springfield, Illinois. Didn’t expect to be excited about it but it was not enjoyable. Maybe it was just the place we were at the time.
I opened my email this morning to a notification of a settlement in a class action brought against my bank. Of course, as these things do, it took years and I had essentially forgotten about it.
But with nervous anticipation, I opened the
portal to find I am now $6.24 richer than I was yesterday.
Underwhelmed indeed. 
Book of Mormon. Saw it in London’s West End in 2014 or so, and couldn’t for the life of me figure out what all the hype was about. Had its moments, but the plot was paper-thin and totally predictable and by-the-numbers. I saw Hamilton while I was over there a couple of weeks ago and liked it a bit better, but I still don’t think it’s era-defining when it comes to popular theatre.
Visited Paris a few years back (didn’t bother seeing la Joconde). I know YMMV when it comes to one’s tolerance for the smell of urine, but I found it far too big, far too crowded, the restaurants closed at weird times, and block after block of identical-looking city blocks left me feeling quite meh about the city.
Frequently underwhelmed. Rarely even whelmed. Reality is nowhere as good as people say it is.
There are hundreds of such places all over the US and indeed the world.
At one time they were interesting local places (markets, squares, parks, beaches, downtowns, you name it) with real charm, historical significance, or uniqueness. Then tourism happened and the various quirky [whatever]s were replaced with Starbucks, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factories, and store after store selling the same Chinese-made tourist crap with the local place’s name added as the finishing step of production.
All over the world, tourism is turning interesting stuff into uninteresting stuff. All in the name of making more money. Which it seems to do. It is therefore an unstoppable force until the tourists stop coming at all.
As Yogi Berra probably never said:
Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.
Instead he shoulda not said
Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too same-old same-old meh.
Totally agree. The best cheesesteak I’ve had was in Portland, OR. I recently ordered cheesesteaks from Philly through Goldbelly, which came from one of the famous sandwich places there. Really terrible.
I also agree with the Seattle (and San Francisco) seafood markets. Over-hyped, over-priced, and just not very good food.
I like the Hard Rock café at Universal Florida but I’m such a trivia nerd I was awestruck over the original albums lining the walls plus the weird skeleton Santa Claus on a motorbike in the middle of the restaurant.
It’s not reality-reality, it’s human reality that is so disappointing. The rest of reality is still what it always was.
That’s what she said!
Back on topic, I’d say that Class Actions are just about the most reliably underwhelming thing I’ve ever been involved in. They promise you justice and compensation from the multibillion dollar conglomerate that wronged you, and 6 months later deliver half a sandwich.
Scotch, expensive Scotch in particular. I mean, it’s good, I’ll drink it, but $50 a snort at a fancy bar is lunacy, as is $400 for a bottle at home.
A dry-aged steak.
The restaurant had spent months building an aging room, and took out ads in the paper boasting about how the aging process improved the flavor and texture of the steak. On my birthday, my mother took me there to get one.
On tasting it, my first thought was, “They are cleaning out the fridge, and trying to get rid of stuff that is on the verge of spoiling.”
Democracy. I pay my taxes on time and in full and the government I’m going to get for it is headed by a convicted felon and dangerously incompetent compulsive liar (along with his toadies)? Democracy may be the least bad option, but any system capable of delivering such a seriously shitty result is in critical need of reform and/or whelming.
Palm Springs. Miserably hot and not the type of desert I find beautiful. I am not a golfer or into high end shopping, so attractions were a bit limited (I was also with a largish group that made that even more difficult). And the sheer number of people walking around with very obvious plastic surgery, fillers, implants etc. was… bizarre. I’ve never felt so out of place.