A lost tourist who thought Maine was San Francisco • Hacker News Board

Re: A lost tourist who thought Maine was San Francisco

#91

Post by nataz » Fri, Mar 12, 2021, 2:13 AM UTC

mikewarot wrote: post #55

sanj wrote: post #23

I witnessed a poor chap at the ticket counter at Dulles airport desperately trying to convince someone to flag him a taxi to drive him to Dallas to make his meeting.

My wife and I learned the hard way that Dulles is NOT in Washington DC, we took the bus out to the Air and Space Museum, which we assumed was in DC... the $75 dollar taxi ride that took 1 1/2 hours to show up to pick us up was no fun. Fun Bonus Fact: We drove to DC, so we could have just driven there, but thought a cheap Bus round trip was more fun as we could both see the sights, and not stress about traffic.

The more famous Smithsonian Air and Space museum is in D.C. right on the national mall, maybe 10 min from national airport (technicality in virginia, but right next to DC).

You visited the udvar-hazy center which is out by Dulles airport in Chantilly. It is still part of the smithsonian, but more focused on displaying lots of different aircraft in a few large hangers. Very impressive and worth a visit, but not the main air and space facility.

Either you had a legitimate miscommunication, or you got scammed by your driver. No one from around the DC metro would confuse the two.

Re: A lost tourist who thought Maine was San Francisco

#92

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Mar 12, 2021, 2:19 AM UTC

fma wrote: post #74

geocrasher wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just be glad they didn't send you to Paris TX or Rome, GA. Edit: I forgot Memphis, TN.

As a Georgia resident...we have Rome, Ga AND Athens Ga so you can take a nice trip through European cities a few hours apart. And a Gainesville, Ga not to be confused with a Gainesville, Florida. We also have a Houston County...which is not pronounced the same as Houston, Texas (it is pronounced like house-ten) Also a Decatur, GA not to be confused with Decatur, Alabama. That's all I can think of off the top of my he…

[deleted]

Re: A lost tourist who thought Maine was San Francisco

#93

Post by triceratops » Fri, Mar 12, 2021, 2:20 AM UTC

ilamont wrote: post #3

There was a story some years back about a guy who got on the wrong flight to Oakland ... he ended up in Auckland instead. https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/27/us/wrong-flight-passengers-tr...

Pretty sure that happened in an episode of Full House too.

Re: A lost tourist who thought Maine was San Francisco

#94

Post by 333c » Fri, Mar 12, 2021, 2:22 AM UTC

acwan93 wrote: post #49

jeromegv wrote: post #37

There's also the classic of people leaving for San Jose Costa Rica and landing in San Jose California. Happened to a friend of mine, he wasn't too embarrassed by it because he shared the whole story on Facebook

It's funny how often this actually happens: 2013: https://elpeji.com/2013/12/03/study-abroad-gringa-takes-five... 2017: https://www.reddit.com/r/SanJose/comments/5lqnxb/redditor_bo... And the opposite, landing in San Jose, CR https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/san-jose-travel-plane-...

The first link very much reads like a satire piece a la The Onion. Are you sure that's real?

Re: A lost tourist who thought Maine was San Francisco

#95

Post by w0mbat » Fri, Mar 12, 2021, 2:23 AM UTC

In the 1970s the British Museum in London borrowed King Tutankhamen's treasures, which had never before been seen outside Egypt. People flocked to see the exhibition from all over the world.

Quite often tourists would get into a London taxi and say "Take me to Tutankhamen", and then find themselves in South London, at Tooting Common.

Re: A lost tourist who thought Maine was San Francisco

#96

Post by marcandre » Fri, Mar 12, 2021, 2:25 AM UTC

RegnisGnaw wrote: post #4

I lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (eh?) for 23 years and we have similar stories. There is an island that is part of Nova Scotia called Cape Breton with a city named Sydney (so Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada) with population of ~30K. Every few years we get a tourist that confuses that with Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They generally realize something is wrong when they switch planes in Halifax from a Jet (B…

I was flying to Costa Rica from Montreal. Airline wanted money for checked luggage, but typically for long distance flights like this it's free. After enquiring, turns out I had bought the wrong flight to San Jose, California, instead of San Jose, Costa Rica. It's SJC vs SJO too, easy to confuse... Glad I figured that out before getting there!

Re: A lost tourist who thought Maine was San Francisco

#97

Post by pardavis » Fri, Mar 12, 2021, 2:27 AM UTC

quercusa wrote: post #79

fma wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Georgia resident...we have Rome, Ga AND Athens Ga so you can take a nice trip through European cities a few hours apart. And a Gainesville, Ga not to be confused with a Gainesville, Florida. We also have a Houston County...which is not pronounced the same as Houston, Texas (it is pronounced like house-ten) Also a Decatur, GA not to be confused with Decatur, Alabama. That's all I can think of off the top of my he…

There's also Cairo, not to be confused with Illinois or Egypt, as well as Albany (not to be confused with NY).

The one in Georgia is pronounced Al-binny. Sometimes Awwl-binn-eeh.

Re: A lost tourist who thought Maine was San Francisco

#98

Post by DiabloD3 » Fri, Mar 12, 2021, 2:30 AM UTC

tclancy wrote: post #64

marshmallow_12 wrote: post #39

I have heard that Americans are terrible at geography (no offense), but this is really quite extreme... Edit: ok, some people got offended.

Are you suggesting we should have put Bangor somewhere else? As a New England resident, I am open to this idea.

I live 45 minutes away from Bangor.

You are free to move it somewhere else, I approve.

Re: A lost tourist who thought Maine was San Francisco

#99

Post by unphased » Fri, Mar 12, 2021, 2:32 AM UTC

geocrasher wrote: post #67

My first job was at a Staples office supply store in a town known for its tourism and glitz and glamour. Several times in my 15 months at that store, a German tourist would be seen wandering around the store, clearly lost. More than once they asked, in broken English, "where is the Milk?" staple /ˈstāpəl/ plural noun: staples 1. a main or important element of something, especially of a diet. "bread, milk, and other s…

It's funny that you did the German capitalization of all nouns in that broken English quote! It does add a delightful German feel to the quote.

Re: A lost tourist who thought Maine was San Francisco

#100

Post by mwcampbell » Fri, Mar 12, 2021, 2:34 AM UTC

RegnisGnaw wrote: post #4

I lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (eh?) for 23 years and we have similar stories. There is an island that is part of Nova Scotia called Cape Breton with a city named Sydney (so Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada) with population of ~30K. Every few years we get a tourist that confuses that with Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They generally realize something is wrong when they switch planes in Halifax from a Jet (B…

Reminds me of a minor subplot in a musical (very obscure, you probably haven't heard of it) that I was in as a teenager. Throughout the show, from time to time, the main characters (all high-schoolers) talk about an upcoming band trip to Peru. It's assumed that the trip will be to the country in South America. Then at the end, as part of a closing announcement, the vice principal of the school (the character I played) reveals that the trip is to Peru, Wisconsin.